Therapeutic Baking

Therapeutic Baking

This specialist course explores the concept of balancing life’s pressures and stressors with positive mindful baking activity, to create a therapeutic experience.

This one-day course adopts baking to demonstrate how activity can be relaxing, mindful, a coping mechanism and a strategy for maintaining an equilibrium.

The course has been specifically developed by Ian Waterland who worked for many years as a mental health professional. The course is ideal for those wishing to explore the subject of therapeutic baking for themselves and for those planning to support others with therapeutic baking.

Participants will explore the “5 Ways to Wellbeing” and learn to plan how to incorporate this approach into everyday life.

A range of other concepts and theories supporting positive mental health combine with hands on baking, with each participant taking home teacakes they have baked during the day.

Ian always aimed to spread the word with ‘breaducation’ initially in his bakery and then more widely in the community, online and at The School of Artisan Food, where he teaches a number of short courses and was a founding tutor on the Foundation Degree in Artisan Food Production. He has developed a real passion for the therapeutic aspects of bread making and enjoys sharing the lessons he learned from establishing and running his own bakery.

The bread journey Ian embarked on, has now come full circle as he became The School of Artisan Food’s Managing Director, whilst continuing to teach on a part time basis.

Refreshments will be available throughout each day, as well as buffet style lunches prepared by our catering team. All ingredients, equipment and recipes will be provided.

The School of Artisan Food is nestled in the heart of Sherwood Forest on The Welbeck Estate, Nottinghamshire, just a few minutes from the A1 and M1.

The School of Artisan Food makes a conscious effort to reduce waste and packaging. Students are encouraged to bring their own containers to transport their food home.

'Ian is very empathic and easy to get on with. I really enjoyed this course and learned a lot, the content is very interesting and useful, which I can actually use.'

What is the difference between the Therapeutic Baking and Mindful Bread course?

Our Mindful Bread course explores mindfulness and gives students the opportunity to practice some mindfulness techniques. In contrast the Therapeutic Baking course puts mindfulness into a much wider framework of strategies for positive mental health, exploring how baking can be therapeutic within this context.