Any time I think of a therapy session, I automatically
think, okay... I am about to sit in a room for an hour or so and do some activities
that the therapist says to do and go about my day. But wait. What if someone
made it a little more interesting and engaging… what about the idea of
conducting the intervention outside in nature itself? I personally think this
is a great idea and a great way for extra motivation during a therapy session.
Of course, I was not the one to come up with this idea. I listened to a podcast
by Amy Seymore (2017), and she explained not only the idea of “nature-based
therapy”, but the importance of it and how it has such a positive impact on
clients, especially in pediatrics.
For me, even as an adult, I would much rather be
outside and enjoying nature, so I really love the kind of intervention that Amy
Seymore practices. She explains that using the things that we use outside, promotes
realistic results because it is not simulated in the same ways it would be inside
the clinic. For kids, it also promotes motivation especially when asking the
right questions during intervention and guiding them through appropriate and effective
activities. Amy also said that this specific therapy benefits kids with sensory
processing disorders and attention deficit disorders which I thought was interesting
because it almost seems like a tailor-made intervention which is what OT’s
always keep in mind. Using branches, streams, mud piles, sticks, rocks, and the
plethora of objects that are in nature are great, tangible resources for building
sensory skills. Using this kind of therapy still tests all the same things as
it would inside the clinic but uses a different environmental stimulus and
physical context. As a future OT practitioner, I am definitely going to keep
this practice in mind.
Resource
Seymore,
A. (Host). (2017, September 10). Nature-Based Therapy [Audio podcast episode].
In Glass Half Full. Sofo Studios. https://glasshalffullot.com/podcast/nature-based-therapy/
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