What is Ecopsychology
The realization of how important nature is to one’s mental and spiritual balance is as old as the world itself and has developed on all continents through philosophy, culture, civilization, religion and science.
In the modern science of the Psyche, leading psychoanalysts such as Fromm and Jung, have reported, in their writings, the influence of nature on human psychology. In particular, Erich Fromm, in his work “The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness” (1973) introduces the term “Biophilia” which he describes as “passionate love of life for that which is alive”. The term was later used by the American biologist Edward O. Wilson in his work “Biophilia” (1984), which argued that the tendency of humans to focus on and connect with nature and other forms of life has, in part, a genetic basis and there is the suspicion that the increased dependence of the human species on technology has led to a weakening of the human intention to connect with nature.
For many years, interdisciplinary studies have investigated how people respond to open green landscapes, scattered trees, pastures, water and elevated landscapes, with positive results, and any approaches have had a variety of terms that are still valid today: green psychology, green healing, global healing, ecology, shamanic counseling, ecotherapy, etc. Ecopsychology is an approach that emerged through interdisciplinarity and is the result of the proposed dialogue between Psychology and Ecology as the central focus of Ecopsychology is the human relationship with the Web of Life.
The term “Ecopsychology” was born in 1989 within a group of Berkeley academics – Robert Greenway, Elan Shapiro, Alan Kanner and Mary Gomes – who met to discuss the contribution that Psychology could have to the management of the contemporary ecological crisis. Theodore Roszak also moved in this position and formalized the term “Ecopsychology” in his book “The Voice of the Earth” (1992) – a term that has also been used in some cases to describe the work other psychologists and environmentalists at Berkeley. Theodore Roszak, who pioneered the understanding of counterculture, was interested in exploring the entanglement of planetary health and human well-being.
Ecopsychology – which derives from the Greek words Ecology and Psychology – as a new direction of the science of Psychology, was created through the need to include the natural environment as a key factor in the development of human mental health and balance, a factor that had been omitted significantly in previous years from psychotherapeutic schools, and to investigate how much mutual help these two new sciences can offer to solve the most pressing problems facing both.
In these contexts, Ecopsychology has not only gained academic interest, but nowadays, is also practically applied in large therapeutic centers abroad, recognising the wisdom of nature as a co-healer in the mental and physical balance of human.
How does it work
Applied Ecopsychology is a theoretical and practical approach to balancing the human psyche through achieving a planetary balance that in turn benefits human balance.
Awakening to awareness of a wider Earth identity allows us to approach the environment with spontaneous respect, feeling an active part of ecosystems that are wider and more complex. In addition, it promotes the ability of working in groups with creative and constructive synergies, necessary for the future of the human species.
On a theoretical level, awakening follows awareness which is cultivated with knowledge through education in the form of seminars, conferences and study.
On a practical level this is achieved through experiential workshops which utilize psychotherapy tools from different schools in a holistic approach. It includes the direct experience with the elements of nature, techniques of relaxation and awakening of the senses, projection and transference found in the tools of psychoanalysis as well as exercises for expressing emotions and deepening experiences.
