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Initial Post – Foundation Two Discussion (Due by 7/29 )
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34 Replies
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Ecopsychology and coaching come together in that the focus for both a person’s mental health and well-being is greatly affected and nurtured by interactions in the natural world. The ecopsychology viewpoint comes from more of a clinical/scientific aspect vs. us as nature based coaches. The traditional role of a psychologist is to assess and diagnose individuals as well as come up with treatment plans (thanks Google!). While our role is to assist our clients to understand what their issues area and guide them through the process, basically helping them to help themselves.
So, I needed all of that defined to really look at the question posed to us on how ecopsychology and coaching come together and what the differences are.
From everything I’ve been understanding, ecopsychology comes from a more pessimistic approach. Maybe that is a strong word for it but “As an Ecopsychologist, you believe that the built environment, more than genetics and socialization, negatively shapes the human mind.” (https://www.careermatch.com/job-prep/career-insights/profiles/ecopsychologist/) summed it up for me. Conversely, I believe that we, as nature based coaches, are coming from more of an aspect that nature is inherently within all of us and can be our teacher and our healer if we let it in. Using this a base, coaching looks to nature as a helping guide in our role of moving clients through their healing.
Where I think these come together is the “realization of the connection between humans and nature is healing for both…bonding with the world as a source of environmental action and sustainable lifestyles” (http://www.soulcraft.co/essays/ecopsychology.html). In this way, we can borrow from the thinking to help our clients to not only use nature for healing but to give back to nature as a society. The example that comes to mind is teaching the importance of giving back to nature, like when we picked buds for the spruce tea with Mandy at the Intensive by not taking the last one and showing the tree our appreciation through thanking it, singing to it, whatever was natural for the individual!
FYI – I did find this article on Ecopsychotherapy, https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/econature-therapy, that showcases several studies on the connection of people to the natural environment in the Nature and Mental Health section that are interesting. I found this helpful, especially the part about not even needing to be in nature to have nature impact a person as I’ve been thinking about when we do online/phone sessions or weather doesn’t permit us to be outside. Also thought the section on Ecotherapy Activities and Techniques was informative.
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Kim, I totally agree with treatment plans vs process, and also feel like the “ology” part makes people think/assume there is something “wrong” with them. I hadn’t heard of not pickeing hte first orlast from plants that Mandy mentioned on the plant walk, and I love it, adn have told my daughter adn her friends this too even if it was just about the dandeliions on the front lawn :).
Thanks for the link, I’ll have to check it out! -
Kim, I felt strong connection to the parallels you drew between our activities in the first Intensive and some of the content we are reading now. To me, it brings up a sense of appreciation as a result of having a personal experience with the natural environment. While I love that simple exposure to images of nature have calming, healing effects on individuals, I find that, through Nature-Centered Coaching, we have the unique gift of guiding an individual through an actual, tangible experience with nature. And, from there, can begin to cultivate and build upon a personalized appreciation. That, in turn, can help fan the embers of change, advocacy, and healing of our natural environment. It’s all about love. Respect. Empathy. That begins with connection. The spruce tea was TOTALLY an image that came to mind for me when reading these excerpts, too! And I feel that is largely due to having had that tangible, visceral experience with the activity. That engagement imprinted the messages that Mandy shared with us on a deeper level, one that I carry with me now. In many things.
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What a beautiful post, Kim. I so appreciate the other sources you included in your post. I really appreciate Plotkin’s quote about the healing nature of connection for BOTH humans and the land.
And OMG, I am tearing up with total joy that some of you had an experience of reciprocity and the kind of healing that deep connection can bring both to us humans and to the land herself with the spruce tree tea. What amazing work we get to be doing, bridging that connection between people and the land in an effort to stoke the embers of our own remembrance!
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Mandy – I too have been thinking about our spruce tea experience and am so much more aware of the tips of those around me now when I hike and wander in nature. I can remember the “Don’t take the first don’t, take the last” but can you fill me in on the rest? I know it included giving something in return but wish I had written down the whole saying. Thanks!
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Hey Everyone! Have been in the weeds a touch with the busiest month to date for PIVOTPoint WNC! I will be finishing up my readings and engagement with this set of the work by Thursday! Love y’all!
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Matt, “busiest month to date” has a pretty ring to it!!! Good for you, congrats!
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Melody. It is amazing! and terrifying! and satisfying! all the feels!
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As I am understanding it ecopsychology is the study (ology) of our mental state (psyche) in our physical space or “home” (eco). Coaching is guiding the client to greater self-awareness (internal and external) to maximize their potential. The two, ecopsychology and coaching, blend in awareness of both psyche and nature, and how each impacts the other. “Ecotherapy (applied ecopsychology) refers to healing and growth nurtured by healthy interactions with the earth.” – Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing. Ecopsychology supports my coaching vision of walking with others through the nature of their mental state to heal and grow in self-awareness, learning how to live into their fullest expression.
The following quote grabbed me as I felt this strongly following our immersion in nature during our Foundations Intensive. From Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing, “Heartfelt ways to reimagine our responsibilities to this world, to it’s creatures and elements, to ourselves, and to each other will require approaches to healing that can no longer be confined to consulting rooms, doctor’s offices, or inside of people’s heads.” I believe Nature Connected Coaching to be such an approach to healing. Having spent the time connecting with nature, and one another, I felt a strong sense of one-ness. A compassion to care for the earth strengthened within me. A goal, I assume, for ecotherapy.
What a thought that “if the self is expanded to include the natural world, behavior leading to destruction of this world will be experienced as self-destruction.” – Where Psyche meets Gaia. If we can help individuals feel connected and at one with nature and one another, I don’t think the political realm would matter so much, as people would be drawn to take the right steps in caring for our earth community, no matter what the politicians believed or the rules said. Love breaks all the rules!
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After some more processing time and a good conversation with my husband, David, this morning I wanted to add more of my thoughts and in a way, come clean. I struggled with these readings. There is something about the big scientific words that shut me down. So I did lots of looking up definitions and chewing my way through some of what seemed garbled (lots of sciency words together). While I enjoyed the concepts and took away what I believe to be very supportive information for this path I am on, connecting others back to nature. I am realizing I am much simpler, it is much simpler. I think we, humans, get this idea that we need to understand, so therefore we label and organize and study and we separate to better understand and we head down these “thought trails” that lead us further away from the knowing, from the connection. I am very partial to the scripture from Proverbs, but this is my own paraphrasing… Trust in your source with all your heart; lean not on your own understanding. Seek soul-direction in all you do and your path will be made clear. I guess that is where I feel the science falls short. Trust in knowing. Faith in source. The skills needed? To be full of awe and wonder like that of a child, open and accepting of what is, as it is. To see and feel life in everything. Oneness.
Another confession…my teenage sons think I am becoming a hippie. I’m OK with that!
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Go with the hippie label!!! nothing wrong with peace, love, spirituality, connection …. lol
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Your son’s comment made me think of this poem from Mary Olivier. Micheal had mentioned it a few times, I like to remember it because it is so real.
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save. -
I appreciate your continued openness and honesty, Sheri! Always! I find that I have a similar reaction to some of the elements in the established/establishing validation of the work we do/are doing/are setting out to do. I recall being in a conversation with a gentleman here in Asheville who responded to a comment I made about forest bathing and the government-supported studies behind its benefits with something akin to, “Oooh, I will be interested to hear more about the so-called science behind what you are doing.” I found the response to be an honest perspective on his part, perceiving no malice. That said, I provided him with a page of studies from Korea, Japan, and more locally the work on biophilia and topophilia that I found through a super quick search through some journals. He later asked if I could dive into them to elaborate and validate some statements I had made through my own personal experience. Similarly to what I am taking away from some of your comments, Sheri, I simply told him that he was welcome to read the science/studies/stats behind these scientific, peer-reviewed journals, that I was too busy being out in nature experiencing it first hand and hoping to share the opportunity to experience these benefits with others to sift through all those words!!
All that to say: I feel ya, fellow hippie! ✌🏼❤️ 🙏🏼
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Nadine,
Thank you for calling my attention back to this poem. It hits me everytime I read it and this time was no different.
Sheri,
I’m with Melody, embrace the hippie label. You are in good company, I’ve been getting that label lately too! Ha!
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Sheri,
I really appreciate your truth and honesty with these readings. What you said here especially stood out to me, “While I enjoyed the concepts and took away what I believe to be very supportive information for this path I am on, connecting others back to nature. I am realizing I am much simpler, it is much simpler. I think we, humans, get this idea that we need to understand, so therefore we label and organize and study and we separate to better understand and we head down these “thought trails” that lead us further away from the knowing, from the connection.”
What it brings up for me is the meaning of the word EXPLAIN — from the Latin word explanare which literally means to make flat or flatten. The idea that when we need to explain away with such precise detail, what we are actually doing on some level is flattening the life or spirit right out of the experience (or at least that is my take).
That being said, I have found a real appreciation for Ecopsychology as I have found that it does help us to be able to explain some of the concepts of why what we do is so powerful and important to those in our communities who really need that level of explanation and scientific backing.
All that to say, yes and yes to all that you write about in your posts.
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Thanks all, for the love and support. It is actually a very difficult thing for me to admit to anything that shows me less than “perfect” but I am getting so much better. Admitting my imperfections, weaknesses and being in relationship to my brokenness has been a huge growth point. Nature has certainly modeled that for me. Finding the character and beauty in what would be considered flaws or imperfections. Seeing life flourish beyond obstacles to abundance, sometimes because of them! Feeling the vulnerability in being authentic. Self acceptance and letting go of people pleasing. While I still wrestle with these issues each experience of embracing my true self and learning to love me for who I am in this moment makes each next time that much easier, as does your support – so many thanks!
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Sorry, I will be late posting!
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I feel that both Ecopsychology and coaching are studies/practices of how humans relate, to others/nature and themselves.
In my notes I have beside “Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing” that I liked this and took it to mean that our pain equals the earth’s pain and what we’ve done to each other.
I believe that Nature Connected Coaching brings people to appreciate nature and their environment which leads them to making more conscious choices and taking better care of the environment, themselves and others.
In Ecopsychology- The principles #5 when it speaks of ethical responsibility to the planet I felt like I have more of a responsibility to the planet than to people.
The eco psychology side is more based on the scientific side which may be helpful to some, where as coaching is more metaphors and symbolisms, so between the 2 there is room for everyone!
They are symptoms/ diagnosis/ treatment vs exploring/ discovering/ moving forward, expert vs equal.
I feel like Ecopsychology is a “new” way of trying to explain what nature connection, coaching and mentorship has now for a very long time-
Melody,
I also appreciated the quote about our pain being the Earth’s pain. I think about the connection I have experienced with Earth and wonder how much “bad” we may feel without knowing it. The Earth’s existing pain is part of our baseline. I think many of us are attune in ways that we feel the Earth’s pain every time something new and destructive happens, but I wonder how much we are unaware of, kind of like when there is something wrong with our body but we didn’t realize the pain until we stopped and realized that it’s actually not normal to feel that way. I’m rambling a little bit, but am fascinated by the idea.
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Sheri, the quote you stated from Psyche and nature in a cirlce of healing resonated very much with me as well. Coming home from the intensvie, back to the “normal ” world felt anythign BUT normal and there have definitely been some changes since then. In your quote form Psyche meets Gaia I was reminded of seeing something I read that was along the lines of the Earth will survive what we do, even if we don’t.
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I think the 8th principle, as presented in Theodore Roszack’s “Ecopsychology – The Principals. The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology,” best answers where Ecopsychology and Coaching come together for me:
Ecopsychology holds that there is a synergistic interplay between planetary and personal well-being. The term “synergy” is chosen deliberately for its traditional theological connotation, which once taught that the human and divine are cooperatively linked in the quest for salvation. The contemporary ecological translation of the term might be: the needs of the planet are the needs of the person, the rights of the person are the rights of the planet.
This synergy, this collaboration, this 50/50 lens which Michael introduced us to during our first intensive sums up so much of the content of my experience working with groups thus far. That the natural surroundings reflect what I am bringing with me as I enter into the baseline of the environment, that the symbolism and metaphor within the environment where my session is taking place, that the organisms within that environment are aware of and in dialog with my intention, my energy, my baseline, all speaks to the inherent collaboration between person and environment. This lens of connection, of healing/respecting/protecting/loving one being the healing/respecting/protecting/loving of the other, is the space in which the growth and development takes place during a nature centered coaching session, from what I have seen and experienced already in the program.
In reading further, “Where Psyche Meets Gaia,” perhaps Coaching is an intentional application of this dualism between the planet and the person, to stimulate an awareness of this connection for the purpose of goal-oriented growth. There is an underlying current throughout these readings that this connection, this synergy leads to environmentalist protection and support. While I do not disagree with this chasm of a need in our culture, I had not anticipated it as a central part of coaching (or of Ecopsychology for that matter). Possibly, my surprise and lack of this intention is why it feels somewhat prolific in the excerpts of our readings for this post; however, it is an eye-opening angle and has sparked an interest in re-establishing my personal collaborations with a local environmental protection nonprofit in the hopes of getting my groups involved with the protection and care of our natural environment. While this is a cause and necessary role for, in my opinion, us all to take on, I had not considered its direct correlation and relationship to Ecopsychology and Coaching as it is presented in these readings.
I have been so fascinated by the benefits of the environment on individuals such as those covered in Florence Williams’ Nature First that I had blinders on to what a symbiotic relationship actually means! I have been more interested in findings such as those by Yoshifumi Miyazaki (physical anthropologist and vice director of the Center for Environment, Health, and Field Sciences at Chiba University) finding that “leisurely forest walks, compared to urban walks, deliver a 12 percent decrease in cortisol levels…they recorded a 7 percent decrease in sympathetic nerve activity, a 1.4 percent decrease in blood pressure, and a 6 percent decrease in heart rate.” (Williams 23). I have been so focused on bringing my clients into their natural environment to promote connection and healing, that I have paid little mind/attention to the need for these same clients—and all of us at large—to become advocates for this source of healing and balance and grace! This call for advocacy is part of the picture as much as anything else.
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Hi Matt!! I love that you mentioned the environmentalist protection part of the readings. For me that’s where it all started, a big part of what I want is to get poeple to connect with nature so they will take better care of it. I would LOVE to get a tree planting permit and have ppl plant trees at teh end of their coaching programs. I also feel like environmtal protection/activism can be diffetn for all of us. For some people it’s teh wter, lastic free oceans, healhty salmon. For oters it’s soil conservation, erosion control…. For me is advocating for the halt of logging, espeacilly old gorwth, and even with that ther are many ways to go about it. On that note ere’s a couple links I am sure I told you all about before, and will again 🙂 https://www.ancientforestalliance.org
http://www.expeditionoldgrowth.com
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Ecopsychology might be a new term, but working in the context of environmental reciprocity was the way of the oldest healers and witch doctors in the world. “Ecotheraphy represents a new form of psycotherapy that acknowledges the vital role of nature and addresses the human-nature relation. It takes into account the latest scientific understandings of our universe and the deepest indigenous wisdom.”
Ecopsychology proceeds from the assumption that at its deepest level the psyche remains sympathetically bonded to the Earth and that this ecological interdependence would be part of the evolutionary heritage that bonds all living things genetically and behaviorally to the biosphere. The perspective that all people are intimately connected and inseparable from the rest of nature opens a new field of research and new ways of addressing depression, anxiety, and stress, by reconnecting with nature and one’s own body.
It also believes that mind-body-world web contains its own freely available healing potentials.
Some go as far as connecting the epidemics of mental distress in industrial society with the destruction of our own habitat and elimination of the species, and that there is a connection between inner and outer devastation. Behaviors leading to destruction of this world, the death of so many living beings and the ongoing distress of earth, air, and ocean life around us, will be experienced as self-destruction.The sick world is speaking through us, and it speaks the loudest through the most sensitive of us. Suggesting that people are bonded emotionally to Earth could read a powerful new meaning into our understanding of sanity.
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Sheri – Thank you for adding to your post. I so appreciated the honesty of having a hard time wrapping around these concepts. I did as well. It is why I went outside of what we read to find more information to understand the ‘ology’ of it. I agree with you on the simplicity and “the heart” of what we do as coaches is why it appeals so much. And I believe it is what will bring the right clients to us for each of our own practices.
Mandy – Your insight really helped. Putting it simply that ecopsychology helps to explain what we do and provide that scientific backing helped to drive home the whys of this.
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At this stage, I am starting to wonder and question how much information is to be shared with the clients to explain some of the concepts, or provide explanation and scientific backing? Much of what I read requires me to process the information mentally, intellectually and that alone strays me away from being connected with my heart and soul. Does sharing such information increase our legitimacy as coaches/guides or will we run the risk to lead and invite the clients to process information intellectually, which may might be counter- productive to our process?
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Nadine – You bring up some very interesting points. The idea of environmental reciprocity really hit home when you pointed out that this has been practiced for ages. Under different names and different guises over the years but the basic idea of every action causing a reaction in the natural world rings true. The shamans understand that nothing can be separate from this world, the aboriginal people know that the land is a living world that sustains and is sustained, and so on. Even Roszak says that ” all psychology was once considered ecopsychology. No special term needed” (paraphrased passage from ‘Learning from Stone Age Psychiatry’).
The other point that really hit home is “Suggesting that people are bonded emotionally to Earth could read a powerful new meaning into our understanding of sanity.” I think that just like above, this has always been the case. If it is now gaining ground in the scientific community as well as the average person, it could truly change the way we face the world. And, deal with issues by understand what we, as humans, do is much bigger than just ‘me.’ -
Hi All,
Sorry I’m a late comer, it’s taken me awhile to figure out what all needs to be done and to find the time to do it. I’m working to catch up but focused on moving forward from here. Here’s my response. As soon as I read through your posts, I’ll be back. Thanks.Ecopsychology and Nature-connected coaching share a common goal, one might even call it a vision, in that they seek to create a synergistic reconnection between people with nature. To heal the alienation that has progressed since the time of industrialization along with its accompanying stressors and discomforts. And to foster the creation of a paradigm shift that will bring balance between technology, humanity, and the natural environment (our planet) so that our global culture is grounded in, and behaves with, the awareness of the inter-dependence and layered complexities that exists between all the various aspects of nature including human-kind. This reconnection serves to facilitate both “personal and planetary wellbeing”.
The various practitioners and researchers in eco-related fields approach this goal in varied ways, from the hard-core scientific methodologies of classical psychology to the softer more holistic approaches of transpersonal psychology to the experiential, physical, get outside, approaches of ecotherapy. Really, it is the practitioner, not the modality, that determines the methods to be used in assisting an individual in finding their connection with nature and the planet, and her/him self.
My interpretation of the readings was that ecopsychology and ecotherapy were focused on bringing healing to the planet by curing pathologies that have occurred because of our disconnect with nature and our failure to recognize our place in the universe. The disconnect itself, is considered a pathology in need of healing. Theodore Roszak pointed out the use of guilt and fear tactics by environmentalist to try and shame people into behaving in more ecologically and sustainably sound ways. This served environmentally cognizant psychologists to seek methods to incorporate environmental awareness into psychogical healing.
Craig Chalquist and Linda Buzzel discussed ecotherapy as a modality for “repairing the damage created by the long and self-destructive war between human-kind and the Earth”. And consider Ecotherapy to be “applied psychology”, using “earth-based approaches for both physical and psychological healing”I found the readings to be enormously insightful and offered me deeper understanding and perspective of the related fields. It affirmed my choice to study coaching, specifically nature-based coaching. “Coaches honor the client as the expert in his or her life”. Coaching is oriented toward salutogenesis Roszak discussed EO Wilsons’s concept of biolphilia as being an “innately emotional affiliation to other living organisms”. The term actually originated with Erich Fromm a psychologist who in the mid 1960’s defined it as “the passionate love of life and of all that is alive.” I interpret this to mean people are innately connected with nature and what manifests as disconnection is a symptom of something deeper.
During the years of work I have done as a massage therapist, and a health educator and coordinator at a Graduate School, my observations have suggested that peoples’ seeming disconnect with nature is a symptom of their disconnection with self. And while people are often not aware of this disconnect they are aware of a sense of discomfort with their life in general and often seek ways and means to feel better…as evidenced by the development of the self-help industry which generates billions of dollars and the burgeoning field of coaching.
Coaching contributes to the solutions. It is growing in popularity by people seeking guidance to overcome blocks, meet challenges or to rise to their potential and live fulfilling and happy lives. This is often done by the coach “encouraging client self-discovery”, and creating a safe space for self-awareness to emerge so that it can inform the individual in making or discovering deeply meaningful life choices. Coaching that encourages self-exploration and discovery facilitates a deep and intuitive self-awareness, self-care, personal growth, conscious evolution, and a desire to keep on learning and growing. It reawakens the biophilia that we inherently carry deep inside ourselves and brings it to consciousness so that it can be lived and shared in daily life.
A coach must live the ideals he is encouraging and be a model both to her/his clients and for a world that is crying out for change and balance. To this end numerous skills are useful:
• Deep listening that allows the client to know he is heard and feel safe to open up.
• Deep questioning that fosters a clients ability to hear know, and discover him/her self.
Coyote’s guide for questioning works equally well for mentoring children and coaching adults.
• Honest communication sets a foundation for trust.
• Caring non-attachment in which the coach deeply cares but allows the client space to find and walk her/his own path…and potentially make his/her own mistakes.
• Collaboration in which client and coach work together to set and meet the goals of the client.
• Both global and focused awareness so that ideas and plans can be perceived mindfully while considering the potential long term affects.
• Self-reflection as a means to self-awareness. The objective observer allows one to observe one’s self without judgement so that one can become the person he/she truly wants to be.
Feel your emotions and hear the messages they offer.
• Facing one’s fear, or at least being aware of how fear is directly affecting one’s life.
• Many of the Core routines offered in Coyote’s Guide: These foster connection with nature and deepen connection with self.
• Be accepting, recognizing everyone is at a different stage of both personal development and spiritual maturity. You can’t expect the same from all, when people are at different developmental stages.
• Become your own best friend…we often accept our best friends much more readily than ourself. By becoming your own bff you are accepting yourself, your mistakes, your imperfections and your beauty and gifts, and you will joyfully encourage yourself to become more; in so doing those around you will feel safe to accept themselves fully, and free to become the person they truly want to be.
• Be a lifelong learner.
• LIVE LOVE
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Hi Shari!! I am so happy to hear from you!!! I’ve been wondering how you are, well I hope….Your post was such a great summary of the readings and well said. One of my favourite (I love that I spell this with a u and am always thinking of all of my new friends in the US with these sorts of things these day 🙂 ) parts is wehn you said ” peoples’ seeming disconnect with nature is a symptom of their disconnection with self. And while people are often not aware of this disconnect they are aware of a sense of discomfort with their life in general and often seek ways and means to feel better”. I find this to be so very true. Looking back at my life when I was disconnected from nature was when I was also disconnected from myself.I didn’t see it at the time, but do now. It makes we wonder which happened first. Kind of like a chicken or the eggg dilemma.
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Hi Everyone! My apologies for being late to the party here. I’ve had some pretty heavy life stuff going on this past month (all is well now). I’m finally getting through it and will be getting caught up on here. I am a little embarrassed at how far behind I am at the moment. I’ll be posting my response in a separate thread on here and will work on reading your posts and responding over the next week or two (I’m also trying to get a post up for week 3 and not fall too far behind on week four). I miss you all and I hope you know that I am excited to hear what your takeaways were from this reading!
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I’ve been really fascinated by the ecopsychology and ecotherapy topics in our readings. I found much of what was described to be similar to thoughts and conclusions I have made on my own, but hadn’t yet been able to articulate, let alone have a name for them.
For us to be happy and feel complete, we need to be deeply in touch with who we are, not who we’ve been told we should be through societal or familial norms, but who we are at our soul level. As Roszak stated, “If ecopsychology has anything to add to the Socratic-Freudian project of self-knowledge, it is to remind us of what our ancestors took to be common knowledge: there is more to know about the self, or rather more self to know, than our personal history reveals. Making a personality, the task that Jung called “individuation,” may be the adventure of a lifetime.”
As coaches, we help people get to know and connect to their deepest selves. When we look at the world today, everyone is too busy. People are taking on too many obligations, doing too much and losing connection to themselves, those around them, and nature. In addition to our fundamental need to be our authentic selves, we also have a fundamental need for connection to nature. Roszak said, “Ecopsychology seeks to heal the more fundamental alienation between the person and the natural environment.” Since people are feeling so lost, disconnected, and empty, I see ecopsychology as an important concept to integrate into coaching to help people reconnect to themselves and the natural world. Part of nature holding our answers, has to do with our own subconscious projecting our truths on the world around us. I believe that this holds true as powerfully as it does because “the needs of the planet are the needs of the human, the rights of the person are the rights of the planet” (Roszak).
In addition to helping people heal, I have also wanted to help spread an appreciation and responsibility for positive change in how our society treats Earth. I now have a term for what it is I am hoping to do, I am hoping to help others develop their ecological ego. “The ecological ego matures toward a sense of ethical responsibility with the planet that is as vividly experienced as our ethical responsibility to other people. It seeks to weave that responsibility into the fabric of social relations and political decisions” (Roszak).
When I have discussed these ideas and views with people in the past, it seems they have a very black and white view of the world. Either we live as we do in this industrialized world, or we live in some archaic past era without some of the fantastic inventions and discoveries of the modern world. This view has always frustrated me immensely, and so I really appreciated Roszak’s statement, “Whatever contributes to small scale social forms and personal empowerment nourishes the ecological ego. Whatever strives for large-scale domination and the suppression of personhood undermines the ecological ego. Ecopsychology therefore deeply questions the essential sanity of our gargantuan urban-industrial culture, whether capitalistic or collectivistic in its organization. But it does so without necessarily rejecting the technological genius of our species or some life-enhancing measure of the industrial power we have assembled. Ecopsychology is postindustrial not anti-industrial in its social orientation.” It made me think of a podcast I listened to recently, where Arthur Haines (he’s a Maine native!) discussed living more like the Natives did. He mentions how wonderful modern medicine is for things like trauma, broken bones, and major life saving surgeries, however, he also discusses how our industrialized world has changed our lives into these unhealthy patterns that are harming our health. Instead of our bodies moving with nature to forage or hunt our food, then coming home and using the body to process and prepare our meals, we now go to work to buy food from the store and then have to seek out artificial forms of exercise to try to maintain a healthy body (i.e. going to the gym).
It’s really quite profound when you think about how the industrial world has created some incredible life saving technologies, while simultaneously creating the demise of our health. I believe there is a balance that can be found between our native and industrialized ways that will lead to improved physical and mental health, as well as better connection of people to themselves, to each other, and to Earth. As a coach, I’m hoping I can bring these ideas to others to help them heal themselves, our communities, and our planet.
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Hi Amber!
“Spreading an appreciation and responsibility for change in how our society treats Earth” totally resonates with me. I feel it’s more important now than ever before. Lately, I’m feeling somewhat torn between wanting to go full “activist mode” or to just keep in mind that sometimes it really upsets me when I think about it all too much.
I loved how you put it about instead of us working out our bodies to hunt and gather we now go to the gym. So very true! It also makes me think of transportation and if we walked or biked instead of driving a car. “Convenience” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. -
Hello Amber, I really like the sound of developing the ecological ego and the idea behind it, it could be a powerful start. I realize we are not supposed to worry about the “how we will do that” at this point, but I still question how we can be effective in educating, touching lives when the willingness and openness to hear something different aren’t there. When people attribute droughts, changes of climate, etc… to the bible, or other uneducated comments. It makes me seriously wonder if making a difference if even possible in this world of such polarized views. Sorry for my doomed outlook today, I just watched a few episodes of the series “Years of Living Dangerously” where the human impacts on climate changes are explored. I am horrified how disconnected people are.
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Hi Nadine!
I go through periods of feeling that same dismal outlook. It’s hard sometimes when we look around and everyone seems so oblivious. One of my takeaways from ecopsychology is approaching people in a way that will help them make the changes we want to see. Our societies are so polarized that “beating people over the head” as we have in the past doesn’t work. I like to step back and think what do I need to do or say to get the intended outcome that I want (I don’t mean this from a coaching place, but more of a place of dealing with people in everyday life). At first it felt dirty and manipulative, but if the heart and intentions are good, it’s not that at all. If we present things in a way that doesn’t impose shame or guilt, we get a lot farther. As an example… when I deal with my sons father, there are so many things I want to say, but most of them won’t be productive. Instead I vent those to a friend and choose other ways of approaching him and delivering the same information/wants/needs/desires to him in ways he can hear without being triggered. It’s been tremendously helpful for maintaining a non-volatile relationship for my son’s sake. I see the same approach needed around the environment when talking to others. Getting to know them and sharing in ways that won’t evoke guilt or shame are essential. I think the rest of the details will unfold in each situation and I think the more connected we are to nature, the more easily this will occur.
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