Wild Therapy

Many of the problems we face today stem from the fact that we haven’t evolved to live the way we currently do — disconnected from ourselves, each other and the natural world in so many ways.

Erich Fromm once wrote:

“The soil, the plants, the animals are still man’s world, and the more the human race emerges from these primary bonds, the more it separates itself from the natural world, the more intense becomes the need to find new ways of escaping separateness.” In our separation, we often fill the gap with artificial stimuli that hijack our attention and dopamine reward systems — yet leave us feeling empty and unfulfilled.

                             

Wild Therapy is so many things; It’s an exploration of our relationship between wild and domesticity through embodiment, playfulness and a heart-felt sense of living.

It’s a remembering of the connection we innately have with the natural world; we are all as beings not separated from but enmeshed and entangled together, we weave together as part of a wide connected and dancing ecosystem that cycles in life. And if this is true of life, it feels congruent that it also true in the therapeutic process.

It’s coming into ‘being’ with ourselves and our land, tuning into the whispers underneath all the clatter. The deeper we listen, the more we untangle ourselves, yet the more we are aware and the more expansive we can be. It’s a reorganising of our being and a reconnecting to the wild currents that flow through us.

Wild Therapy practices deep listening and attentiveness; it’s a portal between our internal and our external landscape. It asks us to sink into these landscapes and tune in to what the plants, the trees, the rivers, the sky, or the rocks have to say. This in turn, can help explore and reflect on any thoughts, feelings, and sensations that arise within us in response and deepening our awareness.

It can be muddy and messy and murky. It can ask to decompose old stories and plant seeds for change. But like the wild is ultimately about expression, reciprocity, intimacy, fluidity, and generosity.

Supporting us to feel more integrated and rooted in the world.

I offer therapy outdoors in East Lothian - either along the beach by the sea or through woodlands or a bit of both. If this is something you think might be of interest to you please feel free to get in touch.