In the article, Colleen Griffin, HTR follows Carrie McCann, MSW, a bereavement counselor working for Hospice. To address gaps in end-of-life care, Carrie founded Moonset & Co., where she provides non-medical support for loved ones before, during, and after a loss. Carrie weaves together embodied wellness practices with grief education and consulting to serve clients.

In 2023, when Carrie completed the certificate program at HTI, she knew she wanted to expand her knowledge and offer her clients nature-based therapeutic programming. Read the article to learn more about Carrie’s work and using nature as a guide in the healing process.

About the Horticultural Therapy Institute (HTI):

As a small 501(c)3 non-profit organization, HTI provides education and training in horticultural therapy to those new to, or experienced with, the practice of using gardening and plants to improve the lives of others. They reach students from across the U.S. and internationally, striving to help their students positively impact their own communities and the profession of HT.

Learn more about the Horticultural Therapy Institute at their website.

The post Horticultural Therapy Enhances End-of-Life Care appeared first on Care Farming Network.

Therapeutic beekeeping has been shown to reduce symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression by encouraging mindfulness, routine, sensory awareness, and connection to living systems. Working with bees also builds confidence, patience, and emotional regulation, making it a powerful practice for veterans, trauma survivors, and others seeking meaningful engagement with nature.

Our guest presenters are leaders in this field and provided practical insight and inspiration for care farmers, aspiring practitioners, and those simply curious about innovative models of therapeutic beekeeping.

Presenters:

Adam and Lacey Ingrao own and operate Bee Wise Farms, a diversified farm located in Newberry, Michigan, that produces lavender, herbs, cut flowers, honeybee products, and recycled art with a focus on healthy lives and healthy land. They are the proud founders of the Heroes to Hives program, dedicated to supporting the lives of those returning from war. Link to presentation here.

Monica Schmitt is the Director at Mission Beelieve, located in Taneytown, Maryland, dedicated to providing sustainable beekeeping education to Veterans and First Responders. Through their comprehensive Beekeeping Beginners Course, mentorship programs, hands-on workshops, and monthly seminars, Mission Beelieve empowers participants to develop a new skill while fostering a deeper connection with nature and their local communities. By embracing the therapeutic and vocational benefits of beekeeping, participants transform negative energy into purposeful and rewarding endeavors. Link to presentation here.

The post Beekeeping as a therapeutic practice appeared first on Care Farming Network.

Suzanne Kapral is a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children (CASA), Big Sister mentor, and Animal Welfare Advocate. Her day job includes developing programs and raising much needed money to best serve vulnerable children and at times, adults. Transformation through trauma and grief is tough, painful, messy, and terrifying. Yet, it is critical in order to move us individually and collectively toward a happier, healthier, and more sustainable life. The trauma Suzanne experienced growing up started a long journey of self-initiated nature and animal assisted therapy. This evolved into spearheading a local Children’s Grief Camp. This camp, now in its 5th year, combines farm-based activities, farm animal assisted therapies, and grief education.

Suzanne believes the term unconditional love is redundant. True love, including self-love, has no conditions. Suzanne Kapral is a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children (CASA), Big Sister mentor, and Animal Welfare Advocate. Her day job includes developing programs and raising much needed money to best serve vulnerable children and at times, adults. Transformation through trauma and grief is tough, painful, messy, and terrifying. Yet, it is critical in order to move us individually and collectively toward a happier, healthier, and more sustainable life. The trauma Suzanne experienced growing up started a long journey of self-initiated nature and animal assisted therapy. This evolved into spearheading a local Children’s Grief Camp. This camp, now in its 5th year, combines farm-based activities, farm animal assisted therapies, and grief education. Suzanne believes the term unconditional love is redundant. True love, including self-love, has no conditions. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

The post How Cows and a Cornfield Help Heal Childhood Trauma appeared first on Care Farming Network.

Research is discovering all the different ways that nature benefits our well-being, health, and relationships.

By Kristophe Green, Dacher Keltner | March 1, 2017

Humans have long intuited that being in nature is good for the mind and body. From indigenous adolescents completing rites of passage in the wild, to modern East Asian cultures taking “forest baths,” many have looked to nature as a place for healing and personal growth.

Why nature? No one knows for sure; but one hypothesis derived from evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson’s “biophilia” theory suggests that there are evolutionary reasons people seek out nature experiences. We may have preferences to be in beautiful, natural spaces because they are resource-rich environments—ones that provide optimal food, shelter, and comfort. These evolutionary needs may explain why children are drawn to natural environments and why we prefer nature to be part of our architecture.

Now, a large body of research is documenting the positive impacts of nature on human flourishing—our social, psychological, and emotional life. Over 100 studies have shown that being in nature, living near nature, or even viewing nature in paintings and videos can have positive impacts on our brains, bodies, feelings, thought processes, and social interactions. In particular, viewing nature seems to be inherently rewarding, producing a cascade of position emotions and calming our nervous systems. These in turn help us to cultivate greater openness, creativity, connection, generosity, and resilience.

Read the full article here

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Veterans experience higher risks of suicide and mental health disorders due to the traumas of military service, disabilities, and the difficulties of reassimilation into civilian life. Therapeutic interventions using human-animal interactions have shown promising results in reducing many risk factors affecting veterans’ quality of life. This quality improvement project sought to consider if veterans participating in a recreational therapy program focused on beekeeping and administered by the Department of Veteran Affairs would experience quality of life improvements using a standardized EQ-5D-5L assessment. Our results indicate significant changes in mobility, anxiety/depression, and overall health for veterans participating in beekeeping as a recreational therapy. Implications for practice and future research are presented. 

Authors:

• Valerie Carter Manchester VA Medical Center, New Hampshire
• Adam Ingrao Michigan Food and Farming Systems
• Jessie L. Bennett University of New Hampshire
• Christine Gould Manchester VA Medical Center, New Hampshire

The post Healing Hives: Exploring the Effects of Beekeeping on Veteran Mental Health and Quality of Life appeared first on Care Farming Network.

What are care farms? Simply put, a care farm involves the therapeutic use of farming practices to facilitate healing. Also known as green care or therapeutic farming, care farming is supervised and structured, providing “farming-related activities for individuals with a defined need.” These activities include things like animal husbandry (livestock, small animals, poultry), agriculture, horticulture, woodland management, produce collection, craft-making, woodworking, garden tending, habitat restoration, and more.

Care farms provide structured and supervised care services, usually as part of an educational or rehabilitative program. They have been found to be successful for a variety of vulnerable groups, such as people with mental health problems, people suffering from mild to moderate depression, adults and children with learning disabilities, children with autism, people with a drug or alcohol addiction history, disaffected youths, and people on probation.

Read Dr. John LaPuma’s blog post…

The post What Are Care Farms? appeared first on Care Farming Network.

The post Care Farmer Panel Discussion at CFN’s National Conference (2025) appeared first on Care Farming Network.

Presenters:

Amy Hublou of Imagine That Farm (ID): View Presentation Here!

Jackie Farell, Occupational Therapist, Boston University Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Science (MA): View Presentation Here!

Toni Watt, PhD, of Texas State University and Chair of Sociology (TX): View Presentation Here!

The post Measuring Success: Program + Outcomes Evaluation for Care Farming appeared first on Care Farming Network.

Presenters:

Shawn Hayden of GAAMHA, R.O.O.T.S at Evergreen Grove (MA) View Presentation Here!

John Knutsen of ServiceNet Inc. (MA) View Presentation Here!

The post Measuring the Impact of Care Farming appeared first on Care Farming Network.

Click to view slide presentation

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