Spiritual Experiences in Ecotherapy: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Although spiritual experiences in ecotherapy are increasingly recognized for their therapeutic potential, little is understood about how participants experience spirituality in ecotherapy and how they describe the psychological significance of these experiences. This gap calls for a synthesis of qualitative findings to clarify the qualities and therapeutic effects of these experiences. This systematic review employed thematic synthesis to integrate findings from diverse qualitative and mixed-method studies into a unified dataset. The integrated data were then analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, through which key themes were identified. Three themes illuminate participants’ spiritual experiences: Witnessing Life Essence Through the Lens of Nature, Immersion in the Immediacy of Nature, and A Sense of Oneness With the Natural World. Additionally, three themes reflect participants’ understandings of the therapeutic effects of those experiences: Self-Acceptance Through Processing Remaining Pain, Liberation From the Constraints of the Past, and Reclaiming Hope Through a Renewed Sense of Life Purpose. Taken together, these findings suggest that spiritual experiences in ecotherapy appear to play a role in facilitating the therapeutic process. Such experiences may also promote participants’ pro-environmental attitudes and restore their sense of hope amid environmental crises.