BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1603924
The Feasibility of a Two-Day Intensive Forest Therapy Incorporating Mindfulness Practices for Natural Disaster-Affected Individuals: A Brief Report
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Psychology, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 2KU Mind Health Institute, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 3Korea Forest Welfare Institute, Forest Welfare R&D Center, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
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This study investigated the feasibility and psychological benefits of a two-day intensive forest therapy program incorporating mindfulness practices for individuals affected by natural disasters. The sample comprised 110 participants, including those who had either experienced wildfires or floods or served as first responders. The results revealed significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress pre-and post-intervention, alongside improvements in vitality and mindfulness. Furthermore, enhanced mindfulness significantly moderated reductions in anxiety, stress, and depression. These findings indicate that intensive forest therapy is a viable and promising intervention for improving the mental health of disaster-affected populations.
Keywords: Forest therapy, Natural disaster, psychological distress, mindfulness, stress reduction, Anxiety symptoms, Depression
Received: 01 Apr 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lee, Yang, Pyo, Lee, Kim, Choi and Choi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kee-Hong Choi, School of Psychology, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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