Harnessing Nature for Healing
Mon, Jul 15
|Virtual Event
This Lunch & Learn for mental health professionals will feature three presentations that collectively emphasize the transformative potential of incorporating nature into educational and therapeutic practices to foster mental well-being, professional development, and holistic growth.
Time & Location
Jul 15, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Virtual Event
About the Event
Harnessing Nature for Healing
Self-Development, Minority Mental Health, Gang Intervention, and Nature Schools
12:00 pm to 12:30 pm EST
Topic: Self-Development, Nature & mental health challenges faced by minority students
Presenter: Stacey Lawson, LMSW,MPH
Topic: Deepening Self-Development: A Collaborative Model Incorporating Nature-Based and Peer-Led Learning in Social Work Education for Latiné Undergraduate Youth addresses mental health challenges faced by minority college students through an upper-division social work elective.
This experiential, topic-driven course enhances self-development, personal values, and professional judgment through nature-based and peer-led learning. It focuses on bicultural social workers and Latiné cultures, teaching social work majors through culturally adapted, evidence-based perspectives. The course aims to improve students' understanding of professional behavior and self-care while fostering multicultural perspectives and upholding social justice standards.
12:30 pm to 1:00 pm EST
Presentation topic: Children’s Nature Schools: Commonalities & Outcomes
Presenter: Chi-Wei Chang,
Presentation topic: A look into how elements of nature are incorporated into early childhood education, how children fare in these environments, and opportunities to further tie in nature-based learning.
There are common noted outcomes in children attending schools where nature is intentionally a central focus, even while the setup of these nature schools varies widely in founding purpose, educational philosophies, and setup of the school environment in terms of the area of natural and outdoor spaces available and how nature elements are incorporated in the classroom. We will take a look at the different models, the observed differences in accelerated behavioral learning and soft skills as compared to children receiving standard public education, as well as opportunities to further tie in nature-based learning. This research looked primarily into programs and classes for children aged 3-7.
Stacey Lawson is the Program Director for the Department of Social Work at Whittier College and a
doctoral candidate in Social Work at California Baptist University. She holds an MSW from California
State University, Los Angeles, and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with specialized training in Nature-
Informed Therapy. Lawson focuses on mental health prevention and treatment in higher education,
addressing stigmas and inequalities affecting Latiné minority students. Passionate about fostering
mental well-being on college campuses, her doctoral research drives advocacy and educational
initiatives to enhance mental health awareness in academic settings.
Chi-Wei started off working in international relations, which led her to the world of languages and
breaking down cross-cultural communication barriers through teaching, then building localization
programs at SaaS companies Opower (acquired by Oracle), Elastic, and Asana. Her work included
creating strategy for international content prioritization, product and design adaptation, and
spearheading qualitative behavioral research for international markets. She has been based in the US,
Japan, The Netherlands, and Ireland. Now Chi-Wei is starting a new chapter to focus on human to nature communication and embracing her
love of the outdoors.