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Integrative Psychiatry

Prescribing Nature: How to Improve Cardiovascular Health Part 2 of 2

Integrating Nature Therapy into Practice

So what does “prescribing nature” look like? That will depend on the client, context, and treatment goals set forth. In general, one weekend away camping has been shown to dramatically improve circadian rhythms by syncing natural light/dark cycles; as a bonus, folks report less screen time while camping. Camping will provide more exposure to sunlight, changing weather patterns and temperature (heat/cold cycles), environmental microbes, and natural compounds released by plant life. In addition, camping also offers therapeutic elements for the psyche, such as space (try and take up all the space in nature), time (slowing down to be in the present moment), multiplicity (there is so much diversity integrated, mirroring our many parts), and metaphor (the flowing river, the blossoming flower, and more). 

While camping might be an ideal “prescription,” it is not always feasible for or accessible to everyone. Adapting a nature prescription for each client’s tolerance, abilities, and access is essential. Sitting at the local park for an hour three times per week, experimenting with sitting on the ground or in contact with nonhuman life may do the trick. It is even possible that something as simple as visualizing a favorite nature spot while meditating–and really imagining the sights, sounds, smells, and feel–can regulate the nervous system, slow breath, and lower blood pressure.

Adaptable options for nature prescriptions are listed below.

1. Greet the sun: Suggest going outside to watch the sunrise. This simple act will allow sunlight exposure on the skin to promote vitamin D synthesis and will stimulate sensors in the eye that regulate circadian rhythms.

2. Personalized outdoor plan: Develop personalized plans that encourage clients to spend time outdoors, tailored to their interests and abilities. Activities might include walking, picnicking in a park, playing sports, or tending to plants (e.g., gardening)—but really, almost any activity can be modified for the outdoors! Just spending time at a green space (like a botanical garden) or blue space (like the beach) as an adjunct therapy seems to be sufficient to boost health. Exercise is obviously a very powerful intervention for cardiovascular health, and exercising in nature only increases these benefits.

3. Nature-based mindfulness practices: Encourage clients to explore practicing mindfulness in natural settings. Techniques such as meditation (sitting or walking), breathing exercises, listening to music, or practicing yoga outside might enhance the benefits of nature exposure by bringing awareness to the present moment’s care practice, a psychologically calming experience. If this is not an option, visualization techniques might be really helpful here.

4. Education of thermal therapy: Inform clients about the cardiovascular benefits and risks of saunas, hot baths, and cold showers. Make sure clients are cleared by a medical doctor and help provide guidelines on how to safely incorporate these practices into their routine.

5. Forest bathing: If possible, encourage regular visits to forested areas. Clients who spend time in nature-rich environments will be exposed to the natural chemicals released by plants, such as phytoncides, and environmental microbes. A bonus of this type of prescription is the psychological relaxation effect of the forest.

Conclusion

Prescribing nature is a free, adaptable, and holistic approach to prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Reconnecting with nature provides both physiological and psychological support that inevitably plays a role in maintaining a healthy heart.

Sara Reed, MS, LMFT

Sara Reed is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and CEO of Mind’s iHealth Solutions, a digital health company that provides evidence based and culturally responsible mental health services for underserved groups. As a mental health futurist and clinical researcher, Sara examines the ways culture informs the way we diagnose and treat mental illness. Sara’s prior research work includes participation as a study therapist in psychedelic therapy research at Yale University and the University of Connecticut’s Health Center. Sara was the first Black therapist to provide MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in a clinical trial and continues to engage in ongoing advocacy work around health equity in psychedelic medicine.

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Jeffrey Guss, MD is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and researcher with specializations in psychoanalytic therapy and the treatment of substance use disorders. He was Co-Principal Investigator and Director of Psychedelic Therapy Training for the NYU School of Medicine’s study on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of cancer-related existential distress, which was published in Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2016. He currently is a study therapist in the NYU study on Psychedelic-Assisted therapy in the treatment of Alcoholism, a collaborator with Yale University’s study on psychedelic-assisted therapy for Major Depressive Disorder and a study therapist with the MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) study on treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy. 

Dr. Guss is interested in the integration of psychedelic therapies with contemporary psychoanalytic theory and has published in Studies in Gender and Sexuality and Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society. He has published (with Elizabeth Nielson, PhD) a paper on “the influence of therapists’ first had experience with psychedelics on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy research and therapist training” in The Journal of Psychedelic Studies, August, 2018. He is an Instructor and Mentor with the California Institute of Integral Studies’ Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Supervisor in NYU’s Fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry. 

Dr. Guss maintains a private practice in New York City.

Will Van Derveer, MD

Will Van Derveer, MD is Co-Founder of Integrative Psychiatry Institute and Integrative Psychiatry Centers. Dr. Van Derveer was co-investigator on a phase 2 MAPS study of Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant PTSD, and co-authored the publication of this study in 2018. He has also provided Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in two MAPS training studies. An active provider of KAP at his clinic in Boulder, CO, he has been teaching others KAP therapy for several years. Dr. Van Derveer contributed a chapter on mescaline in the 2021 "Handbook of Medical Hallucinogens" (edited by Charles Grob and Jim Grigsby). He is co-host of the Higher Practice Podcast.

Dr. Van Derveer regards unresolved emotional trauma as the most significant under-recognized root cause of psychiatric symptoms in integrative psychiatry practice, along with gut issues, hormone imbalances, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and other functional medicine challenges. He is trained in Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and other psychotherapy techniques. His current clinical passion is psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, which he mentors interested doctors in providing. An avid meditator, he has been a meditation instructor since 2004.

For the past several years Dr. Van Derveer has taught psychiatrists and other psychiatric providers integrative psychiatry in a number of settings, including course directing the CU psychiatry residents’ course as well as with Scott Shannon and Janet Settle at the Psychiatry MasterClass.


Scott has been a student of consciousness since his honors thesis on that topic at the University of Arizona in the 1970s under the tutelage of Dr. Andrew Weil. Following medical school, Scott studied Jungian therapy and acupuncture while working as a primary care physician in a rural area for four years. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy became a facet of his practice before this medicine was scheduled in 1985. He then completed a psychiatry residency at Columbia program in New York. Scott studied cross-cultural psychiatry and completed a child/adolescent psychiatry fellowship at the University of New Mexico.

In 2010 he founded Wholeness Center in Fort Collins. This innovative clinic provides cross-disciplinary evaluation and care for all mental health concerns. Scott serves as a site Principal Investigator and therapist for the Phase III trial of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD sponsored by (MAPS). He has also published numerous articles about his research on (CBD) in mental health. Currently, Scott works extensively with psychedelic-assisted-psychotherapy. He lectures all over the world to professional groups interested in a deeper look at mental health issues, safer tools, and a paradigm-shifting perspective about transformative care.

Will Van Derveer, MD is co-founder of Integrative Psychiatry Institute (IPI), along with friend and colleague Keith Kurlander, MA. He co-created IPI as an expression of what he stands for. First, that anyone can heal, and second that we medical providers must embrace our own healing journeys in order to fully command our potency as healers.

Dr. Van Derveer spent the last 20 years innovating and testing a comprehensive approach to addressing psychiatric challenges which transcends the conventional model he learned in medical school at Vanderbilt University and residency at University of Colorado, while deeply engaging his own healing path.

He founded the Integrative Psychiatric Healing Center in in 2001 in Boulder, CO, where he currently practices. Dr. Van Derveer regards unresolved emotional trauma as the most significant root cause of psychiatric symptoms in integrative psychiatry practice, along with gut issues, hormone imbalances, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and other functional medicine challenges. He is trained in Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and other psychotherapy techniques. His current clinical passion is psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, which he mentors interested doctors in providing. An avid meditator, he has been a meditation instructor since 2004.

For the past several years Dr. Van Derveer has taught psychiatrists and other psychiatric providers integrative psychiatry in a number of settings, including course directing the CU psychiatry residents’ course as well as with Scott Shannon and Janet Settle at the Psychiatry MasterClass. In addition to his clinical work and teaching, he was co-investigator in 2016 a Phase II randomized clinical trial, sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He continues to support this protocol, now in a Phase III clinical trial under break-through designation by FDA.

Dr. Van Derveer is a diplomate of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine (ABoIHM) since 2013, and he was board certified in the first wave of diplomates of the new American Board of Integrative Medicine (ABIM) in 2016.