{"id":4002,"date":"2022-09-27T13:25:49","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T11:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturallybalanced.devversion.pl\/?p=4002"},"modified":"2023-05-30T10:00:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T08:00:03","slug":"therapeutic-ornithology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturallybalanced.devversion.pl\/en\/therapeutic-ornithology\/","title":{"rendered":"Therapeutic ornithology – practical experience from the 2022 Ecotherapy Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date of the last update: 27.09.2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practical experience from 2022 Ecotherapy Workshop<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos by Prof. S\u0142awomir Murawiec, MD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature-based interventions (NBIs) are gaining increasing interest in psychiatry, psychology and psychotherapy, offering a wide range of methods to improve both physical and mental well-being, capability to function in daily life and enhance mental health. Such interventions are also being developed in Poland, particularly in the field of forest bathing and, in recent years, therapeutic ornithology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Table of Contents:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. A new trend<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. 2022 Ecotherapy Workshop \u2013 where, when and what form did it have?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Therapeutic ornithology<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Participants\u2019 experiences<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    You can read this article in 4 minutes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A new trend<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Ecopsychology is a topic that was broadly discussed by an American scientist, Theodore Roszak, among other in his \u201cVoice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology\u201d study. Just as ecopsychology situates itself at the intersection of ecology and psychology, ecotherapy intertwines ecology with psychotherapy. M. Amos-Clifford, specialised in so-called forest bathing, also wrote about how to find health in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Therapeutic ornithology is a relatively new trend in nature-based interventions. The book \u201cTherapeutic Ornithology. Birds \u2013 Health \u2013 Psyche\u201d published in 2021 and written by Piotr Tryjanowski and S\u0142awomir Murawiec, has sparked a wave of interest in Poland in this way of influencing wellbeing and mental health. Therapeutic ornithology is a new and still developing method, which requires refining in terms of both its techniques and describing the ways in which it affects the human psyche. The summary of 2022 Ecotherapy workshop presented here indicates that therapeutic ornithology has a multidirectional impact on several components of mental life: sensory perception, emotions, the cognitive sphere, the aesthetic sphere and social relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2022 Ecotherapy Workshop \u2013 where, when and what form did it have?<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n
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    The therapeutic workshop organised by the Forest Therapy Centre workshop took place on 22\u201324 June 2022 in the Biebrza River Valley. There was a group of 12 adult participants involved in the process. All activities were led by psychiatrists with additional specialisation in ecotherapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The main activities that engaged the entire group during the workshop were forest bathing (shinrin-yoku), therapeutic ornithology walks and mindfulness exercises in nature. Each activity was preceded by a theoretical introduction explaining its nature and health benefits documented by research. Participants discussed their subjective experiences as a group each time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Therapeutic ornithology<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n
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    Therapeutic ornithology classes were held twice. On the first day of the workshop, they took place between 7:30 and 9:00 p.m. on the footbridge running along the swamp in the fen, in good weather conditions. Participants had the opportunity to observe and hear voices of birds, including rare species (aquatic warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola<\/em>) and species absent from the urban environment: woodcock, common snipe and crane. On the third workshop day, the therapeutic ornithology walk took place in an open area, along a road running in the vicinity of the floodplain and meadows, in good weather, from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Participants had binoculars and atlases at hand to help identify species. Twenty-one bird species were observed (including rare species such as the white-winged tern (Chlidonias leucopterus<\/em>)). Participants could freely comment, share their remarks and observations, seek expert advice on species identification and point out to details and curiosities they had observed, such as the nature of the birds\u2019 flight, their colours and sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The activities described in this report were addressed to people interested in improving their wellbeing by participating in ecotherapeutic activities and were attended by adults who volunteered to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Participants\u2019 experiences<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
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    Based on participants’ accounts, the following ranges of impact of therapeutic ornithology were identified:<\/p>\n\n\n\n