Where’s the Wilderness in Wilderness Therapy?

Abstract

This article seeks to provide a review of the theoretical and empirical literature in the field of wilderness therapy, the intent of which is to gain a greater conceptual understanding of the importance of the physical environment in therapeutic intervention. A review and consolidation of the existing literature reveal that the theories used to explain the outcomes of wilderness therapy relate to variables that are not exclusive to a wilderness setting and may even be amenable to replication in an urban environment. This article raises the question of whether we are unnecessarily taking adolescents into the wilderness if these interventions can be contrived within urban settings or whether there is something about the wilderness specifically that is currently missing from the theoretical literature. The article concludes with a discussion of avenues to facilitate this theoretical development.