What is Wild Therapy?

Wild Therapy was founded by ecopsychologist Nick Totton to explore the concepts of the ‘wild’ and ‘domestic’ in regards to our physical environment and inner world. He speaks about his work in Therapy Today, The big interview: Nick Totton, November 2021.

Working outdoors allows us to encounter and consider the more-than-human world, which includes animals, plants, dreams and the elements. The practice and theory of wild therapy aims to expand past the human-centric view to create an opening to valuing connection with all of life. It aims to explore therapy’s capacity to expand the limitations of the human-centred world and what it means to feel connected to self and other, be that human or more-than-human.

Why did I start practising Wild Therapy? 

Due to the pandemic, I was working with clients online. On a personal level, I was also facing the challenges that many were, of living with lockdowns and the feelings of disconnection and isolation. With all the restrictions, time spent in nature felt more precious and necessary than ever. I was feeling the therapeutic effects of the natural world and hearing of counsellors working with clients outdoors.

Coming from a training that was human-centric, I had no experience of working outdoors with nature. I researched approaches that could provide a framework for seeing clients outside and working with the natural world. Towards an Ecospychotherapy by Mary-Jayne Rust and Wild Therapy: rewilding our inner and outer worlds by Nick Totton, inspired me. I joined an online workshop facilitated by Mary-Jayne Rust where she shared her experiences of working outside with clients in a woodland area near where she lived. I was curious about the rich synchronicities that occurred in her sessions and the idea that being indoors doesn’t necessarily feel like a safe space for everyone.

Wild Therapy reminded me that we are organisms living within a wider ecological system rather than humans relating solely to each other, separate from our environment, which is how I first experienced the process of being a counsellor and a client.

What does Wild Therapy look like? 

As mentioned, it can be useful for those who don’t find indoor spaces safe and for those who want to talk to someone outdoors, for example for claustrophobia. Clients who have grown up in wild natural environments have also reported feeling comforted by having access to a space where they can reflect with another in and with nature.

Before practising with clients, I discussed this new way of working with my supervisor as it was important that she felt able to hold and support this approach. Her main concern was safety, so I explained that the initial session was online, so I could contract with the client about how we would work outdoors. This include discussing where we would meet; what starting and ending would look like; what we could do if we came across other people, animals or plants; emergency contacts; who would lead and where we would go. Should the client want to do something that seems ‘strange’ like hugging a tree or building a mud pie, they would let me know. We would also explore the idea, central to Wild Therapy, that we will not be able to prepare for every eventuality, as in life. I also ensured I was insured for counselling outdoors.  

Expanding my practice outside of the therapy room has shown me and my clients how the other-than-human world can be a safe container for the work. It creates space for relationship building between client and counsellor and also between client and nature, which I have found to be a creative co-counsellor. Feeling the unjudgmental nature of trees, the excited response of birdsong to joy and noticing rain in moments of despair provides feelings of being seen and supported by nature, which clients can have access to at any time.