Updated on 11/15/2020

What is Horticultural Therapy?

Horticultural therapy is a technique that relies on plants and gardening to help people overcome health issues such as high blood pressure and memory disorders. It can also greatly help those battling depression, anxiety, addiction, and for survivors of abuse. This form of therapy is connected to the concept of “biophilia,” which is the idea that people are genetically connected to nature and plant life. The goal of horticultural therapy, or “plant therapy,” is to help patients build self-confidence, social connections, increase compassion, and get out into nature more frequently. Plant therapy, when undertaken to improve symptoms of depression and anxiety, is generally most effective when leveraged in combination with moretraditional therapyapproaches, including talk therapy and medication.

Many studies have been conducted to prove that plants have therapeutic effects on people. Oneclinical studyin particular found that people who care for plants tend to be more compassionate and empathetic towards those around them. Additionally, furtherresearchreinforces that this form of therapy has a positive impact on anxiety and can improve overall mental health and wellness. Someuniversitiescontinue to see positive results in research that gardening is a productive way to improve mental and emotional health.

Rest assured, if you don’t want to take up gardening or add any house plants to your home, you might be able to reap some benefits similar to those of horticultural therapy with essential oils. The use of essential oils, which are organic compounds made from biological material such as seeds, leaves, blossoms, and roots, can be used to boost your mood, mental state, and overall health. This type of aromatherapy can also help alleviate some symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Some essential oils recommended for treating symptoms of depression include:

Some essential oils recommended for treating symptoms of anxiety include:

How Plant Therapy Improves Mental Health

Research helps illuminate the positive effects of gardening and maintaining plants, but what exactly makes horticulture so healing? There are some key factors:

Even if you don’t have any major mental health concerns, know that plant therapy still has positive benefits for everyone. In the most basic way, plants can help us decompress, unwind, and calm down after a stressful day or when we’re feeling upset. In the long run, plant therapy can also help us foster long term success, recovery, and positive emotional well-being. It’s a natural, practical, and effective way to help us take care of ourselves. If you are looking to incorporate plant therapy in your life to help with symptoms of depression or anxiety, know that this natural treatment is most effective in combination with other treatment methods such as speaking with a therapist.

The hardest part about exploring plant therapy is actually starting, but fortunately, tending to plant life is affordable and easy! You might even find a handful of houseplant options at your local supermarket.

The Future of Horticultural Therapy

The interest in gardening and plants continues to increase with the growing recognition of the health benefits that accompany being in and around nature. This is an impressive leap forward from the origins of plant therapy, which was initially used following the firstWorld War. At first, plant therapy was used as a treatment forveteransexperiencing PTSD and later was added as a therapy program at the Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine and has been used ever since.

Today, theAmerican Horticultural Therapy Associationcarries the torch forward, with the rallying cry that a person’s quality of life and the strength of their mental health is directly related to their relationship with nature and plants. Their work serves as the foundation for many current plant-based therapy programs, and provides simple ways to incorporate plant life in a person’s day-to-day activities.

If you are interested in reaping the benefits of gardening and tending to plants, there are some simple ways to get started right away. Taking the leap with a plant or flower that is easy to take care of can help open the door to being around more shades of green — and just looking at plants can help reduce anxiety and have a calming effect. Buying a plant is a small, affordable act that can have a positive impact on improving overall mental health with the added bonus of brightening up your home. Now get planting!

Our goal at Talkspace is to provide the most up-to-date, valuable, and objective information on mental health-related topics in order to help readers make informed decisions.

Articles contain trusted third-party sources that are either directly linked to in the text or listed at the bottom to take readers directly to the source.

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