A cross-cultural exploration of ‘wild’ in wilderness therapy: Canada, Norway and Australia

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses pluralistic understandings of wilderness in the context of wilderness therapy (WT). The term wilderness perpetuates a modern worldview of place that beyond ‘civilisation’ exists an environment defined by risk, fear and an unpredictable nature. WT utilises outdoor travel and living practices during therapeutic intervention and health promotion although empirical justification for its use of wilderness for therapy is not yet established. This paper provides three cultural perspectives on wild places in relation to WT. These national perspectives are informed by local practices, historical and societal understandings of wilderness and supported by related literature from Canada, Norway and Australia. The authors (1) illustrate a number of contemporary western assumptions about wilderness enshrined in the WT and outdoor adventure literature, (2) cautiously propose core purposes for using wild places for therapy and (3) encourage further development of WT practice and research within national, regional and even across organisational contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Wilderness
• wilderness therapy
• wild places
• cross-cultural perspectives
• place

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Canoe is a colonially introduced word originating from the Arawakan people of the Caribbean.

2. Generally replicating two Voyageur-era canoes: The ‘canot du maitre’ or Montreal Canoe (11–12 m long), and the ‘canot du nord’ or North/Selkirk (6–8 m long).

3. Apart from usurpation of land, brutality and murder of Indigenous peoples, this also refers to the introduction of rabbits, foxes, sparrows, blackberries, cactus pears and other pests that have decimated many endemic species.

4. Wilderness therapy is not the term used in Australia and BAT will be used in this section.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nevin J. Harper

Dr. N. J. Harper is an associate professor in the School of Child & Youth Care at the University of Victoria and National Research Coordinator for Outward Bound Canada. With more than 25 years of experience in outdoor adventure programming, he maintains instructor status with Paddle Canada and the Outdoor Council of Canada. Research interests include outdoor- and adventure-based education and therapy, ecopsychology, land and place-based learning, and child and youth development. Nevin is founder of the Canadian Adventure Therapy Symposium and a Canadian representative and co-chair of the Adventure Therapy International Committee.

Leiv E. Gabrielsen

Dr. L. E. Gabrielsen works as a researcher and outdoor therapist in the Department for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Sørlandet Hospital in Norway. He is head of a clinical research project on wilderness therapy, friluftsterapi, offered as a stand-alone treatment to at-risk adolescents who are referred for specialised mental health care. Leiv is a Norwegian representative on the Adventure Therapy International Committee, a member of the Nordic Adventure Therapy working group, and administrator for the Nordic Adventure Therapy & Outdoor Education Network.

Cathryn Carpenter

Dr. C. Carpenter is a senior lecturer in Youth Work at Victoria University in Australia. Her research has focused on outdoor experiential learning programmes for enhanced health and well-being. Her career spans over 30 years working in outdoor education and bush adventure therapy, predominantly with young people. She is a former Australian representative on the Adventure Therapy International Committee and remains passionate about all aspects of self-sufficient journeys on snow, water or foot.