“Justice in My Garden”: Reflections on Narrative Eco-Therapy for Transforming Injustice in a Flourishing Edible Garden
“Justice in My Garden”: Reflections on Narrative Eco-Therapy for Transforming Injustice in a Flourishing Edible Garden
Lucy (the therapist) first met Miles (the client) after the 2019 bushfires devastated his home. But in that first meeting, natural disasters were not forefront on his mind. Miles had been falsely accused by his employer of wasting time on his bus shifts and creating fraudulent overtime records. Over the course of the next few years, with Miles on stress leave from his job, struggling with anxiety and sitting with the injustice of this moral injury, Lucy and Miles set about experimenting with pathways to healing drawing on a therapeutic framework incorporating art, narrative and eco-therapies. In a recent turn of events, Miles has stepped outside and fallen in love with his garden, transforming it into an oasis of edibles.
In 2024, Lucy and Miles co-authored a journal article documenting their initial journey in therapy together with the use of AI imagery tools to transform injustice. At this forum, Miles’ intention is to continue to help others who have experienced injustice trauma, find their way back to themselves through connection with nature.
This session will feature video of Miles sharing the benefits of gardening for mental health, from the perspective of a green thumb (and perhaps with a little help from AI)!
Lucy Van Sambeek & Miles Fortesque
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Mental Health Social Worker & Client
Lucy Van Sambeek is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, Certified Guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, and a Climate-Aware Practitioner with Psychology for a Safe Climate. Her passion is reducing stress in a busy changing world, offering an alternative to traditional talk-based therapies with children, youth and adults.
Lucy works with nature as co-therapist, to spark regeneration and healing for both people and planet. Her eco-social work practice has been largely influenced by her First Nations mentors and co-workers in the Northern Territory. Spending over a decade on country with Tiwi Elders gave her insight into their culture, spiritual connection to the land and harmonious lifestyles. By strengthening the human-nature connection, she is indebted to the traditional, ancient wisdom of Indigenous cultures about the healing power of nature and our obligations to care for our planet.
Lucy now lives and works in private practice from Yintarini Farm, on Gunaikurnai country (Central Gippsland, Victoria).