When I was a kid we spent a lot of time driving through beautiful native forest and our mum was well known for exclaiming “Look at the trees!”. It was less of an instruction and more of an involuntary gasp of wonder. And we did look. And the trees were wonderful. They still are.
Yet when people come to our clinics and services, often in their toughest or darkest times, what do we ask them to look at? Sterile clinic rooms? A faded Monet print or disconcertingly cheerful health information? Maybe a window, maybe not.
We know spending time in nature can be therapeutic. Forest bathing is a real and beautiful thing. Going the next step to conduct deep therapy in nature is a growing field.
We can rarely control the location we support people in. Either there is an amazing big tree out the window or there isn’t. But we can stop and reflect on the space we offer. What hard edges could be softened? What soothing colours, textures and images could we gently introduce? What links to nature might help ground the space and the people we invite into it?
Helen Mentha 