Due to the stigma associated with clinical therapy, many people shy away from mainstream services to manage their mental health. Surf therapy, which involves talk-based group therapy followed by surf instruction, could work as a powerful and effective adjunct therapy for many.

When you’re surfing, you really do have to be 100 percent focused on the activity at hand. In effect, you aren’t engaging in anxious or depressive thinking and so your brought effortlessly into the present moment. It is this practice of mindfulness that surfing allows for which caused the US Navy to embark on a $1 million research project last year to investigate the therapeutic potential of surfing for military personnel with PTSD. 

Kris Primacio, CEO of the International Surf Organisation which works with 30 surf therapy organisations from around the world, including two from Australia, joined us on the Daily to discuss more.