Den nya vågen? En kvalitativ dokumentstudie om surfterapi som alternativ terapiform i socialt arbete

Sammanfattning: During the last decades, new types of alternative interventions in social work to improve people's well-being have been discovered. A type of nature-based therapy that is on the uprise internationally but not in Sweden yet is surf therapy. This study aims to understand how surf therapy, in social work, can be experienced to create meaning and change in people based on experiences of the therapy and its physical environment. Surf therapy is a treatment method that according to research shows many positive effects to a variety of different target groups. A qualitative document study has been conducted where three videos of documentary type and one book have been transcripted and used as references. To analyze the empirical data the salutogenic model KASAM and the theory “flow” have been used. The results were partly in line with earlier research where people experienced therapeutic benefits. Furthermore, the result showed additional benefits than just the one from the activity of surfing, for example, many experienced that the community around the surf programs as well as the environmental factors were important to improve their well-being. A research gap that needed further investigation was identified. The gap included social workers' attitudes towards alternative therapy for the purpose of enabling new methods in social work in Sweden.