Association of Social Therapeutic Horticulture
Facilitators in Ireland
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Engage in transformative healing through nature
Social Therapeutic Horticulture comprises tailored interventions delivered by qualified facilitators that aim to achieve specific outcomes for clients. It is a recognised practice that has been demonstrated to have a range of psychological and physical benefits, such as improved sociability, perceived life quality and satisfaction, mental health, and feeling of belonging and connectedness to community, nature and space.
What is Social Therapeutic Horticulture?
Healing
Empowerment
Community
Nature
STH can also be described as the process of using gardens, allotments, plants and plant materials within a particular method to improve mental and physical health. It can enable participants to understand themselves, achieve goals, and connect and engage with others and the environment. It can also stimulate feelings of safety, being valued and having a sense of belonging.
In Social Therapeutic Horticulture activities, the participants will work and connect through the medium of nature, plants and plant material. By using all their available senses, the participants will become more aware of nature in connection to themselves and their environment, regardless of their age, abilities and life phase.
Taken from 'What is Social & Therapeutic Horticulture (STH), and what are the benefits' , written by founding committee member Edith Gordon. Read the full article here.
“ Man feels himself isolated in the cosmos, because he is no longer involved in nature and has lost his emotional unconscious identity with natural phenomena…. No voices now speak to man from stones, plants and animals, nor does he speak to them believing they can hear. His contact with nature has gone, and with it has gone the profound emotional energy that this symbolic connection supplied.”
- Carl Gustav Jung (1968). Man & His Symbols.
Benefits of STH
Research has shown that engaging in STH interventions can bring about a range of social, mental and physiological benefits.
Improvements in...
Social interaction
of participants with disabilities [1]
Mental wellbeing
of young people [2]
Physiological wellbeing
of older people in long-term care [3]
References
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[1] Sempik J, Rickhuss C, Beeston A (2014) The effects of social and therapeutic horticulture on aspects of social behaviour. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 77(6), 313–319.
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[2] Chiumento A, Mukherjee I, Chandna J, Dutton C, Rahman A, Bristow K (2018) A haven of green space: learning from a
pilot pre-post evaluation of a school-based social and therapeutic horticulture intervention with children. BMC Public Health, 18, 836.
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[3] Barnicle T, Midden KS (2003) The Effects of a Horticulture Activity Program on the Psychological Well-being of Older People in a Long-term Care Facility. HortTechnology horttech, 13(1), 81-85
Watch this informative video to learn more
