New Research Publication: When Does Nature Become Therapy? ​

The article, entitled “When Does Nature Become Therapy? Reconsidering Therapeutic Experience, Agency, Professional Guidance, and Commercialisation in Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy,” explores a question that appears simple but becomes increasingly complex the more closely we examine it:

At what point does an ordinary experience in nature become a therapeutic experience?

Is it when we enter a forest with the intention of improving our well-being? When a professional guide accompanies us? When we participate in structured activities? When scientific measurements demonstrate physiological changes? Or perhaps when we personally experience something meaningful, even if we cannot explain or measure it?

These questions form the starting point of an extensive interdisciplinary examination of how we understand, study, practise, and commercialise nature-based experiences.

Over recent decades, scientific interest in Shinrin-Yoku, commonly known as forest bathing, has grown considerably. Studies have explored the relationships between forest exposure and physiological responses, psychological well-being, stress regulation, and other aspects of human health. Yet demonstrating that spending time in forests may be beneficial does not necessarily explain what makes a particular experience therapeutic.

The new article examines distinctions that are frequently overlooked: the difference between therapeutic potential and demonstrated therapeutic effectiveness, between a meaningful personal experience and clinical treatment, and between the influence of the forest itself and the contributions of a professionally guided intervention. Rather than assuming that more structure, greater professional involvement, or stronger therapeutic intention necessarily leads to better outcomes, the article encourages a more careful examination of the evidence.

An important part of the publication concerns the professional guide. Guides may contribute valuable knowledge, preparation, safety considerations, accessible experiences, opportunities for reflection, and supportive group environments. However, these contributions should not be confused with the environmental processes of the forest or the participant’s own capacity to perceive, respond, and develop meaning. The article therefore examines professional guidance not as a guarantee of therapeutic results, but as one possible contribution to the conditions in which experiences unfold.

It also considers the role of social interaction, mindfulness, sensory attention, personal expectations, emotional expression, and the possibility that sometimes simply being present in nature may be meaningful without requiring structured activities.

The publication also revisits the historical development of Shinrin-Yoku in Japan and its subsequent interpretation internationally. As the practice spread beyond Japan, distinctions emerged between Shinrin-Yoku, forest bathing, and forest therapy. In some professional and cultural contexts, these terms have acquired different meanings, qualifications, and expectations. The article examines how historical developments, translation, scientific research, professionalisation, and commercial interests have influenced these distinctions, and whether the terminology always reflects meaningful differences in practice or therapeutic effectiveness.

One of the article’s conceptual contributions is a relational framework examining interactions among four dimensions: person, place, process, and time. The framework considers how individual characteristics and personal history interact with environmental conditions, forms of engagement, professional facilitation, social relationships, and the continuity of nature contact.

Rather than offering a universal formula for therapeutic effectiveness, it proposes a way to investigate why experiences may differ between individuals and circumstances. The framework is conceptual, not a clinically validated model, and is intended to support more precise questions for future research.

Perhaps one of the most challenging discussions concerns the growing commercialisation of forest therapy. As guided sessions, professional certifications, training programmes, and nature-based retreats become increasingly widespread, an important ethical question emerges:

When we sell forest therapy, what exactly are we selling?

The article does not reject professional services or their economic value. Instead, it distinguishes the expertise and responsibilities of practitioners from the restorative possibilities of natural environments, which exist independently of commercial services. It argues for professional integrity, evidence-informed communication, ecological responsibility, and the preservation of opportunities for people to encounter nature freely and independently. A guide may offer a valuable service without suggesting that everyone needs a guide to experience nature meaningfully.

This article is intended not only for researchers, but also for Shinrin-Yoku guides, educators, nature-based practitioners, healthcare professionals, tourism professionals, and anyone interested in the relationship between people and natural environments.

Its contribution lies in encouraging greater conceptual clarity, questioning assumptions about professional effectiveness, and proposing directions for research that can better distinguish the effects of environmental exposure, guided activities, social interaction, and personal meaning. It also reminds us that not every encounter with nature needs to be therapeutic to have value. A person may visit a forest to rest, walk, think, observe, spend time with others, or simply enjoy being outdoors. Such experiences need not be organised into professional interventions to be meaningful.

The article ultimately invites the growing field of forest therapy to remain scientifically curious, professionally responsible, and open to different ways of experiencing the natural world.

The question is not only whether nature can contribute to human well-being, but how, under what conditions, for whom, and through which processes those contributions arise.