"Lost Laughter": Mental Health through Nature Connectedness in Magic for Marigold

Abstract

Ecopsychology and its praxis, ecotherapy, are gaining ground in the counselling world as valid and important therapeutic modalities for recovering human mental, physical, and emotional health through reconnecting with the natural world. L.M. Montgomery’s Magic for Marigold illustrates what happens to a child’s mental health when her relationship with the outdoors is first curtailed and then reinstated by an adult who does not share the same fantastic and highly imaginative capabilities as the child has.