{"id":24300,"date":"2012-05-30T16:19:13","date_gmt":"2012-05-30T20:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nybg.org\/plant-talk\/?p=24300"},"modified":"2012-05-30T16:48:02","modified_gmt":"2012-05-30T20:48:02","slug":"a-way-to-heal-mind-body-and-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2012\/05\/people\/a-way-to-heal-mind-body-and-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"A Way to Heal Mind, Body, and Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Summer Intensive classes in Horticultural Therapy start July 9!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Lori Bloomberg, NYBG Horticultural Therapy student, in the Enid A. Haupt Glass Garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the lesser-known public gardens in New York City is the Enid A. Haupt Glass Garden<\/a>, an amazing urban oasis located at the Rusk Institute for Rehabilitation<\/a>. That\u2019s where Lori Bloomberg first learned about horticultural therapy and where she fell in love with the people and the curriculum of the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just felt like home,\u201d explains Lori. \u201cAnd after a year of volunteering, I learned about the NYBG Horticultural Therapy Certificate Program<\/a> with classes in the city, and decided to enroll. I started classes slowly in the regular program, and then I did the Horticultural Therapy Summer Intensive<\/a> to accelerate the learning schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lori majored in fine arts and design in college and she worked in graphic arts most of her career. Discovering the field of horticultural therapy was like finding a new way not only to heal the body and mind, but the spirit as well.
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\nHorticultural therapy is in fact one of the oldest healing therapies and is a widely recognized form of treatment for people with physical or mental disabilities. The Rusk Institute<\/a> launched one of the nation\u2019s first horticultural therapy programs in the 1970s with support from Enid A. Haupt, whose philanthropy also made the eponymous conservatory here at the NYBG what it is today. The Rusk program expanded in the ’90s with the addition of a perennial garden, also funded by Mrs. Haupt.<\/p>\n

Children and adult patients from each of the Rusk units grow plants, arrange flowers, and make nature craft projects, gaining a sense of personal accomplishment, productivity, and self-reliance while guided by trained horticultural therapists. One of the therapists, Matthew J. Wichrowski<\/a>, is also on the faculty at NYBG, having taught some of Lori\u2019s most memorable classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew and the other NYBG horticultural therapy instructors are just amazing\u2014very efficient and giving, as well as very thorough,\u201d says Lori. \u201cMy favorite memories are of these teachers and how passionate they are about their classes. Gary Lincoff<\/a> and his mushrooms; John Beirne <\/a>and his magnolia blossoms; activity plans with Pat Czarnecki;<\/a> and Phyllis D’Amico<\/a>, with whom we planted wheat grass in total darkness to experience what it\u2019s like to work without sight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lori recently completed the 100-hour NYBG certificate requirement while interning at the Rusk Institute, and she continues to intern there while finishing her course work. She hopes to graduate soon and is excited about a new career working with children and the elderly. \u201cIt will be a totally new direction for me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Registration for the 2012 Horticultural Therapy Summer Intensive Classes is now open, offering students the opportunity to fulfill–in just a few weeks–many hours required for a certificate. Courses begin July 9! To register, or for more information, visit our Adult Education site<\/a> or call 800-322-NYBG (x6924).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Yuji Nakahashi.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a little-known NYBG garden in Manhattan, Lori Bloomberg finds a new calling in horticultural therapy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":24343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[438,52,45,1937],"tags":[2467,225,2466,2442],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Lori-Bloomberg.jpeg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph0lU-6jW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24300"}],"version-history":[{"count":64,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24425,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24300\/revisions\/24425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}