6. A History of Eco psychology:
Social historian Theodore Roszak gave the
first public definition of the field of eco
psychology in his book Voice of the
Earth (Roszak, 1992).
Many of the central ideas of eco psychology
can also be found in his earlier work (Roszak,
1979).
7. CONT……………
Further elaboration of the field took place
with the publication in 1995 of Eco
psychology: Restoring the Earth Healing the
Mind.
This impressive collection of papers edited
by Roszak, Mary Gomes, and Allen Kanner is
highly recommended to anyone looking for an
introductory overview of the field of eco
psychology.
8. CONT………….
Eco psychology has many roots: Buddhist
philosophy, various mystical traditions within
most religions, the romantic movement in
Europe, and the transcendentalist movement
in the United States (Reser, 1995).
9. CONT…………………
“Ecotherapy” was
coined by pastoral
counselor and Civil
Rights activist
Howard Clinebell in
1996 to describe
healing through
conscious
reconnection with the
natural world.
10. CONT………………..
Since then, ecotherapy
has come to include
interactions with
animals, gardening
therapy, recreational
therapy, wilderness
excursion work, various
forms of “green”
exercise, and a number
of other “healing as
though the Earth
mattered” practices.
11. CONT……………….
"Your children are not your
children.
They are the sons and
daughters of Life’s longing for
itself.
They come through you but
not from you,
And though they are with
you, yet they belong not to
you.
Your may give them your love
but not your thoughts."
~ Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet,
1923
13. Ecotherapy / Nature Therapy
Eco therapy, also known as
nature therapy, is the applied
practice of the emergent field
of eco psychology.
An eco therapist understands
that people are part of the web
of life, and approaches clients
from the perspective that our
psyches are not isolated or
separate from our
environment.
15. CONT………………….
Some may even consider the natural world to
have its own psyche, and as such, we raise a
relationship of mutuality with the earth.
16. Ecopsychology and
Ecotherapy
Ecotherapy is the practice of eco psychology.
Eco psychology is a term of Roszak's to
describe the integration of ecology and
psychology.
It has also been called green psychology by
Ralph Metzner.
17. Ecopsychology and
Ecotherapy
Ecotherapy, then, is the practice of
facilitating awareness of these destructive
beliefs and behaviors and engaging in a
healing practice of reconciliation.
It is different from other therapies in that
sessions may be held in natural environments
and mindfulness practices (like meditation)
are often used
18. Transformation, Not Just
Entertainment
Ecotherapy seeks a deeper
transformation, changing
spectators and exploiters of
nature into its friends and
advocates.
For the ecotherapy
practitioner, plants,
animals, rivers, and
landscapes are never mere
tools or backdrops: they are
active, creative partners
who should benefit from
what they give us.
19. CONT…………….
Ecotherapy is not psychotherapy, neither
does it replace psychiatry, but it challenges
both modalities to reconceptualize their view
of human nature.
We cannot expect to feel really well while
living in ailing cities or toxic lands.
20. CONT……………….
For us to be sane
and whole, our
healing process
must support the
healing of the
planet, and vice
versa.
23. PART B
PRESENTED BY :
AYESHA
MEHBOOB
How Does It Work?
Earth-Centered Therapy
Eight principles offered in eco therapy
Group activity
video
24. How Does It Work?
It is geared toward helping people
learn to cope by forging a connection
with nature.
Specifically, eco-therapy addresses
clients' anxieties and fears about the
environment (eco-anxiety).
25. CONT………….
People who practice eco-therapy are called
eco-therapists, although some conventional
therapists integrate eco-therapy into their
practices.
Eco-anxiety is a relatively new psychological
problem
26. CONT………
Eco-therapy helps these people let go of the
anxiety and appreciate nature once again.
Eco-therapists teach their clients that
everyone is a part of the natural world, and
they should embrace this interconnectedness
27. Eco-therapists' clients learn to
achieve balance in their everyday
lives, such alternating between
buying organic and non-organic food.
Eco-anxious clients learn the facts
about the environment - eco-
therapists know that truth is a
wonderful remedy for anxiety.
28. Earth-Centered Therapy
Eco therapy also called earth centered
therapy.
Earth-centered therapy is about healing and
deepening the relationship between humans
and the rest of Earth’s life.
29. At this time most of us humans are living like
renegade cells within the body of our mother
Earth – consuming her voraciously while
failing to support, or be truly supported by,
the living system of which we are part.
30. Earth-centered therapy can bring up painful
feelings such as loss, grief, guilt and anger,
as we contemplate the damage done to our
world and the loss of so many beings who
once shared it with us.
31. Connection with Earth: Core of Eco
therapy
Connection with earth and its
systems are at the core of
ecotherapy.
Ecotherapists believe that the earth
has a self-righting capacity through
complex systems of integrated
balance, and that if we can
harmonize with those systems, we
will experience mental health.
32. Eight principles offered in eco
therapy:
Psychotherapy is best played
by ear.
It is after all a matter of
listening to the whole
person, all that is
submerged, unborn, in
hiding: the infant, the
shadow, the savage, the
outcast.
33. The list of principles we offer here is merely a
guide, suggesting how deep that listening
must go to hear the Self that speaks through
the self.
34. 8 PRINCIPLES
1. The core of the mind is the
ecological unconscious. For
ecopsychology, repression of
the ecological unconscious is
the deepest root of collusive
madness in industrial society.
Open access to the ecological
unconscious is the path to
sanity.
2. The contents of the ecological
unconscious represent, in some
degree, at some level of mentality,
the living record of cosmic
evolution, tracing back to distant
initial conditions in the history of
time
35. 3. Just as it has been the goal of previous
therapies to recover the repressed contents of
the unconscious, so the goal of ecopsychology
is to awaken the inherent sense of
environmental reciprocity that lies within the
ecological unconscious.
36. 4. For eco psychology as for other therapies, the
crucial stage of development is the life of the
child.
5. The ecological ego matures toward a sense of
ethical responsibility to the planet that is as
vividly experienced as our ethical responsibility
to other people.
37. 6. Among the therapeutic projects most
important to eco psychology is the re-
evaluation of certain compulsively "masculine"
character traits that permeate our structures of
political power and which drive us to dominate
nature as if it were an alien and right less
realm.
38. 7. Whatever contributes to small scale social
forms and personal empowerment nourishes
the ecological ego.
8. Eco psychology holds that there is a
synergistic interplay between planetary and
personal well-being.
39.
40. What are the benefits of ecotherapy
on mental health?
Ecotherapy often has the benefit of easing
anxiety and depression
Ecotherapy then slows the pace at which we
experience our time in nature, encourages
sitting quietly and attending to one's
experience of the natural world.
41.
42. Can a Stroll in the Park Replace the
Psychiatrist’s Couch?
A new generation of psychologists
and therapists focus on the
relationship between nature and
mental health.
43. To help confront a marriage in crisis, Adams
(a pseudonym) sought counseling. But the
34-year-old lawyer from Syracuse, New York,
didn’t opt for the psychiatrist’s couch.
Instead, he chose the mountain.
Adams turned to an emerging practice called
ecotherapy, which applies the principles of
ecopsychology — the study of how the
natural world influences mental health.
44. Science and Skepticism
In the past few years, some
ecopsychologists have made
significant strides in adding
scientific rigor to their field.
What their research suggests so
far is that even subtle interactions
with nature provide a range of
cognitive benefits, including
elevated mood, enhanced memory,
and decreased stress
45. Staring out a window at pretty scenery
can significantly lower one’s heart rate,
for example, and some studies even
indicate that hospital windows with views
of nature can facilitate healing.
What’s more, nature provides measurably
greater benefits than both manmade
environments and simulations of nature.
46. Research demonstrates that walking through
the city can tax our attention, whereas a park
restores our concentration and can even
improve our performance on tests of memory.
47. Parks and Relaxation
According to Thomas Doherty, a
clinical psychologist in Portland,
Oregon and the editor
ofEcopsychology, research by
these second generation
ecopsychologists evidences the
measurable benefits of nature
for both body and mind.
48. In green spaces, for example, people’s heart
rates decrease, their muscles relax, and they
become calmer.
It’s the difference you feel when you leave
behind a busy city street for a peaceful park.
49. Ecotherapy Influences
Among others, ecotherapy applies
practices such as Joanna Macy's
despair to empowerment work,
Molly Young Brown's great
turning, and most recently re-
emplacement, terratherapy, and
homecoming practices emerging
from terrapsychology
50. Ecotherapy Activities
Ecotherapy is based on the theory that nature
heals.
Patients recovering from surgery heal faster
when they have a window with a view of a
tree or garden.
Sad seniors brighten instantly when a baby
or puppy comes to visit.
51. Even violent offenders have been shown to
behave less aggressively when they are given
a window with a view of the great outdoors.
Ecotherapy activities are intimately tied to
nature and the world in its organic state
52. Ecotherapy Jobs
Ecotherapists are trained in the specific
techniques of ecotherapy and facilitate
sessions to help clients improve their
psychological well-being.
53. The role of ecotherapist is that of care
coordinator, acting as a liaison with other
medical professionals, to develop a
treatment plan that will ensure all
mental, physical and spiritual needs are
being met.
54. Ecotherapists usually plan outdoor activities
in a structured manner and often act as
recreational therapists in some settings, such
as nursing homes, assisted living facilities,
and youth treatment centers
