Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41009175›Full record

ArticleBehavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)2025

The Therapeutic Benefits of Outdoor Experiences in India.

Soumya J Mitra, Vinathe Sharma-Brymer, Denise Mitten, Janet Ady

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Soumya J MitraDepartment of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, College of Health, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6037-095X
Vinathe Sharma-BrymerSchool of Law & Society, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD 4556, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-4185-1795
Denise MittenAdventure Education & Sustainability Education, Prescott College, Prescott, AZ 86301, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8377-0366
Janet AdyEducation for Sustainability, Prescott College, Prescott, AZ 86301, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Drawing on in-depth interviews and thematic analysis, this study explores the therapeutic benefits of outdoor experiences through the lived experiences of 24 outdoor practitioners, including educators, environmentalists, therapists, and program leaders. Three core themes emerged: (a) nature as an emotional regulator and reflective space; (b) therapeutic benefits of human-nature relationships; and (c) decolonial, bioregional, and cultural healing. Although practitioners facilitated physical challenges and skill-building for their participants, they primarily described outdoor experiences as relational, somatic, and culturally rooted practices that foster emotional regulation, grief processing, identity integration, and social inclusion. Healing emerged through solitude, silence, ancestral connections, sacred landscapes, inclusive dynamics, and the restoration of cultural knowledge. This study's results challenge Western-centric outdoor education models by foregrounding Indigenous and postcolonial perspectives embedded in Indian ecological traditions. The results contribute to global discussions on decolonizing outdoor fields and offer implications for culturally responsive, emotionally safe, and ecologically grounded practices.

Indexed as

decolonial ecopsychologyIndiamental healthoutdoor experiencestherapeutic outdoor practices

Identifiers

PMID41009175
PMCPMC12466343

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.