Floral Healing Therapy - an Interview

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I believe flowers make life happier and healthier. They truly have a positive impact on our mental, physical and emotional well-being. So you can imagine how excited I was a couple of weeks ago when I came across a little six-minute YouTube video called ‘I tried Floral Healing Therapy for my anxiety’.  Let me introduce you to Heather.

Heather has a business in Portland, Oregon, called ‘Floral Healing Therapy’. I reached out to her and asked if she’d be willing to answer a few questions about what she does, and she was kind enough to agree.

Hi Heather. Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, letting us get to know you and your practice better.

How long have you been practicing Floral Healing Therapy?

I opened my private practice in April 2019. My love for flowers started early on and I’ve been a therapist for over 5 years.

Why do you think flowers are important for our mental well-being?

Flowers have a way of connecting us to the present moment. If we slow down and engage with flowers in a mindful way, meaning really paying attention to the qualities of each flower and how they come together as a whole, we can come up with creative solutions to our problems. Being around flowers improves our mood.

How do you incorporate flowers into your therapy work?

I bring fresh flowers to the sessions and the client arranges them. I encourage the client to do so slowly and to allow their feelings to arise naturally. After they’ve completed their arrangement, we talk about the flowers and the process. Flowers are full of good metaphors for life. We then end with a guided Floral Healing Meditation.

What type of reaction do you get from people experiencing your Floral Healing Therapy for the first time?

People are pleasantly surprised with how their arrangements turn out! A lot of people have beliefs about their creativity and in our culture, we often don’t try something in front of other people unless we know we will succeed. Floral Healing Therapy clients take a risk and they find that the process is empowering. Taking the arrangement home serves as a reminder of the progress they are making.

For those who don’t live in the Portland area, do you offer online sessions, and if you do, how do those work?

I offer video Floral Healing Meditation sessions for people who don’t live in the area where you bring some flowers for a guided meditation. I offer video Floral Healing Therapy to clients in Oregon and Washington, since I’m a licensed therapist in those states. FHT video sessions involve bringing flowers and arranging them during the session while talking through stressors and successes.

What plans do you have for the future with your Floral Healing Therapy practice?

My practice is ever-evolving. Since it’s a therapeutic modality I am creating from scratch, I want to design it for people who have a special connection to nature and flowers. Once we can gather in person again, I will be offering community meditations and flower mandala events. I want to offer training and certification in FHT so as many people can benefit from therapy and flowers as possible.

Here’s a tough question – what’s your favourite flower?

Foxglove! After I meditated for the first time, I stared into a foxglove and it’s been my favorite flower ever since.

Thank you so much, Heather. I’ve learned so much about you and how your Floral Healing Therapy works. I’m very excited to see where you take this in the future and when I next come to Portland, a session with you is at the top of my list for things to do!

Thanks for having me Mary!

I really appreciate Heather taking the time to answer these questions. If you’re interested in her practice you can find more information on her website or follow her on instagram @floralhealingtherapy .