By Jennifer O'Hara • June 24, 2009
... Apparently, for some time now, therapists have been keenly aware of the mental health benefits of growing food, caring for the plants and then reaping the rewards. The growing field is called "horticulture therapy" or simply "HT." According to the American Horticulture Association's Web site, " ... HT is recognized as a practical and viable treatment with wide-ranging benefits for people in therapeutic, vocational and wellness programs." The therapy apparently was successfully used to help rehabilitate WWII veterans in the 1940s and '50s.
Other moving examples are provided in a report by Konrad R. Neuberger (supervisor of the Horticulture Work Therapy Program at Langenfeld Hospital in West Germany) published on the German Web site: Gartenbau Und Therapie. Neuberger advocates using the garden as a metaphor to help patients help themselves. After seeing a strawberry field turn into a village before my eyes, I can certainly imagine the greater good to be achieved by cultivating a garden.
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