Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

health-giving and that people seeking help benefit from being guided
(with the help of the therapist and nature-based exercises) towards such a
relationship.
Since the nineties however, Burns (2009), together with others (Buzzell
and Chalquist, 2009; Fisher 2009) have acknowledged the social context
of ecotherapy. Burns (2009) contends that ecotherapy “fits within the
definition of a “third wave” approach in that it is a therapy that is more
solution-based” (p. 95).
This is also reflected in further research on the applications of ‘ecotherapy’,
both in practice and education (Burls and Caan, 2005; Burls, 2007)
and a description of a contemporary model of ecotherapy for the 21st
century (Burls, 2008) has been developed. Contemporary ecotherapy
can be described as taking the “third wave” therapy model one stage
further as it adopts an ‘ecosystem health’ approach with a broad focus of
transdisciplinarity. This emphasises social attitudes as well as research and
activities which imply an element of reciprocity between human and nature
and promote positive action on the environment that improve community
well-being.
The paradigm of contemporary ecotherapy outlines two levels of
involvement: the micro-level of the therapeutic process and the macro-level
of the wider social processes. This process broadens a view of the self as
part of a ‘larger whole’, which individuals come to appreciate and nurture,
thus engendering reciprocity towards their ecosystem. The powerful effects
of this dimension radiate out from the personal ‘microcosm’ towards the
exterior ‘macrocosm’ of social parameters. Fisher (2009) contends that
people are ‘social animals’, therefore their psychological dimension also
‘dwells in society’.
Ecotherapy brings about the enlightenment that nature not only helps us to
find a personal healthy bio-psychological equilibrium, but that the health
of our ecosystem is an inextricable element of our community and social
system. Ecotherapeutic practice cannot therefore bypass social issues, nor
can it bypass public health, political and policy issues. Ecotherapeutic
spaces and projects can also be used by the community for the benefit of
the public at large and for that of the ecosystem; they also help the public
reconnect with nature and can lead to behavioural and social changes.
Ecotherapeutic spaces are therefore multi-functional spaces. Although
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