Guided Imagery in Therapeutic Horticulture: Supporting Resilience, Regulation & Access to Nature
Join us for a session exploring how garden-based guided imagery can support psychological resilience, emotional regulation, and wellbeing within therapeutic horticulture practice.
This presentation will introduce nature-based visualization as a tool for widening access to the benefits of nature, particularly for people who may not be able to engage directly with gardens or outdoor environments due to physical, medical, emotional, sensory, or environmental barriers. Participants will consider how guided imagery can be incorporated into therapeutic horticulture sessions, including as a way to open or close programs, support passive engagement with nature, and create more accessible pathways for participation.
The session will also highlight the relevance of guided imagery for highly sensitive people, including how visualization may support comfort, nervous system regulation, and a more positive experience in nature-based programming. In addition, the presentation will explore how garden imagery can be used as a practical resource for practitioner self-care and burnout prevention.
Participants will take part in a practical experiential demonstration of a garden-based guided imagery tool, with guidance on how these resources may be used by practitioners and participants.
Marie Součková is a psychologist, lecturer, and HR consultant with 15 years of experience in business settings. Her expertise includes stress management, burnout prevention, resilience, and sustainable performance. She is in her fifth season as a community gardener in Prague, Czech Republic. Trained in therapeutic horticulture and nature-based therapy, she founded InnerGarden.ai to bring garden-based guided imagery into healthcare, social care, and workplace settings.
Population Group Call: Adults
This online event, led by population ambassador Lindsay Jennings, will focus on therapeutic horticulture considerations for working with adult populations across community, wellness, clinical, and non-traditional settings. With an emphasis on facilitation, program and environmental design considerations, and meaningful engagement, the session will explore how plant- and nature-based activities can support resilience, meaning, and participation.
Drawing from her extensive experience with this population, Lindsay will guide the discussion, sharing insights from practice while also inviting participants to contribute their own experiences, questions, and strategies. This collaborative format is designed to support knowledge exchange, highlight diverse approaches, and deepen collective understanding of how therapeutic horticulture can be thoughtfully applied across adult populations.
Lindsay is the founder of Keep Growing – Mindset & Nature Therapy, a nature based therapy business out of Colchester County, NS. With training and certifications in areas such as Horticultural Therapy, Forest Therapy, a master level Mindfulness Practitioner, Mental Health First Aid, Mindful Leadership, and the Community Resiliency Model, Lindsay uses a therapeutic approach that is less traditional and more focused on the connection to the Self and Environment; changing mindset and increasing resiliency using Nature as the therapist.
A member of the GrowTH Network since October 2024, Lindsay brings nearly two decades of experience to programming in therapeutic horticulture. Working with teachers, post-secondary staff and students, adult literacy learners, private practice aging-at-home clients and federally incarcerated women, Lindsay’s background in adult programming is broad.
Personally experiencing the compounding and debilitating effects of stress, anxiety, isolation and depression, Lindsay was able to harness the healing powers of nature to come to a healthier place as a person and where a passion developed into helping to improve the mental health of others using biophilia and the people-plant connection.
Monthly Practitioner Support Call
GrowTH Network members can participate in monthly drop-in Q&A and check-in calls with Katie McGillivray, HTR. These calls provide a supportive environment where practitioners can seek guidance, share experiences, and engage in ongoing professional development.
Katie (she/her) is a Registered Horticultural Therapist (HTR) and member of the Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association (CHTA) who has been working in therapeutic horticulture since 2014, bringing more than a decade of experience across community, housing, long-term care, assisted living, and nonprofit settings.
She began her career with BC Housing’s People, Plants and Homes program under the mentorship of Dr. Aimee Taylor, later leading the program provincially. Her work expanding the program was recognized with BC Housing’s Service Excellence Award in 2019.
A dedicated educator and facilitator, Katie designed her undergraduate studies around therapeutic horticulture, combining counselling, horticulture, agriculture, psychology, and research. She completed her Certificate in Horticultural Therapy with Ann Kent, HTM, and contributed to research under Dr. Lilach Marom.
Her approach is collaborative, client-centred, and strengths-based, with a focus on connection, community engagement, and access to therapeutic horticulture.
Through her work with Root in Nature, Katie supports students and new practitioners while helping to grow the profession. Outside of work, she enjoys entertaining, thrifting, cooking, and being a cat mom.