Ecopsychology's Wilding

Abstract

This article follows Nick Totton's focus on “Wild” as paradigmatic for ecopsychology. It re-examines the tension between domestication and wildness that Totton sets out and links the devastation felt at the estrangement from “mother nature” with the experience of shame and loss of reciprocity. In differentiating between pre-conquest wildness that holds homogeneity of values and that of post-conquest groups, a central paradox in ecopsychology is identified as that of our dual nature: that we are both a part of nature and apart from nature. In complement to Totton's qualities epitomised by “Wild Mind”, the Trickster is seen as a vital source of imaginative power with which to face the demonic presence of collective destruction. With an ecopsychology perspective, a parallel is drawn between the dilemmas of individual therapy and the collective challenge of potential species extinction, suggesting a reciprocal affinity with the more-than-human. Finally, the article notes the difficulties inherent in creating alternative discourses while also looking to be published. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.