The Healing Effect of the Forest in Integrative Therapy

The healing effects of the forest in integrative therapy are the focus of this book. Special emphasis is placed on teaching active forest life exercises that can be used in therapeutic practice in individual and group settings. In addition, the application as a prescription in the context of therapeutic interventions is demonstrated and the importance of increasing the inclusion of forest life in the case history is clarified. The attitude of complex mindfulness and practical integrative ecopsychosomatics open up possibilities of a care for the world in a time of alienation from nature with a simultaneous longing for nature; commitment to the preservation of nature strengthens an experience of solidarity and is at the same time effective self-care.

The author

Astrid Polz-Watzenig is a theologian, psychotherapist (integrative therapy) and coach. She is a certified nature park time-out facilitator and breathing and mindfulness teacher of the Vienna Breathing School, heads the Teaching Institute for Marriage and Family Counseling of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau, and is a lecturer at UNI for LIFE at the University of Graz.