Nature-Based Training Supports Mental Health Recovery at Trevillis House

A new nature-based group at Trevillis House in Liskeard is helping people with mental health problems reconnect with the outdoors to improve wellbeing.

Six Weeks of Nature and Creativity

The Nature for Health group recently completed its first six-week pilot, offering patients the chance to take part in gardening and creative sessions held in the gardens of Trevillis House. Activities included pot painting and frame making using natural materials.

Patients who were already known to the service were invited to attend. The idea behind the group is to use nature as a tool for healing and reflection.

Julia Mason, a community psychiatry nurse in dementia and older people’s mental health for the Trust, explained:

“We have been inviting patients to attend the group. It introduces them back into the idea of nature being really important for healthcare.

“The aim of the group is that when people start, they learn to do a meditation. The expectation is that we hope that they will continue to do that every day and then continue it when the group’s finished. They make a commitment to integrate nature into their life.”

📷Julia Mason

Positive Feedback and Calm Environments

Occupational therapist Nicky Snape has been working alongside Julia and healthcare assistant Molly Martin to deliver the sessions.

“The feedback we have had has been really positive. A lot of our clients have depression and anxiety. They are spending more time out in nature.

“Some of them live in care homes. They have been making their environment in the care home more nature-based, which helps with anxiety and relaxation.

“Our last session was painting pots, so thinking about what paint to use and what pattern, they are not ruminating and thinking about their problems.”

📷Nicky Snape

Training Inspires Wider Change

The Nature for Health group is one of several new programmes inspired by recent nature-based training that introduced mental health clinicians to outdoor and nature-linked approaches.

The training, delivered by Dr Beth Chapman (consultant psychiatrist) and Dr Annabel Callan (resident doctor), aimed to help staff feel confident incorporating nature into their clinical work. It’s part of the Trust’s wider clinical strategy to rethink how care is provided across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

One of the Trust’s key objectives is to deliver half of all clinical care outdoors or in non-traditional spaces.

Dr Chapman said:

“Increasing our connection to and contact with nature is good for our health and wellbeing. Harnessing this within our clinical interactions may improve outcomes for patients and also staff. We are hoping that by rolling out this training, more clinicians will feel able to work in a nature-based way.”

Second Programme Already Underway

Following the success of the pilot, a second, eight-week programme began at the end of September, continuing to explore how nature can support mental health recovery and wellbeing in Cornwall.

📷Nicky Snape & Julia Mason