WILD THERAPY

Wild therapy is an invitation to be curious and open. It is about complexity, connection and authenticity. It may touch the edges and the tensions. It is about deep listening.

Wild therapy considers the place of the wild and the domesticated experience of being human. It reminds us of our connectedness to the other-than-human (animals, birds and insects) and more-than-human (rivers, hills, weathers, etc.) The modern world privileges the cognitive and the rational and whilst these ways of being have their place, they are not the only ways to be. Wild therapy is a way of working that invites in what emerges, the spontaneous and the unknown.

Working outside can be a more direct way to access our sense of connection and disconnection. In the practicalities of the landscape and the time frame, we work with containment and boundaries. And alongside we work with the reality of what cannot be contained or controlled, through experiences with weather and terrain and what we encounter. I believe that this humility and awareness of what we can’t control can be freeing rather than escalating anxiety.

Being outside gently (and sometimes less gently) may enable, us to be more in our bodies, to feel out of breath going uphill or the strength in our legs, to feel nervous about whether it might rain or fear/excitement seeing a deer or a dragonfly.

Working outdoors is very simple and can also be very profound. It can shake up power roles or make relational dynamics more visible. It can remind us we are part of something bigger than our individual experience. It can bring spaciousness to the therapeutic work, space to slow down or be silent or make noise. It can help us get out of the way of ourselves. 

For me ‘wild ‘is being. It is the complexity and the messy.

Working outdoors may involve walking, sitting, creating, exploring. Together we pay attention to what is being called. 

The essence of Wild Therapy influences all my work as a counsellor, psychotherapist and supervisor and who I am as a person.

I work outdoors as a counsellor, psychotherapist and supervisor between Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge, or a place as otherwise agreed between us.

Any queries or curiosities get in touch.