During the Victorian era, gardens were often found
in hospital settings. And beginning in the nineteenth century, French churches
advocated community gardens as a way to improve the circumstances of the
working poor. In the United States, the Quakers’ Friends Hospital in
Pennsylvania treated patients suffering from mental ill health with gardening
and walks in the surrounding lands.
This focus on nature and healing, however, was lost
for much of the twentieth century, and only in the past few decades have
outdoor and nature-based therapies once again gained popularity. Some interesting and
important work is being done with victims of torture, and I’ll share two examples.
Healing
gardens for victims of torture
In Germany, the Berlin Center for Torture Victims
(Behandlungszentrum für Folteropfer Berlin) incorporates a garden project, the Intercultural Healing Garden, as part
of its work with victims of torture and human rights violations from more than
50 countries. For many of the patients, gardening is meaningful work that
improves their health and well-being, and self-confidence. And as the Center
describes, many patients come from rural areas where gardening was a part of
their daily reality, and so work in the Intercultural Healing Garden helps to
reconnect them with some of the positive aspects of their former lives, despite living through horrific experiences of torture.
The Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis similarly incorporates a garden. Clients, many of whom suffer from
post-traumatic distress, can wait for their appointments in the garden, and
many of the Center’s counselors also spend time there to help them cope with
the stress and anguish that come from hearing stories of pain and suffering
every day. Sarah Wash reports that
many of the Center’s staff have also taken up gardening at home. Further, since
trauma survivors often suffer from loneliness and isolation, the Center uses
gardening “to help people connect with one another and reestablish a sense of
trust” (¶6).
The Center’s garden designer Betty Ann Addison
beautifully tells Sarah Wash that:
“Gardens are all about transition – whether it
be from illness to healing or from life to death. They change by the hour,
week, month, and year. They require us to relinquish control: A deep
appreciation of life emerges with each sprouting plant, even the weeds. And
simply by embracing natural rhythms, people from all walks of life, no matter
the nature of their past experiences, can learn to accept the inevitability of
loss and find hope in the promise of new life.” (¶7)
The
bottom line
The word “meaningful” comes up often in my own research, and I also find it here in connection
with the work on healing gardens – particularly in the ways that gardening and connecting
with the earth, soil and plants provides meaningful connections with life in
the face of horrific and traumatizing experiences. And for me, it highlights the importance of reflecting on and finding meaningful work in all of our lives, in contrast with the sometimes mundane – and perhaps meaningless – tasks that many of us are asked to do.
References:
Berlin Center for Torture Victims (no date). Healing garden.
Di Iacovo, Francesco, and O’Connor, Deirdre (Eds).
(2009). Supporting policies for socialfarming in Europe: Progressing multifunctionality in responsive rural areas.
Press Service srl, Sesto Fiorentino (FI).
Louv, Richard. (2008). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit
disorder (updated and expanded). Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of
Chapel Hill.
Messer Diehl, Elizabeth R. (2009). Gardens that
heal. In L. Buzzell and C. Chalquist (Eds). Ecotherapy:
Healing with nature in mind (pp. 166-173). San Francisco: Sierra Club
Books.
Pretty, Jules. (2004). How nature contributes to mental and physical
health. Spirituality
and Health International, 5(2),
68-78.
Wash, Sarah. (2006). The healing power of flowers:Torture
victims turn to gardens for hope. Utne Magazine (March/April).
No comments:
Post a Comment