Would you like to become a Social and Therapeutic Horticulture Practitioner to benefit others?
Would you like to learn how to harness and maximise the therapeutic benefits of gardens and gardening?
Are you a Healthcare Practitioner, Social Care Practitioner, Green Care Practitioner, Horticulturist or a Horticulture Educator?
Festina Lente & Thrive have just the courses for you!
Festina Lente Gardens in Bray, Co Wicklow is delighted to be a host training centre for Thrive UK to deliver their courses to the Irish market.
With nearly 40 years’ experience as the leading UK charity that uses gardening to help those whose lives are touched by disability, Thrive are experts at helping individuals and organisations to use social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) to help others. The courses are given by Damien Newman, Thrive’s Training Education and Consultancy manager.
Social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) involves the use of plants by a trained professional to meet certain clinically defined goals. STH is particularly relevant for the promotion of independence, health and well-being amongst groups and communities of vulnerable people. This can be achieved through active as well as passive involvement.
Organised therapeutic horticulture programmes have been shown to increase self-esteem and self-confidence, develop social and work skills, improve literacy and numeracy skills, increase general well-being and promote social interaction.
Social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) can benefit people in a number of ways:
- It can be part of a person’s rehabilitation process, to help them recover and ‘find their feet again’ after an illness or a difficult time in their lives.
- It can help people recover from a wide range of conditions
- It can help people to learn new skills
- Can help slow down the deterioration seen when someone has a degenerative illness.
- Better physical health through exercise and learning how to use or strengthen muscles to improve mobility
- Improved mental health through a sense of purpose and achievement
- The opportunity to connect with others – reducing feelings of isolation or exclusion
- Just feeling better for being outside, in touch with nature and in the ‘great outdoors’
- Social and therapeutic horticultural benefits people with many different disabilities, including those recovering from a stroke and heart disease, blind and partially sighted people, those in the early stages of dementia, and people with physical, mental health and learning disabilities.
These practitioner courses are for anyone interested in using Social and Therapeutic horticulture including healthcare practitioners, green care practitioners, horticulturists and horticulture educators who want to add to their understanding and professional development and volunteers who may be looking to improve their contributions to the emerging fields of Social and Therapeutic Horticulture and green care.
There are three courses on offer in Festina Lente Gardens in September and October 2018:
- Learn how to use Social and Therapeutic Horticulture to benefit people with mental health support needs – 8th & 9th September 2018
- Setting up a Social and Therapeutic Horticulture Project – 6th & 7th October 2018
- Learn how to use Social and Therapeutic Horticulture to benefit people with learning disabilities – 27th & 28th October 2018
Go to http://festinalente.ie/learn-social-therapeutic-horticulture-courses-by-thrive-in-2018/ for more details and to book your place.
