Ecopsychology Links
Resources related with Ecopsychology
Ecopsychology
is on the cutting edge of a shift in how we see the world and ourselves. It
views many of the problems we face today as being caused by our separation from
our roots in the natural world. It finds many useful solutions through
reestablishing connections to those roots. As a discipline, eco-psychology
studies the interaction of human beings and their environments. As a therapy it
seeks to return people to a balanced relationship with their environment. — Allison Ewoldt
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The Tetons, WY © Suzanne Duarte |
Articles
Coping
With Environmental Transitions: Some Attentional
Benefits of Walking by Raymond De
Young 3/10 - Coping with the challenges of global climate disruption and the
peaking of the rate of fossil fuel production will require behavioral change on
a massive scale. There are many skills that will help individuals deal with
this coming transition but none more central than the abilities to
problem-solve creatively, plan and restrain behavior, and manage the emotions
that result from the loss of an affluent lifestyle. These abilities require a
mental state called vitality.
Ecological Trauma and Recovery by Rex Weyler 7/5/09 - As a global community, we often
appear as a dysfunctional family. We bicker constantly, the strong abuse the
weak, and alleged leaders behave like addicts, unwilling to change the
destructive habits that are destroying our home. As in any abusive
relationship, the powerful proclaim a taboo against protest and vilify those
who cry out as the crazy ones.
Ecotherapy:
Slowing Down to Nature's Pace by Linda Buzzell 6/10/09 - Not so very long ago, humans -- like the rest of
the animals and plants on earth -- moved through our natural cycles at nature's
pace. In the last 150 years, however, the human relationship with time has
radically changed. Some say the problems started earlier, with the development
of agriculture or writing, but it was really the Industrial Revolution -- the
rise of the Machine -- that put humans in thrall to mechanical processes and
machine time. Industrial time was bad enough (Charlie Chaplin did a wonderful
job of visualizing that "cog in the wheel" feeling in his film
"Modern Times") but Cybertime can be dizzyingly discombobulating for
a Pleistocene primate. And that's
how many modern people feel -- completely frazzled and out of sync with our
deepest selves.
Why Isn’t the Brain Green? by Jon Gertner 4/16/09 - Decision science is a branch of behavioral research situated at the
intersection of psychology and economics. It focuses on the mental processes that shape our choices, behaviors and
attitudes. At the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions – or
CRED - the primary objective is to study how perceptions of risk and
uncertainty shape our responses to climate change and other weather phenomena
like hurricanes and droughts. Cognitive psychologists now broadly accept that we have
different systems for processing risks: analytical and emotional. In analytical
mode, we are not always adept at long-term thinking and tend to undervalue
promised future outcomes. Emotional and experiential feelings of risk are superb drivers of
action. But, unfortunately, such lessons may arrive too late for corrective
action.
Natural Happiness by
Paul Bloom 4/15/09 - Put aside for the moment practical considerations
like the need for clean air and water, and ignore as well spiritual worries
about the sanctity of Mother Earth or religious claims that we are the stewards
of creation. Look at it from the coldblooded standpoint of the enhancement of
the happiness of our everyday lives. Real natural habitats provide significant
sources of pleasure for modern humans. We intuitively grasp this, and this
knowledge underlies the anxiety that we feel about nature’s loss. This basic fact about human pleasure is
an excellent argument for keeping the real thing.
Good-bye Industrialism, Hello Life by Dave Ewoldt 3/21/09 - Reconnecting and relocalizing. This combination is a viable,
realistic, and systemic
response to global crises that can improve
quality of life in a manner that is actually
more in keeping with human
nature in a creative, life-affirming universe.
Robert
Greenway: The Ecopsychology Interview by Thomas
Joseph Doherty 3/09 - I work towards an
ecopsychology that will find within language an accurate articulation of the
human-nature relationship. This will of course be based on experience, but will
be couched in language, and perhaps deepened by ritual and art. It must take up
the deepest meanings of relationships in general and relationships between
“mind” and “nature” in particular. It will be based on a variety of “modes of
knowing” (neither ignoring nor privileging science). It must not be within the
constraints of a particular psychology, nor within a specific natural history
discipline, but will be “integral,” in that it will draw insight from all past
and current attempts to depict “nature” from the human perspective. If
ecopsychology is meant to accurately depict the human–nature
relationship, it must rise above and beyond configurations and communities of
thought that are embedded in the dualistic illusion.
Climate
Change Takes A Mental Toll by Emily Anthes 2/9/09 - No one can predict what effect warming will have
on our psyches. But even in the face of uncertainty, specialists say the
indirect effects of global warming could be substantial. In the long term, we
may derive some psychological benefit from banding together with other citizens
to mitigate the effects of global warming. Taking action might not only give us
back a sense of our own sense of efficacy against a powerful outside force, but
also help us build community and social ties that offset stress. Getting
involved can be an antidote to the depression that can come from the
overwhelming realizations that we have to face.
The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature by Marc G. Berman, John Jonides, and Stephen Kaplan 5/28/08 - We compare the restorative
effects on cognitive functioning of interactions with natural versus urban
environments. Attention restoration theory (ART) provides an analysis of the
kinds of environments that lead to improvements in directed-attention
abilities. Nature, which is filled with intriguing stimuli, modestly grabs
attention in a bottom-up fashion, allowing top-down directed-attention
abilities a chance to replenish. Unlike natural environments, urban
environments are filled with stimulation that captures attention dramatically
and additionally requires directed attention (e.g., to avoid being hit by a
car), making them less restorative. We present two experiments validating
attention restoration theory, and show that simple
and brief interactions with nature can produce marked increases in cognitive
control. To consider the availability of nature as merely an amenity fails to
recognize the vital importance of nature in effective cognitive functioning.
Eco-Anger: A Worldview under Threat, Part 2: Personal Insights into
What’s Up by Sarah Anne Edwards 5/13/08
The Waking Up Syndrome by
Sarah Anne Edwards and Linda Buzzell 4/08 - While the sky may not be falling,
the day-after-day onslaught of alarming news is making it more difficult simply
to overlook the triple threat of environmental, climatic and economic concerns.
It's leaving many of us feeling like Alice in Wonderland, being sucked down a
Rabbit Hole into some frighteningly grotesque and unfamiliar world that's
anything but wonderful.
Eco-Anxiety: Why
Eco-Therapy? by Sarah Anne Edwards 4/26/08 - Many of the
problems we face today are the direct result of living in a society that is at
odds with the both inborn human nature and the earth’s ecology. Much of the
distress both the planet and we are experiencing now is a result of this
mismatch. Being in and interacting with nature allows us to experience and
learn about a more compatible alternative for how to live.
Eco-Anxiety: A
Pre-Traumatic Stress Syndrome by Sarah
Anne Edwards 4/17/08 - Loss of expectations for
the future and who we will be within it, and hopes for a semblance of normalcy,
help predict those most vulnerable to pre-traumatic stress syndrome.
What Does Climate
Change Do To Our Heads? by
Sanjay Khanna 3/21/08 - If the environmental degradation of the past
hundred years is any indication, our contemporary lifestyles, built on a
dwindling resource base, have failed to acknowledge how much the mental health
of people and ecosystems is interrelated.
Do You Have a Panglossian Disorder? or Economic
and Planetary Collapse: Is it a Therapeutic Issue? by Kathy McMahon, Psy.D.
11/13/07 - A
Panglossian perspective denies the need for constructive action, and leads to
complacency and a worsening of our world’s woes. I’ve come to think about the Panglossian
perspective as not optimism itself, but as a defense against pessimism. This defense takes many
forms, as I’ve described above, and I’d like to describe why so many of us NEED
a defense against pessimism, and how, unfortunately, my profession of
psychology has been so instrumental in fueling that defense.
Living for the Moment while
Devaluing the Future by Nate Hagens 6/1/07 - The debate on the realities
of both climate change and Peak Oil has moved from 'are they real?' to
questions concerning timing, magnitude and impact. At the same time, expanding
research in 'temporal discounting' in economics (called 'impulsivity' in
psychology), is shedding light on how steeply we value the present over the
future, a trait that has ancient origins. Knowing this tendency, how can we
expect factual updates on peak oil and climate change to behaviorally compete
with Starbucks, sex, slot machines, and ski trips? (See link for charts,
graphs, and illustrations.)
Is the Modern Psyche Undergoing a Rite of Passage? By Richard Tarnas - We
have sought ever deeper insight into our individual biographies, seeking to
recover the often hidden sources of our present condition, to render conscious
those unconscious forces and complexes that shape our lives. Many now recognize
that same task as critical for our entire civilization. What individuals and
psychologists have long been doing has now become the collective responsibility
of our culture: to make the unconscious conscious.
Wilderness Rites
Of Passage by John Davis - Across time and in countless ways, people of many
cultures have gone into the wilderness to mark life transitions and seek
guidance. They sought closeness with God, the Mystery, or a higher self. They
found a time alone, exposure to the elements in an unfamiliar place, a radical
shift in self and world, a trial and a gift, and a ritual death and rebirth.
The core of the form was clear: leaving the ordinary world, crossing a
threshold, and returning with a gift and a task. It was an initiation, a rite
of passage, a new birth in the womb of the natural world. Modern cultures seem
to have forgotten most of what our ancestors knew about the importance of
initiatory rites for sustaining individuals and their communities. Instead, we
find ourselves strangers in our own lives, unsure of our status and value, and
hungry for a connection with the abiding rhythms of the earth and an enduring
spirit.
Nature and Madness by Paul
Shepard - My question is: why does society
persist in destroying its habitat?
Awakening The
Ecological Unconscious by Theodore Roszak -
Ecopsychology: healing our
alienation from the rest of Creation
What is Ecopsychology? by John Davis
What is EcoPsychology? by Robert Greenway
Earth
Stories by
David Abram - The story of life is
encoded in the landscape around us.
Back
to Nature - on
Nature-Deficit Disorder in the UK
The
Psychological Benefits Of Wilderness by Garrett Duncan
Groundwork by Bill Plotkin
Enhancing
Emotional Wellness In A Collapsing World
How
we've made ourselves into abstractions by Chris
Maser
Now
we are Human Commodities by Chris Maser
"Re-learning"
what we've forgotten by Chris Maser -
Ecopsychology
websites and
International Community for Ecopsychology
Gatherings: journal of the International Community for
Ecopsychology
Seeds for Thought: a collaborative blog by the International
Community for Ecopsychology
Great Turning Times: A quarterly newsletter with information about
ecopsychology, deep ecology, and the Work That Reconnects in the UK and
beyond.
Ecopsychology
Quarterly Online: The new, peer-reviewed
online journal Ecopsychology explores the relationship between environmental
issues and mental health and well-being. This quarterly journal examines the
psychological, spiritual, and therapeutic aspects of human-nature
relationships, concern about environmental issues, and responsibility for
protecting natural places and other species.
Children
& Nature News and Commentary – Building a Movement to
Reconnect Children and Nature
Linda Buzzell’s Ecotherapy Blog
Eco-Anxiety by Sarah
Anne Edwards - Feeling concerned about the seriousness of what is
taking place ecologically in the world today and the personal, spiritual, and
economic consequences is not a mental illness. It’s a normal reaction to a growing awareness of a real
threat and a call for healing and action by caring individuals and helping
professionals.
The
Pine Mountain Institute provides online continuing education (CE) programs for professionals
wanting to help others respond creatively and intelligently to today's
intertwined ecological and economic challenges.
Nature's Wisdom
- The Quarterly Newsletter of Pine Mountain Institute
Animas Valley Institute — The Institute’s mission is to contribute to radical
cultural change and global transformation by fostering nature-based personal
development and thus the maturation of individuals and the human species. We
support each participant to access and embody the world-changing and vital
creativity at his or her core.
Scuola di Ecopsicologia – School
of Ecopsychology, Italy
European Ecopsychology Society
Videos
Chris
Johnstone Q1 "Finding Your Power" - Problems We Face
Chris Johnstone Q2
"Finding Your Power"
Chris
Johnstone Q3 "Finding Your Power"
Chris
Johnstone Q4 "Finding Your Power"
Chris
Johnstone Q5 "Finding Your Power"
Chris
Johnstone Q6 "Finding Your Power"
Chris
Johnstone Q7 "Finding Your Power"
Books
Linda Buzzell and Craig
Chalquist: Ecotherapy:
Healing with Nature in Mind 2009
Paul Shepard: Nature
and Madness, 1982
Theodore Roszak: Where
the Wasteland Ends: Politics and Transcendence in Postindustrial Society,
1972; The Voice of the Earth: an Exploration of
Ecopsychology, 1992; Ecopsychology:
Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind, 1995, with Mary E. Gomes and
Allen D. Kanner.
David Abram: The
Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World,
1996
Joanna Macy: Coming
Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World, 1998 ,
with Molly Young Brown
Ralph Metzner: Green Psychology: Transforming our
Relationship to the Earth, 1999
Bill Plotkin: Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of
Nature and Psyche, 2003. See review here. AND: Nature
and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World, 2007
Jerome Bernstein: Living in the Borderland: The Evolution of
Consciousness and the Challenge of Healing Trauma
Meredith Sabini: The
Earth Has a Soul: The Nature Writings of C.G. Jung, 2002
Ohky Simine Forest: Dreaming the Council Ways: True Native Teachings From the Red Lodge, 2000
Alberto Villoldo: Shaman, Healer, Sage: How to Heal Yourself and Others with the
Energy Medicine of the Americas, 2000; AND Mending
the Past and Healing the Future with Soul Retrieval, 2005
For more on Ecopsychology, see Psycho-Spiritual
Evolution and The Animistic Soul Re-Emerges, and their links. If you are interested in the MA in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology
with an Ecopsychology concentration at Naropa University, see this
page.
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In Canyonlands, Utah © Suzanne Duarte |
©
2010 Suzanne Duarte