What is Adventure & Nature Therapy?

Adventure & Nature Therapy represent a holistic and experiential approach that integrates action, reflection, and connection with the natural environment to support or independently create therapeutic settings.
Their purpose is to initiate developmental and self-healing processes by engaging clients in meaningful, embodied experiences that activate intrinsic motivation and personal responsibility.

Unlike experiential education, these therapeutic forms work with heightened sensitivity to clients’ stress levels, emotional capacities, and psychological needs, tailoring interventions to individual or group processes. They focus on developing alternative emotional responses to stress, while strengthening resources, coping strategies, and behavioral flexibility.

Nature Therapy, as a specific branch within this broader field, emphasizes immersion in natural environments and mindful sensory awareness. Through slowing down, noticing, and reconnecting with the surrounding landscape, clients can restore balance, reduce stress, and strengthen their sense of belonging to the natural world.

Change emerges through the alignment of external experience and inner transformation. In natural environments or within carefully designed experiential settings, clients encounter themselves through action and reflection. This process deepens self-awareness, resilience, and connection—transforming experience into personal growth and well-being.

(Based on: Bous, B. & Thiesen, C. (2022). Erlebnistherapie. e&l – erleben & lernen, Issue 5; referencing the position paper of the “Fachgruppe Erlebnistherapie” of the German Association for Individual and Experiential Education (Bundesverband Individual- und Erlebnispädagogik e.V.); Lakemann 2018; Gilsdorf 2004; Michl 2018; Li 2018.)

Foundational References:

Bous, B., & Thiesen, C. (2022). Erlebnistherapie. e&l – erleben & lernen, 5, 16–21.

Lakemann, R. (2018). Erlebnistherapie: Grundlagen und Praxisfelder. Bielefeld: Bertelsmann.

Gilsdorf, A. (2004). Therapie in Bewegung. Heidelberg: Edition Erlebnispädagogik.

Michl, W. (2018). Erlebnispädagogik und Therapie. Munich: Reinhardt.

Recent evidence indicates a clear evolution of Adventure & Nature Therapy:

• expanding from the treatment of specific clinical conditions toward prevention, rehabilitation, and everyday health,
• moving beyond purely outdoor models to include digital and hybrid nature experiences,
• and widening its reach from trauma- or youth-focused programs to inclusive, lifespan-oriented, and community-based interventions.

Together, these developments position Adventure and Nature Therapy as a core component of integrative, salutogenic, and planetary health models.

New and Emerging Fields of Application

Nature-Based Interventions (NBI)

A recent systematic review identifies 13 categories of nature-based interventions—including horticultural therapy, wilderness/adventure therapy, and structured nature experiences—as a growing and diverse field of therapeutic practice.
(Frontiers in Psychology; ScienceDirect)

These approaches expand the therapeutic landscape beyond traditional clinical goals toward health promotion, stress reduction, and everyday well-being.

Indoor and Digital Nature-Contact Interventions

Recent studies show that even indoor environments containing natural elements—such as wood, plants, or immersive digital nature simulations—can positively influence mood, stress regulation, and cognitive activation.
(arXiv)

This opens new possibilities for people who have limited mobility, live in highly urbanized settings, or lack regular access to natural environments.

Neurodiversity & Cognitive–Physical Health

Research indicates that nature- and adventure-based approaches can be effectively used with older adults, individuals with cognitive limitations, and in rehabilitation contexts (e.g., following traumatic brain injury).
For instance, digital or VR-based nature environments have demonstrated improvements in mood and cognitive stimulation among older participants.
(arXiv)

This reflects a shift from treating only classical clinical disorders toward supporting daily functioning, quality of life, and preventive health.

Occupational and Everyday Therapy Interventions

A recent review highlights that nature-based elements are increasingly integrated into occupational therapy—through gardening, environmental design, or everyday nature engagement.
(SAGE Journals)

This shows that nature- and adventure-based approaches are no longer confined to psychotherapeutic settings but are expanding into vocational, rehabilitative, and community-based contexts.

ATI particularly values a generalist and interdisciplinary mindset among teachers and learners—bridging fields of medicine, health sciences, social work, psychology, education, and ecology—to foster holistic competence and professional integrity.

✅ Summary:

Your current theoretical set is up-to-date, but you can strengthen it by explicitly adding:

• Embodiment / Somatic approaches,
• Salutogenesis and health promotion,
• Ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, Bateson), and
• Phenomenological and intercultural perspectives.

These additions reflect the 2023–2025 international research trends (Bratman et al., 2025; Pryor & Carpenter, 2023; Jordan & Hinds, 2016; Fraleigh, 2023) and align ATI with the latest European Adventure Therapy curriculum standards (ATE, ICATC, IAAT).

Theoretical Foundations of Adventure & Nature Therapy

Practitioner & Therapist Levels

Core Attitude

ATI emphasizes a generalist and interdisciplinary mindset, integrating perspectives from medicine, health sciences, psychology, education, social work, and ecology.
This approach fosters professional reflection, ethical integrity, and a holistic understanding of human development within natural and social systems.

Possibilities and Effects of Adventure, Nature, and Forest Therapy

Current international research coordinated by the International Adventure Therapy Committee (IATC) and its working group Common Practice Elements and Research Edges identifies the key mechanisms and effects of Adventure, Nature, and Forest Therapy.
These approaches facilitate therapeutic change across multiple, interconnected dimensions of human experience – physical, psychological, social, ecological, and ethical – through experiential, embodied, and nature-based processes.

Building on the work of Pryor & Carpenter (2023), these findings integrate evidence from Forest Therapy, Ecopsychology, and Nature-Based Interventions.
Together, they show how embodied experience, reflection, and connection with the natural world promote health, resilience, and personal growth across cultures and professional settings.

🔹Core Dimensions of Change and Effect

References (2023–2025):

• International Adventure Therapy Committee (IATC) – Research & Practice Working Group (2024).

• Pryor, A., & Carpenter, C. (2023). Exploring Common Practice Elements Towards an International Position Statement. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning.

• Bratman, G. N., Hartig, T., Kuo, M., & de Vries, S. (2025). Nature-Based Interventions: An Overview and Synthesis of Therapeutic Applications. Frontiers in Psychology, 16(1625294).

• Li, Q. (2018). Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness. Penguin Life.

• Antonelli, M., Barbieri, G., & Donelli, D. (2021). Effects of Forest Bathing (Shinrin-Yoku) on Stress and Health.Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 26(77).

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🌿 Mechanisms and Processes of Change in Adventure, Nature & Forest Therapy

Across all its dimensions, the effects and mechanisms of Adventure, Nature, and Forest Therapy are not only assumed but have been applied, evaluated, and documented in numerous professional articles and research studies.

Because of its multidimensional character, this therapeutic approach generates multicausal processes of change. Transformation rarely follows a single, linear path. For example, therapeutic progress is not solely dependent on verbal communication, but also on non-verbal, sensory, and embodied forms of interaction.
In practice, therapy may not focus exclusively on a physical goal such as “learning to walk again,” but rather on strengthening self-esteem and confidence, which in turn enhances motor security and physical capability—demonstrating the interconnected nature of body, mind, and environment.

The holistic scope of this model allows it to be viewed as cross-cultural and adaptable. Therapeutic attitudes and relationship styles differ between practitioners in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, India, Europe, and beyond, shaped by local socio-cultural values and worldviews. These cultural understandings deeply influence the therapeutic process and human–nature relationship.

Forest Therapy, within this context, emphasizes slowing down, sensory immersion, and mindful presence in nature. It complements adventure-based and experiential methods by grounding clients in the restorative and relational qualities of natural environments—fostering regulation, connectedness, and holistic well-being.

(Based on: Bous & Thiesen, 2022; Pryor & Carpenter, 2023; Bratman et al., 2025; Li, 2018; Antonelli et al., 2021.)

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🌱 Mechanisms and Processes of Change

Adventure, Nature, and Forest Therapy create change through experiential, embodied, and nature-based processes that go far beyond words.
Therapeutic transformation arises through movement, reflection, and connection—strengthening confidence, self-awareness, and resilience.
Because of its multidimensional nature, this approach integrates body, mind, and environment, allowing progress to emerge in unexpected, interrelated ways.
Its holistic and cross-cultural foundation makes it adaptable across regions and professions, uniting evidence-based practice with ecological awareness and mindful presence in the natural world.

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Where movement meets meaning, and change takes root in nature.

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Understanding the mechanisms of change in Adventure, Nature, and Forest Therapy.

4. Embodied & Experiential:
From experience to awareness — how nature fosters healing and growth.

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🔹 Meta Description (≈155 characters)

Discover how Adventure, Nature & Forest Therapy foster transformation through experience, embodiment, and connection with the natural world.

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Learn how movement, reflection, and nature work together in Adventure, Nature & Forest Therapy to create meaningful healing and growth.

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• Adventure Therapy mechanisms

• Nature Therapy processes of change

• Forest Therapy research

• Experiential therapy and embodiment

• Holistic nature-based interventions

• Human–nature connection in therapy

• Ecopsychology and resilience

• Therapeutic change through experience

• Nature and health promotion

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Adventure, Nature & Forest Therapy unite embodied experience, reflection, and nature connection to foster resilience and holistic healing across cultures.

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