Ecotherapy: A Field Guide

Ecotherapy: A Field Guide presents an extensive review of the field of ecotherapy that unearths a number of ambiguities in the way this therapy is understood and described. The review explores six themes derived from a critical analysis of the findings: human and nature; therapy and therapeutic; wilderness and wild; physical and meta-physical; culture and indigeneity; and the skin-bound self and the ecological Self. Throughout their exploration, the authors privilege traditions which predate the modern interest in this subject. They propose a new metatheory for ecotherapy practice that aims to bring some cohesion to the field, honour its heritage, and support its future development. Ultimately, the guide argues that great care should be taken in how ecotherapy is practiced and described, as many of the terms currently being used are culturally inappropriate and therapeutically counterproductive.

David Key has designed and delivered outdoor programmes for psychological wellbeing and sustainability to a wide diversity of organisations and individuals for nearly 30 years. He has also taught, supervised and researched extensively in the academic sector. He is published in several languages.

Keith Tudor is Professor of Psychotherapy at Auckland University of Technology, Aotearoa New Zealand, where he is currently engaged in establishing an entity for Research in the Psychological Therapies. He is the author of over 300 peer-reviewed publications, including 17 books.