Farm-Based Therapy with Megan Moran, Cultivate Farms
About this episode
Megan Moran discusses the innovative Farm-Based Therapy model at Cultivate Care Farms and its impact on mental wellness for young people.
On this week’s episode of American Family Farmer, host Doug Stephan welcomes Megan Moran, a licensed mental health counselor and Executive Director of Cultivate Care Farms in Bolton, Massachusetts. Megan shares how her journey from high school English teacher to mental health professional led her to explore the powerful connection between identity development, community, and nature. With more than 18 years of experience working with adolescents and young adults, she now leads an innovative program that uses hands-on farm experiences to support emotional growth and mental wellness. Doug and Megan discuss the mission behind Cultivate Care Farms and its pioneering Farm-Based Therapy model, where children, teens, and young adults engage in meaningful farm work—caring for livestock, growing food, and maintaining the land—as part of their therapeutic process. The approach helps clients build confidence, resilience, empathy, and problem-solving skills while forming a deeper connection with animals, nature, and their own capabilities. Megan also explains how the nonprofit has grown dramatically since becoming a 501(c)(3) organization in 2017, now serving an average of 180 clients per…
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