Mr. Mitchell Hewson was the first Registered Horticultural Therapist to practice in Canada. He completed his Master of Horticultural Therapy, or HTM with the American Horticultural Therapy Association in 1983.  In order to receive this designation, he completed an internship at Clinton Valley Centre, in Michigan with Professor Alice Burlingame through the University of Michigan. Mitchell has also been trained and certified in Aromatherapy from the Centre of International Holistic Studies in Hamilton, Ontario.  Mitchell is an accomplished therapist, educator, lecturer and writer.    

Since 1974, Mitchell has been instrumental in initiating and developing the Homewood Health Centre's Horticultural Therapy Program, in Guelph.  Horticulture Therapy at Homewood was the first formal program of its kind developed in Canada and provides internships for students internationally.  Mitchell currently oversees the continued success of the program at Homewood, where he was the inaugural recipient of the prestigious Homewood CEO Award. The Homewood Horticulture program is a benchmark for therapy and training in Canada.

 In December 2005, Mitchell also received the AHTA Rhea McCandliss Professional Service Award.   Mitchell felt privileged to receive this award from the AHTA under the auspicious Rhea McCandliss; a pioneer in Horticultual therapy.

Mitchell Hewson wrote the first book on Horticultural Therapy in Canada, which has been translated and published in Japan.  Mitchell was the first Canadian to receive the American Horticultural Therapy Publication Award for the book "Horticulture As Therapy."  Mitchell has been published numerous other times and you can view a selection of his papers and articles on Horticultural Therapy within this site.  Some of his articles have appeared in McLeans, Readers Digest, HarrowSmith, Toronto Star, therapeutic journals and numerous Horticultural publications. 

Finally, Mitchell has done many public speaking engagements, including television appearances, radio interviews and keynote addresses.  Some of these include radio interviews with Peter Zowski and Mark Cullen.  In 2004, Mitchell appeared on The CBC Health Show and CFTV News.  Finally, he has delivered  keynote  addresses in Taiwan in 2007, and Cuba in 2005, Michigan in 2003, and Japan in 2000 - as well as throughout most of the provinces in Canada.

Mitchell Hewson, HTM, Homewood Health Centre, Guelph ON Canada

Disclaimer - Horticultural Therapy is a qualified and registered therapy and should be practiced by trained professionals only. Although its principles can be followed by anyone, if you are suffering from illness, please seek a trained individual for advice.