A horticulture therapist is a therapeutic professional who engages in horticultural tasks with patients, which can range from preparing a garden site to selling produce at farmers’ markets. Horticultural therapy is used in rehabilitation programs for people who have physical, mental, or psychological disabilities, as well as in prison and elderly care. To work as a horticultural therapist, you must have a passion for gardening and a desire to help others. You must also complete a rehabilitation professional training program, followed by work experience in a therapy garden.
Working in a garden can be very therapeutic, as many gardeners already know. Gardening can be both emotionally and physically relaxing, encouraging a connection with the earth and providing a focal point, as well as physically beneficial, allowing people to gently push their bodies to perform a variety of physical tasks. A horticultural therapist offers advice and support that is specific to the patient’s situation, ranging from a troubled adolescent who is encouraged to garden to work out psychological issues to an elderly man in a wheelchair who believes he won’t be able to garden until a horticultural therapist works with him to create a safe environment in which to do so.
People with mental illnesses were recommended to work in gardens as early as the 1700s. Horticultural therapy can help people with permanent disabilities, as well as those recovering from physical or emotional trauma, and those who need to improve their social skills. A horticultural therapist may choose to specialize in a specific issue, such as providing adaptive techniques to people with disabilities or assisting people with mental illness, or work more broadly as a therapist with all types of people.
A horticultural therapist can use therapy sessions to teach people useful skills in addition to using the garden for therapy and rehabilitation. Gardening skills, for example, can be taught to people with mental disabilities so that they can gain more independence and the opportunity to work. Similarly, a program that develops vocational skills that can be used on the outside to prevent recidivism may benefit inmates. Horticulture therapists can also give back to their communities by working with their patients to establish community gardens and support beautification efforts.
Working with children, the mentally ill, veterans, people with disabilities, surgical patients, the elderly, and prisoners, for example, are all areas of special interest for someone interested in a career as a horticultural therapist. If a prospective therapist knows what area of interest appeals to them, they can find a training program tailored to people who want to work in that field.