The final visit of the AHTA conference pre-tours was to the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Minneapolis.
The horticultural therapy program is run from the Center for Spirituality and Healing and is part of Nature Based Therapeutics (NBT), which also includes animal-assisted interactions, facilitated green exercise, therapeutic landscapes and care farming. The Center offers courses in ‘Therapeutic Landscapes: Therapeutic Benefits of Plants, Landscapes and Natural Environments’, ‘Therapeutic Horticulture: Improving Wellbeing Through Plant Environments’ and ‘Applications in Therapeutic Horticulture’.
The horticultural therapy program commenced in 1992 and states it’s goal as “maximising individual quality of life, developing skills and attributes necessary for self determination, and promoting community integration through the simple pleasures of the garden”. It estimates that each year over 4,000 people have benefited from the program’s horticultural and nature based therapeutic activities.
As well as offering on site sessions the Center delivers off-site specifically designed sessions and consultation as well as support and professional advice on creating a therapeutic landscape.
It was also chance for me to experience some Minnesota late summer weather. Extremely heavy downpour of rain for about an hour followed by a sunny and very humid afternoon where all signs of rain had vanished within two hours.
The arboretum is vast and well worth visiting whether you are exploring the nature based therapeutics or not. I particularly enjoyed the board walk across the wetland marsh.
The Arboretum and University of Minnesota are clearly at the cutting edge of work, teaching and research in horticultural and nature based therapies. Long may it continue.
For more information about the Arboretum’s horticultural and nature based therapy programs please visit: http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/ht_engage.aspx
The Travelling Horticultural Therapist 