Can nature be used as ‘treatment’ for adults with psychological complaints?

Evidence supporting the beneficial effects of nature on our health and wellbeing is accumulating. These insights are being used increasingly for the treatment of people with psychological problems, the so-called nature assisted-therapies, like walking therapy. On the one hand, using ‘nature as a treatment room’ is suggested to be more effective than receiving treatment indoors, whereas on the other hand, healthcare professionals themselves report being more vital and healthy providing treatment outdoors, which is a prerequisite for high quality of care. However, the use of nature in the mainstream healthcare practices is far from accepted.

For students looking for a thesis or internship opportunity we offer the following vacancy:

Investigate the experiences of clients and therapists with nature-assisted and nature-based therapies, and explore how stakeholders involved in the mainstream healthcare sector perceive of this kind of therapy.

Interested or want to know more about the project? Contact Esther Veen at esther.veen@wur.nl