Developing the therapeutic potential of embodied cognition and metaphors in nature-based therapy: lessons from theory to practice

Abstract

This paper theoretically examines the interplay between cognition and bodily involvement in relation to nature-based therapy and proposes implications for practice. With support from theory within embodied cognition and neuroscientific studies, it is argued that explicit learning is actively supported by bodily involvement with the environment. This argument is placed in the context of ‘nature-based therapy’, which can be perceived as a generic term for treatments with therapeutic use of activities and experiences in natural environments. The paper proposes that the use of metaphors to conceptualize desired therapeutic understanding in connection with the performance of activities in nature-based therapy can support the learning and change process by semantically relating cognition and bodily involvement.

Keywords:

• Embodied cognition
• Natural environments
• Therapeutic metaphors
• Nature-based therapy