Stay ConnectedThis Land Is Your Land
This Land Is Your Land is a first-of-its-kind exploration into the therapeutic benefits of nature-based recreation for Armed Forces personnel, veterans, and their families.
The book is divided into four parts:
- Descriptions of several exemplary nature-based recreation programs
- Completed research examining the therapeutic effectiveness of nature-based recreation programs
- Research challenges and opportunities
- Recommendations for future studies
This Land Is Your Land’s 46 contributors, united by their passion for assisting military families transition from combat-related stresses to civilian life through health-promoting outdoor recreation engagements, come from a variety of professional and academic backgrounds, including outdoor adventure education and programming, therapeutic recreation, counseling rehabilitation, social work, medicine, and clinical and environmental psychology.
This Land Is Your Land combines practical lessons learned from administering nature-based recreation programs for members of our military family with scientific insights that will better equip the rapidly growing number of individuals and organizations dedicated to doing this critically important work with the necessary therapeutic tools to conduct evidence-based best practices.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Social and Cultural Aspects of Posttraumatic Stress and the Role of Nature in Recovery
Part I: Programs and Practices
Chapter 2: Freedom’s Families
Chapter 3: Operation Purple Family Retreats and Operation Purple Healing Adventures: Reconnection, Recreation, and Resilience
Chapter 4: Building Strength and Support Among Post-Deployment Military Families: The Family Battle Buddies Program
Chapter 5: Finding the “Friend at the End of Your Pen” at Camp Yellow Ribbon: How Journaling Promotes Resilience in Youth Experiencing Parental Deployment
Chapter 6: Project HERO (Healing Exercise Rehabilitation Opportunity): A Best Practice That Works
Chapter 7: She Served, Too, and Her Needs Are Different: Therapeutic Techniques for Female-Specific Recreation Programming
Chapter 8: Blending Nature and Technology: Nature-Based Biofeedback Training
Part II: What We Know and Don’t Know About Nature’s Resiliency-Building and Restorative Power
Chapter 9: Toward a Better Understanding of the Leisure Motivations of Marine Corps Members
Chapter 10: The Therapeutic Effects of Outward Bound for Veterans
Chapter 11: Examining the Effects of Group-Based Nature Outings on Veterans Through the Lens of the Reasonable Person Model
Chapter 12: Battles Fought in Nature: Lessons Learned From Nature-Based Treatment in a Forest Therapy Garden for Soldiers With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Chapter 13: Community Reintegration for Veterans Through Fly-Fishing
Chapter 14: Therapeutic Outcomes of Outdoor Recreation for Injured Service Members
Chapter 15: Second Class Soldiers: The Role of an Outdoor Sports and Recreation Program in Addressing the Relationship Among Gender, Social Support, and Military Trauma
Chapter 16: The State of Knowledge About Nature-Based Interventions for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Among Military Personnel and Veterans
Part III: Research Challenges and Opportunities
Chapter 17: Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Adventure-Based Programs for Redeploying Military Veterans
Chapter 18: Hunting and the Return of the Warrior: Therapeutic Possibilities for the Chase
Chapter 19: The Role of the National Parks in Contributing to the Health and Well-Being of Veterans and Their Families
Chapter 20: Promoting, Improving, and Advocating Evidence-Based Recreation Services for Armed Forces Personnel, Veterans, and Their Families
Part IV: Synthesis
Chapter 21: Where Do We Go From Here?
Chapter 22: A Resilience Intervention for Diminishing Attrition Among Injured Armed Force Recruits