Growing Toward Health: Horticultural Therapy with Adopted Children and Teens,

by Amy Winchester, MA.

"...Beginning with the seed and ending with the harvest, there is opportunity for a child to express and heal things that may have accompanies the adoption process and even things that were a part of his or her biological connections. No matter what age a child is adopted or the circumstances of the biological family, the adoption process presents a challenge to a child when he or she transitions from biological to adoptive family.

The child must sever ties with the person he or she connected with at the beginning of life. The mother’s womb provided the basic necessities for this child’s existence including food, movement, physical safety and connections. While ultimately a tremendous gift for adoptive parents and adoptive children alike, there is still a challenge in the transition of adoption. Time in the garden offers an adopted child connection, attachment to place, a place where emotions and senses can be soothed, feelings of hope and trust as her or she watches the growth process, metaphors for life, and increased self-esteem as new skills are learned.

Forming a connection with aspects of the garden is also far less threatening to a child than attempting to connect with people. If a child can first connect with a plant and experience connection in a kinesthetic sense through touch, as well as in an emotional sense through feeling of nurturance for the plant, security as the plant continues to grow and stay alive, and belonging, his or her ability and readiness to experience connection with other people will be much greater. An important aspect of this connection is that it can occur in a nonverbal way for the child. Many developmental wounds occur during a pre-verbal time of life, when the brain absorbs and processes experiences without the use of language and thus the experiences cannot be access later in life through the use of language. Simply fostering a safe connection through an avenue other than talking can be profound for a child. This foundation to the work becomes essential as a launching point for continued growth and healing..."

Read More at the Adoption Today Magazine website...(Refer to pages 48 and 49)

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