Sue Stuart-Smith visits NatureFix

We were delighted to spend the morning with renowned author of The Well Gardened Mind, Sue Stuart-Smith who visited our NatureFix trail site at Pilot Hill, Bago State Forest. This trail being one of our highlights and community favourites the as part of the Snowy Valleys Nature Wellness Drive.

Louise Halsey, Jennifer Wines, Vivianna Pinell, Sue Stuart-Smith, Jacinta Elphick and Waminda Parker.

“Thanks to Louise Halsey who leads the Tumut Region Community Foundation, I spent two memorable days visiting the Snowy Valleys are during my to Australia. I visited the arboretum with three wonderful members of the Murrumbidgee Mental Health team, Jacinta Elphick, Vivianna Pinell and Jennifer Wines, who have worked so hard to help people recover and rebuild their lives from the trauma of the fires. Part of their programme involves the forest wellness walks and installations that the Syndey based social enterprise NatureFix have created.”

Dr Sue Stuart-Smith is a trailblazer of her era. She is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling book The Well Gardened Mind. Now available in 18 languages. The book analyses the relationship between gardening and mental health. As Stephen Fry wrote: The wisest book I’ve read for many years … Much more than a gardening book, much more than a guide to mental health … Hugely recommended.

Sue studied English Literature at the University of Cambridge before qualifying as a doctor and working in the National Health Service for many years, becoming the lead clinician for psychotherapy in Hertfordshire. She currently teaches at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in London and is a consultant at DocHealth, a not for profit, psychotherapeutic consultation service for doctors.

Over the last 30 years, Tom and Sue have created the wonderful and much admired ‘Barn Garden’ in Hertfordshire.