Outdoor therapy: where do you stand?

In 2006, a multidisciplinary forum, hosted by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) and comprising representatives of influential organisations such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and the Institute of Outdoor Learning (IOL) met to discuss the evolution of Outdoor Therapy within the UK. While it was recognised that there were many areas of common ground amongst a group of practitioners working along a continuum of provision, ranging from clinical based psychotherapy to forest based outdoor recreation providers, there was a need to reach a clearer service definition that would recognise and aid the development of the field. It was also recognised that there were extensive areas of overlap as shown in figure 1 (right) (Johnson 2012).