Graduate Exit Seminar - Lily Mank

Plan to join Lily Mank's graduate exit seminar on April 16, 2026, at 1:00 pm via Zoom. Lily will present, "Reintegration in Healing Ecologies: Therapeutic Nature Photography with Adolescents in Residential Care"

Abstract: Nature-based therapeutic interventions offer meaningful benefits for vulnerable youth by improving resilience, emotional regulation, and recovery from trauma. However, nature photography remains an understudied modality in adolescent mental health care. This eco-phenomenological study applies a posthumanist approach to explore a therapeutic nature photography (TNP) program for adolescents undergoing residential behavioral health treatment in the Midwestern United States. Examining 266 photographs and accompanying narratives, qualitative coding was used to explore themes of healing, identity, and relationality. Findings reveal that TNP supported youth in processing trauma by facilitating embodied, multispecies interactions that allowed participants to re-narrate their life histories and reimagine their future selves. These findings offer a framework for understanding how youth in crisis engage with nature not merely as a backdrop, but as an active participant in healing and becoming. This study contributes to growing conversations around both arts and nature-based therapeutic interventions, promoting TNP as a promising intervention for comprehensive adolescent mental health care programming.

Advisor: Dr. Kristi Lekies