Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

ecotherapy has its legitimate origins in ecopsychology, it sits better within
the more radical concept of ecohealth. The framework of ecohealth aims
to achieve consensus and cooperation across all stakeholders, promoting
approaches which are less costly than many medical treatments or primary
health care interventions (Lebel, 2003) and which influence the broad
spectrum of social systems, from community dwellers to decision-makers,
about the value of ecosystem health as a crucial factor in public health.
Contemporary ecotherapy can, therefore, be defined as an umbrella term
for all nature-based methods aimed at the re-establishment of human
and ecosystem reciprocal well-being; a transdisciplinary and ecosystemic
approach aimed at the collaborative enhancement of physical,
psychological and social health for people, communities and ecosystems.
These outcomes are achieved through the development of a close personal
and collective relationship with the natural ecosystem. The praxis of
ecotherapy is based on a range of active interactions within multi-functional
green spaces.
4.6 Wilderness therapy
Turning to nature and the wilderness for opportunities for personal
awareness and personal change is not a new idea; the process has been
in existence in human cultures for thousands of years. However, in more
recent times the outdoors has been increasingly used to provide a range
of personal development and wellbeing opportunities through immersion
in natural, wild, and wilderness settings. Although the term ‘wilderness
therapy’ is a relatively new concept in Europe, it has been in existence in
the US for many years. Multiple definitions have evolved as the concept
has gained popularity, but they all acknowledge a therapeutic process which
is inherent in wilderness expeditions (Peacock et al, 2008).
Davis-Berman and Berman (1994) initially defined wilderness therapy as
“the use of traditional therapy techniques, especially for group therapy,
in an out-of-doors setting, utilising outdoor adventure pursuits and other
activities to enhance personal growth” (p.13). Crisp and O’Donnell (1998)
define wilderness therapy as: “generic group therapy and group system
models, inter-personal behavioural models, the experience of natural
consequences, and modified group psychotherapy applied into a wilderness
setting” (p.59). In more recent years, Connor (2007) has provided a more
44 Green Care: A Conceptual Framework