Discovery: Healing Environments

Healing Environments

Victoria Stone, M.P.H., Allied A.S.I.D.

In the past four years, working closely with the Institute for Health and Healing (IHH), I have had the privilege to develop and design a number of healing environments to serve patients, families, staff and the community. These include: the meditation chapel, the Health and Healing Clinic, the Healing Store, the Health Resource Library and the labyrinth walk. It has been a very exciting process to see the IHH programs materialize though the environments we create. It has given me the opportunity to personally witness the powerful contribution design can make to the experience of health and healing. Traditionally, interior design has been concerned with creating functional and aesthetically pleasing environments. However, designing healing environments requires moving beyond form and function to consider how the physical environment can support and enhance the inner life.

Our environments express who we are in the world. They communicate our values and beliefs and to a large extent dictate how we our live our lives. In the past, health care environments have reflected the value we place on medical technology and the significant role it plays in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. While no one would dispute medical technology's contribution to our health, the outcome has been that most health care environments are designed for procedures rather than people. As health care transforms and begins to acknowledge and integrate traditional and non-traditional healing beliefs and practices, health care environments are transforming as well. Today's healing environments support the body ,mind and spirit and nurture all the senses. They honor the needs of providers and patients and help empower us to reconnect with our own inner healing potential.

Mt Diablo Quite Room An important element in the design of healing environments is nature. Natural images such as flowers and trees, the sound of water, and natural materials like wood and stone resonate with us on a deep level and help us reconnect with our own basic nature. The design of the meditation chapel on the Pacific Campus of CPMC, designed in collaboration with Agnes Bourne, was inspired by the idea of a natural oasis. Finding oneself within this room; its walls covered with a mural of trees and the soft sound of water from the fountain in the background, it is easy to quiet the mind and find a bit of peace during the day.

Reconnecting with the seasons and cycles in the interior environment is another way to support our health and healing. The fast pace of modern life is difficult for even the healthiest of us. We need to have cues in our environment that bring us back to the present moment, the time of year, the natural pace and cycles of life. Many of the healing environments I have designed for IHH have a place for a changing display of seasonal vegetation. Even a small element like this can make a significant contribution towards enhancing our sense of well-being. Reconnecting with nature's cycles reminds us that change is a natural part of life. Learning to embrace change and be present to the beauty of each season can help relieve stress and enable us to have more joy in our day.

Symbols bring a sense of meaning to our lives by bridging the visible and invisible worlds. The language of the soul is a symbolic language. Symbols take us inward to reconnect with ourselves on a deeper level. For this reason they are an important element in any healing environment. The design for the labyrinth walk at the entrance to the Pacific Campus incorporated many symbols that communicate on both conscious and unconscious levels. The labyrinth itself is a symbol of the path of life. As you step into the labyrinth it is unclear whether the twists and turns of the path will actually take you to the center. As in life, you must have faith that the path will take you where you need to go. The 250 ton granite boulder at the front on the labyrinth stands in stark contrast to the angular man-made concrete hospital building. It reminds us of where we come from and what will remain after we are gone. Stones are sacred symbols in many ancient cultures. These cultures believed that stones were the dwelling places of the gods and spirits, and that if you prayed at a stone with intention it would hold your prayer. The stone at the front of the labyrinth was placed there to hold the prayers of all who walk the labyrinth.

Cal Pacific Quite Room Saint Francis de Assisi said, "God is beauty". A beautiful environment inspires us towards healing. Art plays a big part in creating a healing environment and I always like to use the work of many artists in my projects; from light fixtures to altar tables to paintings on the walls. An artist's work is more that a physical expression, it is an emotional expression as well. Hand-crafted objects really do seem to exude the love and caring that went into them. Many artists create their work as gifts of healing. It is this kind of art that we selected for the walls of the IHH Health and Healing Clinic. Many of the images are mandalas, circular images that express wholeness. Contemplating these images can be helpful in remembering our wholeness.

There are many more elements that contribute to a healing environment and some are not specifically related to design. They include the honor we show one another in our environments and the care we take to maintain them for ourselves and for others. I hope many of you will take a moment to discover and explore the IHH healing environments for yourselves. After all, one experience is worth a thousand words.

These are some additional articles and information about Healing Environments:

Labyrinths as Healing Tools
Designing Sacred Space: Designers as Healers

You can also find links to other sites concerning this subject off of our links page.

If you would like to print this information, click here and choose print.

Healing Environments | Labyrinth Experiences | Bibliography | Links