| Abstrakt: |
SYNOPSISThe spread of various outdoor therapy practices implies a validation of the human connection to other-than-human life by many in the profession. However, this connection can actually arise in the indoor therapy space and be just as significant. This is illustrated by case histories from both the early and more recent history of therapy, and can arise in many ways. Examples are drawn from Jung, Case and Sacks. They lend support to the theory that human mutuality with other life can be a major feature of the unconscious. Various writers have argued this, but therapist attitude has a crucial effect on whether it features in a particular therapy. I give a range of examples from my own practice, of the ways in which this can appear in both content and process. These include the importance of animals and the outdoors in biography and in the search for well-being, the need to explore ecological anxiety, and geographical affinity. The intervention of other creatures, or the elements, into the unfolding of sessions is described to illustrate process. Issues of boundaries and correct practice are examined. In conclusion, I suggest that the absence of these aspects from therapy can be symptomatic of an underlying cultural alienation from other life which we are challenged to heal. |
