Also called: Garden Therapist
Uses gardening to help people heal, from veterans with PTSD to seniors with dementia.
A horticultural therapist runs a planting session at a rehab hospital, adapts tools for people in wheelchairs, and tracks each patient's progress toward therapy goals. Some work at botanical gardens, prisons, and schools.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's degree plus a horticultural therapy certificate; registration through the American Horticultural Therapy Association.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Horticulture, Psychology, Recreational Therapy.
Growing much faster than average (about 8% over 10 years). BLS 2025-35 projection band for SOC 29-1129: Much faster than average (7% or higher).
Low risk for 10 years. Little to automate; guiding patients through gardening toward therapy goals is personal work.
Classes: Psychology, Biology, Horticulture CTE.
Official data: O*NET occupation 29-1129.
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