About
I am a Research Psychologist with over 20 years of experience in developing and evaluating health and wellbeing treatments. I have project-managed evaluations of treatments in NHS, Clinical Trials, and University settings, producing over 80 published projects. I provided the evidence-base for talking therapies, such as Compassion-Focused Therapy-CFT (for patients) and Compassionate Mind Training-CMT (for public).
I am happiest spending time in nature and was really pleased to be able to bring together my passion for the outdoors and health and wellbeing research by becoming a Forest Bathing practitioner and researcher. Working with several Forest bathing training organisations I have conducted multiple research projects into Forest Bathing (mindful walking in nature). In my practice I tend to work with adults experiencing mobility impairment, chronic illness, and with children in the foster care system.
Over the following years, I aim to bring my research in 1. Compassion interventions, 2. Public health interventions, and 3. Forest Bathing together, to provide the evidence-base for Forest Bathing and bring it to a wider UK audience as a social prescription, with a special focus on equal access and health inequalities. I will also use Forest Bathing as means to bring compassion towards the environment to foster sustainability and climate change resilience.
Recent publications
Chhajer R. & McEwan, K. (2025) Examining the impact of a forest bathing intervention on well-being in urban youth: A field experiment from India. Acta Psychologica 261, 105961
Longman, D.P. Stephen C. Van Hedger3,4, Kirsten McEwan5, Eve Griffin1, Courtney Hannon1, Bella Harvey1, Taisei Kikuta1, Matt Nickels1, Emma O’Donnell1, Jake Ross1, Ross Slater1, Mate Szazvai1, Jenna Williams1, Colin N. Shaw6 (Sept 2025) Forest soundscapes improve mood, restoration and cognition, but not physiological stress or immunity, relative to industrial soundscapes. Nature Scientific Reports, 33967, 33967. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-11469-x
Kratz, S & McEwan, K. (2025). From roots to action: How adolescent nature exposure and adult eco-anxiety foster pro-environmental behaviour. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08216-w
Pinto, A. M., Figueiredo, C., Geenen, R., Castilho, P., da Silva, J. A. P., The EASEL-3 research group, Maratos, F. and McEwan, K. 2025. Introducing the Emotions-Affect Systems Elicitation (EASEL-3) Index: A new tool for measuring affect regulation systems' activation. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy. 32 (4). https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.70126
Simpattanawong, D., Li, Q. McEwan,K. (2024) A controlled trial comparing the impact of mindful Forest bathing or a mindful urban walk on heart rate, blood pressure, and mood in young Thai adults. People and Nature.
Farris, S., Zhang, L., Dempsey, N., McEwan, K., Hoyle, H., & Cameron, R. (2024). ‘The Elephant in the Room’–does actual or perceived biodiversity elicit restorative responses in a virtual park?. Cities & Health, 1-16.
Farris S, Dempsey N, McEwan K, Hoyle H, Cameron R (2024) Does increasing biodiversity in an urban woodland setting promote positive emotional responses in humans? A stress recovery experiment using 360-degree videos of an urban woodland. PLoS ONE 19(2): e0297179. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297179
Kotera Y, Tsuda-McCaie F, Edwards AM, McEwan K. (2023) Forest Bathing: History, Culture, and Thoughts for Clinical Practice and Research. In Kaplan, Y. & Levounis, P. (eds.). Nature Therapy. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association.
McEwan, K. & Zhang, S. (2023). Longitudinal influence of self-compassion and fears of compassion on prosocial and antisocial behaviour in sport: A conditional latent growth curve modelling analysis. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology
McEwan K, Krogh KS, Dunlop K, Khan M, Krogh A. Virtual Forest Bathing Programming as Experienced by Disabled Adults with Mobility Impairments and/or Low Energy: A Qualitative Study. Forests. 2023; 14(5):1033. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14051033
Subirana-Malaret M, Miró A, Camacho A, Gesse A, McEwan K. A Multi-Country Study Assessing the Mechanisms of Natural Elements and Sociodemographics behind the Impact of Forest Bathing on Well-Being. Forests. 2023; 14(5):904. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14050904
Walker H, Jena A, McEwan K, Evans G, Campbell S. Natural Volatile Organic Compounds (NVOCs) Are Greater and More Diverse in UK Forests Compared with a Public Garden. Forests. (2023). 14(1):92. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14010092
McEwan, K., Potter, V., Kotera, K., Jackson, J.E., Greaves, S. (2022). ‘This is what the colour green smells like!’: Urban Forest Bathing improved adolescent nature connection and wellbeing. Int J Environ Res Public Health
McEwan, K., Collett, H., Nairn, J., Bird, J., Faghy, M., Pfeifer, E., Jackson, J.E., Cook, C., Bond, A. (2022). Feasibility and impact of practising online Forest bathing to improve anxiety, rumination, social connection and Long-COVID symptoms: A pilot study. Int J Environ Res Public Health
McEwan, K., Xenias, D., Hodgkinson, S., Hawkins, J., Clark, S., Xing, Y., Ellis, C., Cripps, R., Brown, J. & Titherington, I. (2022). Greener streets and behaviours, and green-eyed neighbours: A controlled study evaluating a Sustainable Urban Drainage scheme in Wales. Sustainable Water Resources Management
Gilbert, P, Basran, J., Raven, J., Gilbert, H., Petrocchi, N., Cheli, S., Rayner, A., Hayes, A., Lucre, K., Minou, P., Giles, D., Byrne, F., Newton, E. McEwan, K. (2022). Compassion Focused Group Therapy for people with a diagnosis of Bipolar Affective Disorder: A feasibility study. Frontiers.
McEwan, K. & Minou, L (2022). Defining compassion: A Delphi study of compassion therapists experiences when introducing patients to the term ‘compassion’ Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice.
