Healing Gardens w

hen I was a child, I loved to go to my grandma’s gardens; they were a place of peace and healing. In the words of John Muir, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.”

Creating a safe space is foundational for healing. Diverse cultures throughout the ages used gardens for this reason. Accounts of this include Monet’s use of a garden to assist in healing. Physicians during the time Christ prescribed nature as well. Native American tribes have used nature spiritually as it has been integrated into all aspects of life. For a period of time, nature was removed from the Western healing process and replaced by sterility and a focus on pharmaceuticals. Thankfully, science has provided empirical evidence that nature is healing and the current trend is for gardens to be created in all setting for healing and education including clinics, hospitals, prisons and schools.

Now research supports that nature has a profound impact on mental, cognitive and physical health. Nature has been found to do all of the following: z Decrease depression, anxiety and stress z Increase hope z Decrease symptoms of ADHD z Decrease agitation z Improve sleep z Increase empathy and improve behaviors such as cooperation z Increase creativity z Improved sense of well-being z Promotes self-control z Promotes cognitive development and exibility z Existential bene ts such as a sense of purpose

Creating an environment that facilitates emotional, behavioral and spiritual healing was the goal when creating Chrysalis Behavioral Health Services. This small practice, in a residential neighborhood, was designed to feel like visiting a friend or grandparent. In the backyards of the practice there are four healing gardens. The gardens, named the Luella Potter Healing Gardens, are dedicated to my grandmother.

One of the gardens focuses on spirituality and existential meaning. A labyrinth was drawn by Paul Campbell and he, Pastor Cathi Bishop and I cut into the clay soil. Bricks were laid to mark the labyrinth. The path of a labyrinth has been used for thousands of years and across cultures for purposes related to spirituality and emotional processing.

It can be used for walking meditations or contemplative prayer. A second garden is a butter y garden which allows spaces for intimate conversations about relationships, grief and transition. Many plants within the gardens have meaning. For instance, within the butter y garden there are lilacs. Lilacs used to be planted on midwestern farms when families would experience infant loss or miscarriage. A third garden is focused on group gatherings and animal-assisted therapy. The fourth garden is the active and sensory garden.

The ways in which a garden can heal are numerous, and practices such as mindfulness meditation can enhance the treatments used by mental health professionals. For example, mindfulness meditation focuses on the ve senses of taste, touch, smell, hearing and sight. O en in therapy, a counselor may read an imagery script about being in a safe space or eating a strawberry. Within the healing gardens the mindfulness meditation is a lived experience. Within the healing gardens there is lamb’s ear for touching, monarda for smelling, tulips for seeing, water features for hearing and apples for eating. In a corner of the children’s garden, lilacs and mock orange are growing, creating an enclosed space of refuge. Games are used in the active garden such as feelings hopscotch and “Coping Skills Connect Four.” All ages can engage in active gardening or creating nature mandalas. Herbs grow outside the window of the “Connections Kitchen.” For those seeking bene ts of passive use of the gardens, there are safe spaces such as a bench and a family-sized enclosure called a “hugglepod.” Symbols provide meaning to the observer. Metaphors abound in the space. The healing gardens are created to allow for space to seek safety and heal.

ANGELA

CAVETT, PhD is the clinical director and psychologist at Chrysalis Behavioral Health Services and Training Center where she provides individual, play, group and family therapies for children and families as they heal from trauma, anxiety and mood disorders. Learn more at chrysalispc.com.