Story at a glance
- The emerging practice of “surf therapy” is helping people with autism, PTSD and other mental health issues.
- The sport reduces stress because it is physically demanding, it has a regular rhythm, and it’s done outside.
- Surf therapy projects are catching waves around the world and are now being studied by the U.S. Navy.
“When I first heard about this idea about surfing with kids with autism, I thought, ‘This is madness,’ ” says Sean Healy, who studies adaptive physical activity at the University of Delaware.
Not only can the ocean be a gnarly and foreboding place, but it can be cold, loud and — let’s be honest — sand gets everywhere. Add it all up, and a day at the beach seems like it might be anything but for a child with heightened sensory perceptions, like those that can accompany autism.
But in fact, Healy has seen firsthand that “surf therapy” can have the opposite effect. Whether it’s the repetition, the feeling of being immersed in water, or simply the experience of being outside, he says, “It can have a very calming effect.”
Healy isn’t the only surf therapy convert.
In recent decades, surf therapy organizations have popped up across the world. In South Africa, there’s Waves for Change. In Scotland it’s the Wave Project. Ireland has Surf 2 Heal, Australia has Waves of Wellness, and there’s even a more global effort to link some of these initiatives called the International Surf Therapy Organization.
And it’s not just beach bums and surfer dudes.
The U.S. Navy is currently conducting a $1 million study to see if surfing can provide benefits to soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or sleep problems.
“To the researchers, the initial results suggest that surfing can lead to a decrease in insomnia and feelings of anxiety, and a decline in an overall negative view of life and other symptoms of depression,” wrote Tony Perry for The Washington Post.
Why surf therapy?
For starters, the act of paddling after and catching a wave is a full body workout that tests numerous muscle groups, as well as the heart and lungs. And there’s a growing body of research that suggests exercise can be beneficial for certain disorders, such as autism.
“We’ve also seen reductions in stereotypical behaviors,” says Sean Healy, who studies adaptive physical activity at the University of Delaware. For those with autism, stereotypical behaviors can include things like rocking, pacing or spinning.
Interestingly, exercise may help kids with autism better focus on tasks and improve their academic performance, according to a study Healy conducted in 2018.
As to whether surfing is better or different than other physical activities, such as soccer or karate, Healy says the research is still in the early phases. However, there are a number of reasons why chasing barrels might be particularly attractive to kids with autism, which is the population he focuses on.
“First of all, just the process of being on the board is very rhythmical, and that can be very comforting for a child,” says Healy, who created a nonprofit surf therapy program in California called Surfing the Spectrum. “A lot of these kids like predictability. They like routine. And I think surfing is a nice activity for them because it is more or less the same every time.”
No matter what happens on any given run, the waves just keep coming.
“You feel reborn”
There’s also something to be said for the stoke factor.
“Any of us who surf, we know that when we’re having a bad day or bad week, after getting in the ocean for an hour, you come out feeling changed,” says Sean Swentek, executive director of A Walk On Water, a nonprofit that provides surf therapy for families with children who have special needs. “You feel reborn, rejuvenated. There’s just something incredibly magical about going in the ocean.”
Swentek’s organization focuses on not just individuals, but also their families, providing healthy food, live music and activities like art and yoga at their events. He says it’s all about creating a level of trust between the instructors and the children so that they can safely and comfortably explore an activity that might have seemed impossible before.
“A lot of families of children with special needs don’t think that their child is capable of doing something like that,” says Swentek. “But it’s pretty amazing to watch, to see them paddle into a wave for the first time ever. A kid’s face will just light up.”
Take two nugs and call me in the morning
While Swentek says he’s got hours’ worth of anecdotal evidence, researchers continue to peck away at the scientific underpinnings of surf therapy.
For instance, might surfing invoke what psychologists refer to as a “flow state”? Or are the benefits linked to the setting, as in other forms of nature-based therapy?
“To be honest, we’re still trying to figure it out ourselves,” says Swentek. “We did a big research project last year with a master’s student in occupational therapy, and we’re conducting additional research that’s really trying to understand what it is about surf therapy that makes it so therapeutic.”
Perhaps some day soon surf therapy will even be elevated to the point where health insurance covers it like they do antidepressant and antianxiety medications. What would you think if your doctor handed you a script that read, “Hang 10”?
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