Re-storying wilderness and adventure therapies: healing places and selves in an era of environmental crises

Abstract

This paper begins by examining the therapeutic work of wilderness and adventure therapy through the lens of narrative counselling and the concept of the narrative-self. The terms wilderness and adventure are unpacked and attention is drawn to the risks of working uncritically with these concepts. Illustrations of alternative understandings of people in relationship to the more-than-human world are offered. In keeping with the principles of narrative therapy, rather than providing definitive answers, which risk foreclosing on alternative storylines, this paper seeks instead to open up new possibilities for being and acting within the field of wilderness and adventure therapies and within Western societies more broadly. As long as critical attention is paid to the discourses and stories wilderness and adventure therapies draw on and promote, the paper concludes that these fields are well positioned to help individuals and societies move towards greater environmental sustainability.