Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

“The importance of feeling connected is an early theme in
the writing of both ecologists [references are cited] and
ecopsychologists [references are cited]. They have argued
that this connection to nature is a key component of fostering
ecological behavior. For example, the influential ecologist
Leopold (1949) wrote years ago: ‘We abuse land because we
regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land
as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it
with love and respect.” (p. 504)
Mayer and Frantz have also developed a ‘Connectedness to Nature Scale’
(CNS), which is a “new measure of individuals’ trait levels of feeling
emotionally connected to the natural world” (Mayer and Frantz, 2004,
p. 460). In recent research (Hine et al, 2008), connectedness to nature
has also been shown to be related to an increase in both awareness of
environmental issues and in environmentally friendly behaviour.
Given that ‘connectedness’ to nature is both desirable and beneficial, then
it follows that a disconnection from nature is likely to have negative effects
both on the psychological health of individuals and on the way populations
value and conserve our natural environment.
It also follows that many people who are ill or distressed would benefit
from a reconnection to nature and this premise forms the basis of green
care.
The key element in all the different forms of green care is to use nature to
produce health, social or educational benefits to a wide range of vulnerable
people.
2.3.4 Using nature-connectedness in therapy
There are some published examples of the “greening” of counselling
and psychotherapy in which a natural element is introduced into a more
traditional therapy relationship. Burns’ (1998) approach to hypnosis
makes extensive use of nature-based exercises. Linden and Grut (2002)
describe psychotherapeutic work during allotment gardening with victims
of torture. Berger’s “nature-informed therapy” uses the relationship with
nature as the key reference point for therapy (Berger and McLeod, 2006).
Hegarty (2007) describes imaginal and in-vivo nature-based therapy.
20 Green Care: A Conceptual Framework