Hiroyuki Tsunashima

Designated Lecturer, Urban Resilience Research Center, Osaka Metropolitan University*Profile is at the time of the award.

2025Inamori Research Grants

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Research topics: Phenomenology of horticultural therapy: application of social model of disability through active appreciation of practitioners' subjective experiences

Keyword

Summary: The international community has been emphasizing the idea that mainstreamers in society assume responsibility for the predicaments confronting people with disabilities. If horticultural therapy is to adopt this idea, the unilateral-cum-dichotomous model of the therapist-client relationship must be questioned. A breakthrough clue is the fact that a certain circle of practitioners is aware of the influence of their clients on themselves. The present study will positively evaluate such experience that practitioners can narrate only subjectively to examine what influence horticultural therapy can exert on the majority in society.

Comment

The idea of “evidence-based practice” is widely spread among various forms of therapy. In most cases, evidence is sought from the changes that clients have undergone. The present study, however, focuses on the therapists who believe in the potential of horticulture and the process in which they have respect for their clients. The results will lead us to new recognition of the past slogan about participatory development, “what we should change is no one else but ourselves.” I would like to optimize the current opportunities to shed new light on the relationship between humans and plants.