Ecotherapy: The Behavioral Science Behind Healing Outdoors

Studies have revealed a higher prevalence of mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety among urban dwellers.² Perhaps this is why we crave green spaces in our cities and why something as simple as a walk in the park or a weekend retreat for a hike nearby can leave us feeling renewed. Could this craving for nature be more than just for aesthetic pleasure or the search for beauty, but a fundamental human need to address our modern maladies?

While we spend 90% of our time indoors glued to screens,³ research for a long time has been pointing to the restorative power of being outside. There's a growing body of scientific evidence demonstrating how contact with the natural world can significantly improve memory and attention, reduce stress, increase creativity and productivity, improve self-esteem, and lead to greater happiness and life satisfaction, among other benefits.⁴ Increasingly, connecting with nature is also being used for unlocking deeper healing for common mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorders.⁴

The evidence is loud and clear: nature plays an important role in our well-being. We can leverage this resource to unlock its full therapeutic potential—which is where ecotherapy comes into play.

Ecotherapy, also known as nature or green therapy, is an approach that taps into the restorative effects of the natural environment on individuals. It is grounded in the growing field of ecopsychology first developed in the 1990s which explores the synergistic relationship between human well-being and planetary well-being. In his book Ecotherapy: Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth, Professor of Pastoral Psychology Howard Clinebell first referred to ecotherapy as “healing and growth nurtured by healthy interaction with the earth.”⁵

Since then, ecotherapy has evolved into a recognized evidence-based approach to healing, recovery, and holistic wellness. As a treatment, it typically involves structured activities taking place under the guidance of certified or trained professionals, including clinicians, therapists, and other specialists. This allows for tailored interventions and better support in processing emotions and experiences during the program.

Ecotherapy facilitates empowerment and healing by guiding individuals through positive emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes. According to a qualitative investigation on the effects of nature therapy on recovery—covering a range of mental health challenges such as depression, alcoholism, substance abuse, and stress—ecotherapy takes individuals through the following six-step process grounded in behavioral science:⁶

1. Stimulation: Ecotherapy begins with immersing the individual in the sensory experiences offered by nature—from the sound of waves to the smell of the forest. This sensory stimulation profoundly influences our human psychology such as the way natural colors like green evoke soothing emotions that can boost our mental health. Positive stimulation and sensory processing help individuals overcome negative emotions by experiencing beauty, fascination, pleasure, and joy in nature, which all come together as a starting point for healing.
2. Acceptance: After being immersed, nature eventually induces a sense of calm within individuals. The peaceful setting helps quiet negative obsessive thinking or inaccurate perceptions of reality that encourage stress and disorders like depression and anxiety. Individuals also report feeling a sense of consolation and empathy in being interconnected to the ecosystem.
3. Purification: Beyond acceptance, ecotherapy interventions openly allow for the release of suppressed negative emotions which tend to impede our decision-making on the road to recovery. As put in the qualitative investigation, this phase involves “emptying and washing away the mind and emotions.” In some interventions, purification allows for channeling emotional energy into a productive and grounding task.
4. Insight: This is one of the most vital phases where substantial cognitive changes start to take place after individuals become in touch with themselves through reflection and meditation. According to Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory, exposure to nature improves cognitive processes and allows the brain to function more effortlessly, thereby prompting it to recover attention capacity.⁷ This pushes individuals undergoing ecotherapy to look inward and gain self-awareness, authenticity, a willingness to change, and the power to choose.
5. Recharging: The awareness and reflection from the previous phase encourage cognitive restructuring that leads people to challenge unhelpful thought patterns contributing to their tendency to fall into a cycle of negativity. By breaking this habit, they experience hope, confidence, and renewed self-esteem toward healing and recovery.
6. Change: This final phase of nature-based therapy is characterized by the attitude and behavior changes from new emotions, insights, and energy gained throughout the process. In this way, nature becomes a springboard for a positive transformation in how individuals communicate and interact with the world around them.

The six steps of ecotherapy inspire transformation when people start taking control through actions (behavioral activation) and start believing in themselves (self-efficacy).⁸ Behavioral activation, a cornerstone in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is a proactive approach in which people carry out meaningful activities toward their well-being. In the case of ecotherapy, nature provides a personal playground for individuals to engage in exercise, art, or connecting with social circles that one might have rarely, if ever, prioritized. Engagement in these activities then fosters a sense of accomplishment which fuels self-efficacy or one’s belief about their ability to heal, grow, or achieve lasting well-being.

While an integral part of it, ecotherapy goes beyond a casual stroll in the park or a passive appreciation of the great outdoors. It leverages the power of nature in a diverse range of transformative interventions to spur positive changes. Here are some unique ways nature becomes an active tool for improving well-being and catalyzing healing.⁹

Forest Bathing

Shinrin-Yoku, or forest bathing, is a traditional Japanese practice of immersing one’s senses in nature. It entails leisurely walking, sitting, or standing in a forest and observing one’s surroundings while applying the principles of mindfulness. This has been an important part of healing and preventative health care in Japan since the 1980s to prevent tech-boom burnout and to inspire residents to reconnect with and protect the country’s forests. Physiologically, studies show a reduction in human heart rate and blood pressure following forest bathing. Moreover, it increases relaxation, provides a sense of calm and safety, and has even been found to improve post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.¹⁰

Green Exercise

Green exercise is taking physical activity and combining it with exposure to nature to make the most of both of their individual effects on health and well-being. This could come in the form of facilitated hiking, cycling, boating, or even jogging in the park—either individually or with a group. The synergistic benefits of green exercising are not limited to endorphin boosts but also provide relaxation, better attention focus, and vitality. Compliance with these physical activity interventions is also higher due to the alluring beauty of nature or a sense of belonging during group green exercises.¹¹

Wilderness Therapy

Wilderness therapy involves stress inoculation strategies where individuals are pushed outside their comfort zones through immersive and challenging experiences such as expeditions and adventures in remote natural locations. This experiential intervention, most often used among adolescents at risk for mental health, substance abuse, and delinquency issues, uses the principles of reinforcement theory by subjecting them to challenges testing their survival and problem-solving skills in the wilderness. 

The sense of accomplishment from successfully overcoming these challenges can positively reinforce resilient behaviors that equip individuals to navigate real-world challenges. Coupled with individual or group therapy sessions with mental health professionals, this approach works by giving the time and opportunity to reflect and encouraging self-discovery.¹²

Animal-Assisted Interventions

Animal-assisted interventions involve building a therapeutic relationship with animals—typically dogs, cats, fish, birds, and horses—under the guidance of a trained expert. Studies on these interventions suggest significant benefits, such as reducing stress, anxiety, and pain, especially among children, psychiatric, and elderly patients. Interestingly, animals have been used to mediate human social interactions. The sense of comfort from an animal can help a patient feel more open with their therapist during sessions, and even cultivate greater social comfort in general, especially for people with social anxiety or experiencing isolation.^13,14

Care Farming

Care farming involves the therapeutic use of farming practices—be they recreational or work-related—to promote health and well-being. These interventions have been used for populations dealing with autism, dementia, substance abuse, and trauma, among others. Aside from direct contact with nature, care farms often nurture a sense of community and an overall supportive environment.¹⁵

In our age of hyperconnectivity, reclaiming a sense of balance through access to and activity with nature is increasingly essential. While being immersed directly in the outdoors is ideal, urban dwellers or those with limited access can also benefit by incorporating biophilic touches into their living spaces—for example, letting natural light in or adding some indoor plants. They can also tune into the sounds of nature for their mindfulness or meditation practices, or even as background noise for their deep work sessions.

Ecotherapy and the interventions above reinforce the power of our natural environment for our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. In the same way nature heals us, we also hold the power and responsibility to heal nature, guaranteeing a healthier future for all.