Sowing the seeds of health: Plants and clients thrive with horticultural therapy

CrossCurrents

by Lesley Young

Does being close to nature – more specifically, experiencing plants in a garden – heal? The answer is a vehement “yes,” according to the very small but growing field of Canadian practitioners trained in horticultural therapy. Based on field experience with mental health and addiction clients, Canada’s few horticulture therapists report profound strides in recovery. And we’re not just talking the documented emotional, cognitive and sensory motor function mediation well summarized in a literature review published in the journal Pediatric Rehabilitation in 2004.

Take these anecdotal examples: One client with an eating disorder gained a better sense of self-worth by helping to grow fresh food, as well as a greater propensity to value food because she grew it herself. An elderly man who became depressed following the death of his wife rediscovered a sense of purpose through gardening. “Gardening gave me another chance to use my skills to care for something and reconnect with life,” he says. And an addiction client learned self-actualization and methods for recovery after discovering that horticultural therapy “really is to do with self-nurturing, how a person could look after him or herself in a caring way.”

Horticultural therapy really is less about the plants than the therapeutic effect of the activities, which include viewing nature, visiting a hospital healing garden and, most important, doing gardening. According to the Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association (CHTA), “Horticultural therapy is the use of plants and the natural world to improve the social, spiritual, physical and emotional well-being of individuals who participate in it.”

The theory behind horticultural therapy, in other words, how nature works on the human mind and body, is not documented by accepted scientific research standards – although many of us can attest to the powerful effects of walking along a quiet wooded path or sitting in a beautiful garden. Nevertheless, there is enough research citing the many benefits of horticultural therapy on various health conditions to show it is a viable tool for dealing with various mental health and substance use issues, including eating disorders, depression, dementia, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, says Christine Pollard, a masters’ level horticultural therapist in Duncan, B.C.

“When giving up addictions,” for example, “people are giving up their entire social life, most of their friends and they are left with a huge vacuum,” says Pollard. “Horticulture can help fill that void.” For clients with mental health issues, horticulture can keep their minds off their health and give them a sense of confidence as they grow along with their plants, says Pollard. “In my experience, horticultural therapy actively changes mental states.”

In a nutshell: There is evidence showing that growing plants teaches new skills, raises concentration levels and the ability to problem solve. It encourages social interaction, since often horticultural therapy occurs in groups, and improves physical strength. Psychologically, practitioners believe that growing and tending to live plant from seed gives clients a feeling of usefulness, a sense of responsibility, improved self-esteem and a sense of worth.

Even though horticultural therapy has evolved into a recognized therapeutic modality, practitioners would like it to be top of mind for caseworkers and attending psychologists and psychiatrists. CHTA and the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AAHT) are working together to encourage more evidence-based research that documents the therapy’s effectiveness. The AHTA publishes the annual Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture, filled with information about research, the design of horticultural therapy programs, personal reflections and conference abstracts. This year, it launched the Charles A. Lewis Award for excellence in research. Meanwhile, Canada’s few practitioners are working tirelessly at getting funding to carry on largely volunteer programs with the hope that more clients are afforded the opportunity to attain the potential benefits of horticultural therapy.

Pollard devoted years to developing the first horticultural therapy diploma program in Canada at Malaspina College University, which consists of a one-year horticulture technician certificate, a one-year community support worker course work and six weeks of horticultural therapy. This summer, the first graduates will set out for work, with credentials in tow. “I’m so excited,” says Pollard. “There’s been a case of chicken and egg; now with more trained horticultural therapists in the country, there will be more awareness and therefore employment opportunities.” Indeed, the hope is that as the number of registered practitioners slowly grows in Canada, recognition of horticultural therapy as a useful tool for mental health and addiction clients will grow as well.

Mitchell L. Hewson – the first registered horticultural therapist to practise in Canada – developed the largest, longest-standing horticultural therapy program (which offers specialized treatment for a variety of psychiatric illnesses) in 1974 at Homewood Health Centre, a substance use treatment facility in Guelph, Ontario. Homewood also offers the only psychiatric training in horticultural therapy in Canada: a five-session course consisting of five full days of training and 135 hours of course work certified by the CTHA.

Hewson uses Rogerian therapy as the psychological model for his client-centred work. The therapist enters the client’s world, understands it without delving into the subconscious and takes caution not to judge or point out contradictions. The focus is on the immediate conscious and removal of obstacles to allow the client to become independent and self-directed. A garden or conservatory is an excellent growth-promoting environment for this type of therapy; however, it is the classes, assessments or individual treatments the clients receives that turn horticulture into a tool to develop a therapeutic relationship. Working with plants allows the therapist to build rapport without direct confrontation, explains Hewson.

When a client begins horticultural therapy, the practitioner conducts an assessment to determine the client’s capabilities and limitations and to develop activities that will work best for that person, says Anne Marie Ireland, a board member of CHTA, working toward certification. Generally, practitioners say a client should be visiting the HT facilities at least once a week for a couple of hours. At Homewood, Hewson says clients are involved in the garden three times a week for at least an hour and a half each time. “It gives them a sense of hope, that they can change their negative lifestyles,” says Hewson. “They learn to nurture themselves, learn new habits and most important, learn to build trust.”

Ireland, who is also a mental health and addictions counsellor, has been voluntarily developing components of a horticultural therapy program at the Royal Victoria Hospital Community Care Centre in Barrie, Ontario. In its fifth year, Serenity Therapy Gardens relies completely on volunteers. Lack of sustainable funding and designated and appropriately trained staff are perhaps the largest obstacles to establishing and maintaining horticultural therapy programs, she says. Nevertheless, Ireland proudly adds, their on-site landscape revitalization efforts have been recognized by the Communities in Bloom judges, as well as the Golden Gardens, Canadian Wildlife Federation.

Pollard, who has run horticultural programs over the years at Providence Farm in B.C., says that another challenge to expect when developing programs is managing the priorities of funding and facility providers. “Make sure you do your research,” she advises. “Get all the material you need to make a case, but also research what is important to a particular administration so you can ultimately help them look good.”

At the end of the day, these horticultural therapists are driven by a real passion for their work – no doubt because they regularly witness positive change in their clients. And that, says Pollard, makes it all worthwhile.

• Print
  Follow us on
  
  Share