Oldal 163 [163]
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES IN ÁDVENTURE THERAPY
of Self (DOS), (2) Development of Community (DOC), and (3) Spiritual
Development (SD). Ihey tested these categories on participants in three
adventure programs (N-44) and found that self-reported benefits matched
one of these categories. Some evidence was offered indicating that wilderness
itself contributed to these experiences.
A review article by Heintzman" summarized in an interesting model how
spirituality is experienced in the wilderness, more specifically in parks. The
author suggests that there are “antecedent conditions,” namely the personal
characteristics of participants, including “history and current circumstances,”
motivation, socio-demographic characteristics, and spiritual tradition. So¬
called “requisite features” may trigger spirituality: naturalness, the feeling
of being “away,” and place attachment or “sacred” places. Furthermore,
recreational activities, solitude, and free-time and group experiences may
contribute to spiritual experiences. Possible outcomes of antecedents, setting,
and recreational attributes include spiritual experiences, enhanced spiritual
well-being, and spiritual coping.
Heintzman, like other researchers, suggested that solitude is a key
feature in reaching spiritual experiences in nature. Long’s study’? surveyed
206 students, asking them to describe some positive and negative experiences
of solitude. According to the results, both types of experiences occurred
mostly at home or in a local environment, but positive experiences were more
likely to take place outdoors, in local natural settings.
Lemieux et al.'° investigated the motives of people who visited provincial
parks in Canada and how they benefited from the experience. 166 subjects
reported that spiritual well-being (connectedness to nature and the inspiration
of nature and search for the meaning/purpose in life”) was among the primary
motives. About 42% of the participants perceived an improvement in their
spiritual well-being as a direct result of the park visit.
In a study by Hegarty”® based on individual narratives of “nature¬
connectedness and disconnectedness,” it was found that connectedness to
nature was associated with positive emotions, whilst disconnectedness to
nature was linked to negative emotions like tension, isolation, bleakness,
emptiness, stress, meaninglessness, and fear. Hegarty thought that there was
Paul Heintzman, Spiritual Outcomes of Park Experience: A Synthesis of Recent Social
Science Research, The George Wright Forum 30 (3) (2013), 273-279.
Christopher Long, The subjective experience of solitude, In: Proceedings of the 2006
Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium (2006), 67-76.
Christopher J. Lemieux, Paul F.J. Eagles, D. Scott Slocombe, Sean T. Doherty, Susan J. Elliott,
and Steven E. Mock, Human health and well-being motivations and benefits associated with
protected area experiences: and opportunity for transforming policy and management in
Canada, Parks 18 (1) (2012), 71-85.
John R. Hegarty, Out of the consulting room and into the woods? Experiences of nature¬
connectedness and self-healing, European Journal of Ecopsychology 1 (2010), 64-84.
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