Horticultural therapy
Horticultural therapy (also known as Social and Therapeutic Horticulture or STH) is defined by the American Horticultural Therapy Association "AHTA" as the engagement of a person in gardening activities, facilitated by a trained therapist, to achieve specific therapeutic treatment goals. AHTA believes that horticultural therapy is an active process which occurs in the context of an established treatment plan. It is an effective and beneficial treatment for people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, including those recovering from stroke and heart disease, blind and partially sighted people, those in the early stages of dementia, and people with physical and learning disabilities [citation needed]. It can benefit people in a number of ways:
- it contributes to a person’s rehabilitation process, after an illness or a difficult life experience
- it helps people recover from a wide range of conditions
- it helps people learn new skills
- it helps slow down the deterioration seen in degenerative illness
HTR and HTM are credentials representing voluntary professional registration at the Undergraduate and Masters level respectively with the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA),[1] and other universities, colleges and organizations around the world, to recognize studies and professional practice in Horticultural Therapy.
Horticultural therapists are specially educated and trained members of rehabilitation teams (with doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists and other) who involve the client in all phases of gardening - from propagation to selling products - as a means of bringing about improvement in their life.
Notes
Bibliography
- Marilyn Barrett Creating Eden, The Garden as a Healing Space (Harper, 1992).
- Francis, Linsay, Rice (Eds.) The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations (Center for Design Research, 1994).
- Norfolk, Donald The Therapeutic Garden (Bantam, 2000).
- Relf, Diane (Ed.) The Role of Horticulture and Human Well-Being (Timber Press, 1992).
- Simson, Sharon & Straus, Martha C. Horticulture as therapy: principles and practice (Routledge, 2003).
External links
- Kansas State University Horticultural Therapy
- Kansas State University Horticultural Therapy Continuing Education
- Chicago Botanic Garden - Horticultural Therapy Download pdf-brochure "Enabling Garden" [1]
- Horticultural Therapy in Royal Botanic Garden, Hamilton, Canada
- Horticultural Therapy in Siberia, Russia Download pdf-brochure in Russian either as a simple version, 1.9 Mb [2] or a 2-sided brochure (first file, 1.16 Mb [3] and second file, 0.4 Mb [4] )
- Horticultural Therapy at Edmonds Community College
- Nurture through Nature A community group based in Brighton UK that runs groups in therapeutic gardening for people with mental health problems).
- Trellis The national body for therapeutic horticulture in Scotland.
- GGuT A tiny association for Horticultural Therapy, founded in 2001.
- Thrive A small UK charity, founded in 1978, that uses gardening as therapy for disabled people.
- Vivaterra A Swiss association, created in 2011, promoting the creation of therapeutic gardens in closed institutions (hospitals, prisons, retirement homes) that enable residents to benefit from therapeutic gardening activities.