ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the literature in the area of ecopsychology and ecotherapy to provide a contextual background to the emergence of environmental arts therapy. Literature in the area of the arts in therapy considers the ways in which visual arts, drama, and music therapies have moved into outdoor locations and contributed to the growing awareness of working therapeutically in Nature. The chapter also shows how the creative arts therapies bring something unique to the approaches and methods being developed with specific reference to the seasonal cycles.
The chapter will look at the challenges faced when taking clinical practice outdoors as well as the health benefits and evidence-base. The chapter ends with some discussion around the threshold that we are confronted with when we consider taking our work and our clients out of doors. There are important questions around efficacy, risk and professional boundaries and practitioners’ views as to how we respond creatively and ethically when we radically alter the therapeutic frame.
