Giving language to horticultural therapy: framing horticultural therapy through the lens of empirically supported therapies
Date
2020
Authors
Ascencio, Jaime M., author
Rickard, Kathryn, advisor
Prince, Mark, advisor
Graham, Dan, committee member
Shillington, Audrey, committee member
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Abstract
Horticultural therapy, a plant-based intervention for reaching client goals, is an under-researched yet promising treatment modality for psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to forge a connection between empirically supported therapies (ESTs) and horticultural therapy's interventions by describing how EST methods were used in horticultural therapy. A horticultural therapy proof-of-concept study incorporated behavioral, positive, and humanistic ESTs with youth with disabilities and at-risk youth. The largest positive impacts of the intervention were on clients' prevocational skills, social skills, and gardening skills. No change was detected on measures of mindfulness, resilience, nature relatedness, or strengths use. The impact on depression yielded mixed results, and a small worsening was seen in the self-report of anxiety, strengths use, and emotion regulation. This study demonstrated that horticultural therapy utilizes components of a variety of ESTs and its impact can be quantitatively evaluated.
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Subject
behavioral therapy
empirically supported therapy
nature-based therapy
ecotherapy
at-risk youth
horticultural therapy