ABSTRACT
In folktales throughout the world, humans and animals converse, exchange pledges of mutual assistance, even take on each other’s form. In an old Hungarian story, a peasant saves a snake from the flames, and in gratitude he is granted the power to understand everything that the creatures around him are saying. In contemporary Britain, many individuals have discovered a fluency in their communications with other creatures which enables smooth co-operation and safe intermingling. They testify that this offers humans access to some previously buried part of themselves. This phenomenon is part of a spectrum of intimate connection, which can include that with plant-life, landscape, and the elements. Within the psychotherapy profession, a version of this has also been arising. A growing number of therapists have been incorporating the intervention of, say, dogs, horses or wild creatures into their work, and the richness and resolution this has uncovered for some clients has been striking. A profound but hidden need seems to be met in all this. Indeed, the frustration of that need is a major factor contributing to our cultural discontent, sense of impoverishment, and drive to consume. When the yearning for connection is met the hunger to consume is less. Identifying this need offers the possibility of
a nourishment which may be much needed in turbulent times to come. It may also be one of the less widely recognized tasks of therapy.
