Abstract
Bonsai art refers to the cultivation of a miniature tree. This study was motivated by the hypothesis that bonsai art may also be an ecopsychological, therapeutic practice that can have meaningful healing qualities. An international online survey elicited the meaning of bonsai art for 255 skilled bonsai practitioners. Questionnaires and interviews were used to elicit the experiences of participants. The findings supported the hypothesis that, for skilled practitioners, bonsai art was associated with meaningful healing experiences. In particular, the evidence suggests that bonsai art facilitates improved ecological, spiritual and emotional awareness, as well as various healing dimensions, including aesthetic creativity, resilience, adaptability, and social, physical, and personal health. It is viewed as an intervention technique that requires few resources, is easy to apply, and has a minimal impact on any environmental setting. The conclusions drawn point to the ethically sound health promotion value of bonsai art in various settings, such as psychiatric hospitals, retirement homes, rehabilitation centres and prisons.
Highlights
Ecopsychologists believed that people need to reconnect with nature, and ecopsychology has gained popularity because it reconnects people with the wider natural environment, enabling them to lead more meaningful and fulfilling lives [3,4]
Ecotherapy uses natural methods and settings to assist with healing, challenging the traditional notion that psychotherapy must be conducted indoors on a couch [5]
Bonsai art seems to be attractive to older generations and this trend is observed at the club level
Summary
Res. Public Health 2021, 18, Recently, practitioners have endeavoured to combine psychotherapy with ecotherapy [1] using non-traditional methods in unconventional and natural settings, such as gardens, parks and wildlife reserves. Ecological psychology refers to the study of the psychological effects of specific biological environments on the psyche of a person [2]. Ecopsychologists believed that people need to reconnect with nature, and ecopsychology has gained popularity because it reconnects people with the wider natural environment, enabling them to lead more meaningful and fulfilling lives [3,4]. Ecotherapy uses natural methods and settings to assist with healing, challenging the traditional notion that psychotherapy must be conducted indoors on a couch [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
