Eco-practice
Eco awareness and ecotherapy principles and approaches inform all of my practice: Supervision, Art Psychotherapy, Counselling/Psychotherapy and Training. This is founded in the need to promote a more reciprocal caring relationship with and for the rest of nature.
Evidence for Nature and Wellbeing
There is growing body of evidence of the value and effectiveness of nature-based approaches for health, well-being and mental health for example:
- What makes nature-based interventions for mental health successful? (Bloomfield, 2017) British Journal of Psychiatry International, which summarises that: "Broadly, the evidence for a link between mental health and engagement with, access to and interventions within nature is substantial."
Visit the online ASLA resource detailing many research studies on the Health benefits of nature. See also Ecotherapy – A Forgotten Ecosystem Service: A Review (Summers & Vivian, 2018)
Other resources include: A review of nature-based interventions for mental health care (Natural England, 2016) - a recent report on research by the University of Essex and Mind (a leading UK mental health charity).
See also e.g. The mental health benefits of nature exposure (2015); Connecting with nature offers a new approach to mental health care (2016) and the Children and Nature Network.
Ecotherapy is a nature-based therapeutic approach that is informed by ecopsychology. It can support wellbeing and help create better relationships with nature, ourselves and each other. For more details, see MIND's summary: What is Ecotherapy?; and also see our Resources page for other sources of information.
"Earth's the right place for love" (Robert Frost, Birches)
In a 2016 Report on A review of nature-based interventions for mental health care, Bragg and Atkins (2016, p.12) summarise that "nature-based interventions have been termed ‘green care’ (Pretty, 2006; Hine et al., 2008a,c; Sempik et al., 2010; Sempik and Bragg, 2013), ‘ecotherapy’ (Mind 2007, 2013; Bragg et al, 2013) or simply ‘nature-based interventions’." They propose that "the term ‘Green Care’ should be used to describe the range of activities that fall within the scope of nature-based interventions for individuals with a defined or diagnosed need." (Bragg & Atkins, 2016, p.viii).
