HEADLINES: COMMUNITY ECOTHERAPY: THE TRANSITION MOVEMENT
IMPORTANT NEW BOOK: Toward Psychologies for Liberation
Contents:
1. QUOTES OF THE MONTH: Joanna Macy, James Hillman, Henry David Thoreau, Gaylord Nelson
2. COMMUNITY ECOTHERAPY: THE TRANSITION MOVEMENT by Linda Buzzell
3. THE 8 EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO PEAK OIL by Rob Hopkins
4. CLINICIAN’S CORNER: HOW ONE ECOTHERAPIST PRACTICES by Mary-Jayne Rust
5. NEW BOOK: TOWARD PSYCHOLOGIES FOR LIBERATION by Mary Watkins and Helene Lorenz
6. MY FLOPPY-EARED CO-THERAPIST by Douglas Green
7. ECO-SOCIAL WORK!
8. INT*L CONFERENCE ON ECOLOGY AND PROFESSIONAL HELPING
9. TEACHING PSYCHOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY
10. TOWARDS AN ECOLOGY OF THE SELF
11. POST YOUR ECOPSYCHOLOGY EVENTS, COURSES AND DEGREES ON OUR WEBSITE. Special event: Deep Sustainability Through Ecotherapy
12. ON THE WEB: Cool websites to check out, including our website at http://thoughtoffering.blogs.com/ecotherapy where you*ll find current and past issues of this newsletter, and the International Community for Ecopsychology*s http://www.ecopsychology.org: the best source of ecopsychology info on the web!
The International Association for Ecotherapy is a virtual organization of psychotherapy clinicians, students and educators who are practicing or teaching in the new field of ecotherapy (clinical/applied ecopsychology). If you'd like to be removed from this list, please just e-mail back. Or if you*d like to send e-mail addresses to add, news to pass along, or your insights, please do so! Joining is absolutely free.
1. QUOTES OF THE MONTH
We are intrinsic to our living world as the rivers and trees, woven of the same intricate flows of matter/energy and mind. -- Joanna Macy
An individual*s harmony with his or her *own deep self* requires not merely a journey to the interior but a harmonizing with the environmental world. -- James Hillman
I who have been sick hear cattle low in the street, with such a healthy ear as prophesies my cure. These sounds lay a finger on my pulse to some purpose. A fragrance comes in at all my senses which proclaims that I am still of Nature the child…If I were a physician I would try my patients thus. I would wheel them to a window and let Nature feel their pulse. It will soon appear if their sensuous existence is sound. -- Henry David Thoreau, from his journal of February 26, 1841
The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the other way around. — Gaylord Nelson
2. COMMUNITY ECOTHERAPY: THE TRANSITION TOWN MOVEMENT
By Linda Buzzell
The Transition Initiative, a new social-environmental movement founded by U.K. permaculture teacher Rob Hopkins, has been picking up steam at a remarkable pace.
Hopkins* new book, *The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience,* is flying off the bookshelves. The movement*s websites, http://www.transitiontowns.org and http://transitionculture.org report that 61 towns and localities in the U.K., plus 11 in Australia and New Zealand and 3 in the US are in the process of transitioning towards local sustainability and are actively involved in *re-skilling* local people to prepare for a different economic, social and environmental future.
Peak Oil guru Richard Heinberg, author of *The Party’s Over* and *Peak Everything,* advises us: *If your town is not yet a Transition Town, here is the guidance for making it one. We have little time, and much to accomplish.*
Why are so many communities grabbing onto this idea as if it were a lifeboat in a stormy sea? *The Transition Handbook* offers a positive, practical, step-by-step set of solutions for communities feeling the combined effects of economic stress and environmental degradation.
The first step in Hopkins* protocol is to put together a small group of people who become the Steering Group for at least the first five steps in this 12-step model (not to be confused with the AA 12 steps, however). These folks become the catalysts – or community ecotherapists – for their town or locality. They plan events to raise awareness about the challenges represented by the end of cheap fossil fuels and climate disruption. They facilitate Town Hall meetings where in a process familiar to group therapists and progressive educators they encourage residents to talk with each other, to envision their local community in a sustainable future and then facilitate the formation of sub-committees to address issues like local energy, food, health care and transportation.
These *community ecotherapists* also teach residents how to deal with what Hopkins calls *post-petroleum stress disorder* and help them move from worry and concern about the future (eco-anxiety) into constructive and enjoyable community activities and actions. Like good family therapists, the Steering Group members help local people get to know each other, and build new relationships and community resilience in order to strengthen individuals, families and the whole town, neighborhood or local area to face the challenges ahead.
Relocalization, reskilling and resilience are the three R’s in this effort. The Transition movement focuses on creating local solutions for global challenges, and spends much of its time rebuilding cohesive and effective community in locations where this has been lost. One of its greatest strengths is that it draws on the varied talents and expertise of local people: craftspeople, artists, local historians, gardeners, chefs, homemakers and retirees as well as those involved in environmental efforts, transportation, business, government, social justice issues, health care, education, technology and much more.
The idea of rebuilding local community is tremendously appealing. The tales Hopkins tells of towns that have gone through this bumpy but exciting process are especially inspiring for those of us who have never experienced real community except as a nostalgic icon appearing in old Norman Rockwell paintings or TV news reports of Vermont Town Hall meetings on snowy nights.
The United States has only recently become involved with the Transition Towns idea, but is now moving very quickly to catch up. Efforts are underway in Colorado and Idaho. Santa Barbara, California is also in the very early stages of putting together a Transition Initiative. Training seminars are being held in Boulder, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Maine and Cambridge, Mass. for would-be Steering Group members from many areas. *Train the Trainers* sessions are also available for those wanting to learn to train others.
The idea of *engaged optimism* is very attractive for many Americans who are wearying of all the bad news and predictions of doom. The focus on creating the world we want to live in through the combined contributions of head, heart and hands offers a multitude of ways for many different local people of varying talents and abilities to participate and be valued within a transitioning community. This is definitely not a movement run by the *usual green suspects.*
Will therapists become involved as catalysts for positive change in their local communities as they transition towards sustainability? Their professional skills as communication catalysts, mediators, facilitators, healers, teachers and behavior change experts would certainly be valuable in any transition effort.
Resources:
Boulder, Colorado Transition Training Workshop: Saturday, Sept. 13 - Sunday, Sept. 14. Call 303-494-1521 for info. Or e-mail michael@bouldergoinglocal.com
Los Angeles, California: *Life After Oil: Designing the Transition.* Saturday, Sept 20th. http://www.envirochangemakers.org/TTLA.htm
San Francisco Trainings: *Training for Transition* Nov 17-18 and *Training the Trainers* Nov 20 - 23. Contact Carolyne Stayton at transitiontraining@gmail.com
For more information on U.S. trainings, contact pamelagray@transitionnetwork.org
3. THE 8 EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO PEAK OIL by Rob Hopkins
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/index.php?p=1312
In an article adapted for the web from *The Transition Handbook,* Rob Hopkins outlines the emotional stages people may go through when they begin to really understand the full ramifications and implications of declining resources.
*Having been around the subject of peak oil for a while,* he says, *I have observed many people go through the process of becoming aware of peak oil, having what I sometimes call their *End of Suburbia moment,* and have seen how that awareness affects them. For some it is a traumatic shock, for others an affirmation of what they have always suspected. For many though, it is not so clear-cut either way. I have noticed, over the years, certain symptoms of what I have come to call *post-petroleum stress disorder.**
Some of the symptoms Hopkins has observed include bewilderment, anxiety, a sense of unreality, an irrational grasping at unfeasible solutions, nihilism, survivalism, denial, exuberant optimism and even the *I told you so* syndrome!
Getting sidetracked into these symptoms, Hopkins believes, could prevent us from really analyzing *the strengths and weaknesses of our proposed solutions in the context of diminishing net energy. We need to really think through the implications – in a low-energy context – of our proposals, and not remain too attached to our long-cherished beliefs and ideas. We may find instead that by letting go of them we actually come up with something better and more appropriate to a culture in transition.*
4. CLINICIAN’S CORNER: HOW ONE ECOTHERAPIST PRACTICES…
By Mary-Jayne Rust
One of the things I do right at the start of therapy is plant a few questions – depending on the person, timing, etc. For example, in the first session, when the client is telling my why they are coming to therapy, their concerns, etc, I say, *This might seem an unusual question for a therapist to ask, but I wonder what you feel about what is happening in our world?* It*s an open question, they can go many different ways with it, and I wait to see how they answer. Then I add that the reason I am asking is that I believe we are in a very serious crisis, and that this affects everyone. That the therapy I offer is a space for them to talk about those concerns if they wish. Then see what happens. If they don’t take that up, I don*t push. But all the way through therapy, I am making small references; for example *It*s really hard coping with an eating problem when we live in a culture that has a big problem with over consuming – our individual symptoms are part of that bigger picture....* So I often make references to culture in this way, which generally enables people to move between personal and bigger picture.
Environmental and social issues ARE VERY PERSONAL. The global crisis affects the food we eat, the air we breathe, how clean the water is that I drink. It affects how safe I feel at night, what I feel about the future, and so on – it goes right into my body and psyche! This is deeply personal stuff. In my opinion, my clients hire me to help them understand their anxieties, which are rooted in a range of areas. Yes, clients expect to talk *personal,* which has come to mean human relationships and relationship to self. Maybe we have a job here to widen that understanding of relationship. If I stick to my job as defined by western culture, I run the risk, at worst, of enabling someone to cope better within a sick system. So ultimately I see myself in service to the *whole* through the individual before me.
I think how we respond to clients right now is delicate and complex. I find that the more I really work with this stuff in myself, the more connections come in my practice. It has taken me a very long time to start to see how to do it.
5. NEW BOOK: TOWARD PSYCHOLOGIES OF LIBERATION
By Mary Watkins and Helene Shulman
Palgrave Macmillan, 2008
For so long psychology seems to have been part of the problem rather than part of the solution, and it*s with great pleasure that we share the news about a new book that offers a deep psychological framework for social and environmental justice.
This landmark book takes us on an unforgettable journey across disciplines, countries, spiritualities, and techniques to teach us twenty-first century psychologies of liberation. Authors Watkins and Shulman transform the discipline of psychology, showing us its connections to all disciplines concerned with liberating the imagination. Across international fields of difference, these authors never give up the prize: social and psychic emancipation. In doing so, they define what “decoloniality” means for the twenty-first century.
Chela Sandoval, Associate Professor of Liberation Philosophy in Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara
Psychic decolonization requires that we turn our attention not only to our relations with ourselves and others, but also to our relations with the places we inhabit, neglect, and exploit. Liberation psychologists Watkins and Shulman work at the intersection of Euro-American depth psychologies and psychologies of liberation emerging from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The interdependent paradigm of self they proceed from links psychological suffering and well-being with that of our communities and habitats.
Below is an excerpt from their book, published this month. In addition to buying one for yourself, you can help this book get into paperback by requesting that your library get a copy!
Earth Democracy: Place and Resistance
In the twenty-first century, human-place relations are under siege, and public homeplaces are increasingly orienting their energies to a defense of their rights to steward the places where they reside. The morphing of colonialism into globalization has deprived countless local communities of their economic means of survival, forcing millions to leave their land and families in search of distant employment. The rapacious hunger for profit has led to violent displacement of indigenous groups from land that is rich in coveted natural resources. Many groups trying to build or to sustain homeplaces do so under threat of losing the places they call home or having already sustained this loss.
The psychic damage attendant to the loss of place has been increasingly minimized in America as industrialization and other economic changes have led to migration from the countryside to urban centers, as well as to multiple moves in the course of one’s life. Given the sway of individualism, the breaking of human-nature connections have only recently been thematized as injurious to individuals, communities, and to the environment. This injury includes animals that are trapped in ever decreasing areas, areas often unsuitable for their well-being or even survival (Bradshaw & Watkins, 2007). Waves of migration and urban development have displaced communities, splintering neighborhoods that were once sources of information sharing, social support, and cultural arts (Fullilove, 2005).
Unfortunately, economic injustice tends to force the poor into the most degraded places or uses their neighborhoods as dumping grounds for toxic waste. When poor people are living in areas rich in natural resources, all manner of violence and terror are used to displace them. Such tactics compromise the continuity and stability of literal places, human-place relations, and public homeplaces and sites of exchange between communities. De-placing a community can be compared to efforts to destroy access to its language: both effective in mortally wounding the transmission of culture. When there are multiple understandable claims to single places—as is increasingly the case-- strategies of co-existence are critically needed.
For all these reasons liberation psychologies are also eco-liberation psychologies that attend to the mutual interdependence of place (both the natural and built environments) on humans, and of humans on place. Increasingly, public homeplaces are turning their attention to the environments where their lives unfold. From creating eco-hoods in cities such as Detroit and Washington, D.C., to struggling against their demise by developers as in Los Angeles, many urban communities are attempting to create a relation to place in inhospitable circumstances (Boggs, 1998). Empty lots in dangerous neighborhoods are being reclaimed through art mural projects as in Philadelphia or community gardens in New York. Indigenous groups, once thought to be isolated, are thrown into struggles around the preservation of place as transnational corporations dispose of toxic waste in remote places like the Amazon, seize rainforest land for pharmaceutical development, or threaten invaluable community resources like seed diversity in Mexico and India. Coalitions of indigenous groups have had to organize to take on transnational giants like Chevron Texaco, Grace Corporation, and Dow Chemical. For instance, in remote areas of the Ecuadorian Amazon, it is alleged that Texaco dumped nearly 20 billion gallons of toxic waste into open pits, estuaries and rivers between 1964 and 1992, and polluted 2.5 million acres of rainforest along the route of the pipelines and wells (Epstein, 2003). Soaring rates of cancer and birth defects have resulted, as well as displacement of large sectors of the three indigenous groups in the affected region. The survival of indigenous and non-indigenous groups is now clearly seen as linked to the protection of the places on which they depend, although in some cases these places are now unsuitable for human habitation. Of course, this pollution is not limited to the territories of indigenous peoples.
Vandana Shiva, physicist, activist, and a founder of the seed-saving movement says:
The way out of this violent cycle is to deepen democracy—to bring decisions that directly affect people’s lives as close as possible to where people are and to where they can take responsibility. If a river is flowing through some communities, those communities should have the power and the responsibility to decide how the water is used and whether it is to be polluted. The state has no business giving to Coca-Cola the groundwater of a valley in Kerala, resulting in rich farmland going totally dry. Communities need to take back sovereignty and delegate trusteeship to the state only as appropriate. (in Shiva & van Gelder, 2003)
She describes a meeting of 200 villagers devoted to saving seeds, who together gathered the strength to reclaim this sovereignty.
These 200 villagers, gathered in a high mountain village near a tributary of the Ganges, said, “We’ve received our medicinal plants, our seeds, our forests from nature through our ancestors; we owe it to them to conserve it for the future. We pledge we will never allow their erosion or their theft. We pledge we will never accept patenting, genetic modification, or allow our biodiversity to be polluted in any form, and we pledge that we will act as the peoples of this biodiversity” (in Shiva & van Gelder, 2003.
Public homeplaces are essential to the development of this kind of earth democracy. Unfortunately, many public homeplaces are of necessity created in inhospitable environments where strangers are thrown together out of need. : Guatemalan refugee camps, Indian brothels, and slums on city margins throughout the world. In such places one is pushed to extreme challenges of finding what literal and spiritual sustenance is available in the present moment, challenges that are more easily met with the human support that even improvised public homeplaces can nurture.
And here’s what Tod Sloan, Chair of the Graduate School of Education and Counseling at Lewis & Clark College has to say about this extraordinary new book:
*Where are the forms of psychological, cultural, and social practice that would stand up to the forces of oppression and exploitation? Where are sustainable and creative modes of reflective living finding roots and thriving? Where are the psychological insights and practices that would accompany and sustain the social movements for peace, environmentally sustainable economies, and social justice? In Towards Psychologies of Liberation Mary Watkins and Helene Lorenz embrace these questions with courage and wisdom. They energetically introduce readers to the psychological dimensions of the emerging counter-empire, a vast lifeworld in which the needs of humans, other-than-human animals, and life in general are deeply felt and articulated in everyday practice. They invite you to join them in their passionate exploration of the possibilities for wise psychological and cultural practices that would contribute to the flourishing of the social movements that will reverse the destruction of life and meaning on earth. These liberation psychologies are a critical element of the global uprising. I urge you to accept the authors' warm invitation as if your life depended upon it, to dialogue with their insights, and then do your part to usher in a new world of compassion and solidarity.*
To order the book by phone: (888) 330-8477
or online at http://www.palgrave-usa.com
Ecotherapy News readers can use the promo code P356ED to get a 20% discount
6. MY FLOPPY-EARED CO-THERAPIST by Douglas Green
Douglas Green, a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern, has written a delightful and touching anecdotal report on his experiences with Animal-Assisted Psychotherapy.
*Much has been written about the benefits of animal-assisted therapy, and the strengths that a dog, cat, or horse can add to work with children, veterans, the elderly, etc. I recently experienced this on a profound level with a friendly, energetic husky mix who had entered my life in a South Central pound nine years earlier.*
To read the article, go to http://www.sfvcamft.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=browse&id=8959&pageid=112
and then click on the July/August issue of the newsletter put out by the San Fernando Valley chapter of the California Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. The article is on page 4.
7. ECO-SOCIAL WORK!
Professional Social Workers, like many other mental health workers, are moving towards ecotherapy.
Global Alliance for a Deep Ecological Social Work is *a partnership of social workers for environmental concerns* and their website is http://www.ecosocialwork.org
8. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ECOLOGY AND PROFESSIONAL HELPING TO DISCUSS ECOTHERAPY
*Building Bridges, Crossing Boundaries: Interdisciplinary Dialogues on Person, Planet and
Professional Helping* is the topic of a conference to be held May 7-9, 2009 at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.
*While there is evidence of serious ecological decline, there is also vibrant hope and a growing global dialogue as to how we can creatively engage the challenges and opportunities that we now face. This interdisciplinary conference will be of interest to many professionals such as social workers, psychologists, environmentalists, teachers, nurses, social service deliverers, environmental educators, and mental health professionals.*
David Orr and Joanna Macy are two of the major speakers for the conference.
*The conference aims to share research and effective practices and strategies, and to enable creative dialogues that inspire, while also fostering new interdisciplinary partnerships. Sessions will include scholarly papers and presentations, keynote speakers, workshops, and poster sessions.*
Themes to be addressed include ecotherapy. The conference aims to
Explore ecological problems and challenges confronting our world such as climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, environmental ethics, sustainability, and environmental durability in communities
Develop approaches and strategies such as engaging communities, building capacity for durable social action, and nurturing sustainability leadership
Create partnerships between professionals across disciplinary boundaries by developing collaborations and sharing knowledge
Apply our learning to professional and personal practices such as eco-clinical practice, community-based social action, ecotherapy, green learning and teaching, cultivating ecological literacy and environmental citizenship, ecospirituality, and personal and community forms of sustainability
For further information, contact John Coates jcoates@stu.ca, Fred H. Besthorn fred.besthorn@uni.edu, or Mishka Lysack mlysack@ucalgary.ca .
9. TEACHING PSYCHOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Check out this very useful website, which offers a wealth of resources: http://www.teachgreenpsych.com
The website was created by Britain A. Scott, Ph.D. and Susan M. Koger, Ph.D. who explain some of the reasons that motivated them (abridged here, but fully recounted on the website):
(1) The primary cause of all *environmental problems* is human behavior. These problems are not really problems of the environment, but are the result of a mismatch between the ways in which human beings fulfill their needs and wants and the natural processes that maintain ecological integrity. As experts on human behavior, psychologists have the potential to serve a crucial role in halting our ecologically-destructive trajectory and promoting a sustainable future.
(2)One reason that psychology and undergraduate environmental education have not been well integrated is that people outside of psychology misunderstand the discipline.
(3) the lack of a coherent environmental focus within our discipline. The authors also note that *a new label has caught on: Conservation Psychology. It may well prove to be a useful meta-label that will encompass all of the disparate environmentally-related work by psychologists. Like the discipline of conservation biology, conservation psychology is conceived of as psychology with a conservation agenda, i.e., psychology for a sustainable future (Saunders, 2003).*
10. *TOWARDS AN ECOLOGY OF THE SELF*
http://www.grahamburnett.net
*You start with your nose, then your hands, your back door, your doorstep. You get all that right, then everything is right. If all that*s wrong, nothing can ever be right* – Bill Mollison, co-founder of Permaculture.
*Towards an Ecology of the Self* is a small booklet exploring the role of the *personal* in permaculture design systems, written by Graham Burnett. The interconnected permaculture ethics of earthcare and peoplecare imply that wholeness and earth repair are not just about the wider *out there* of our gardens, farms, forests and oceans, but are just as importantly to do with the *ecology of the self.* Paying attention to our own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs and development is fundamental to what in permaculture parlance Burnett calls good *Zone Zero Zero* design. Just as peace is not simply the absence of war, so too health is not just about being free from disease. Therefore self-care -- setting up holistic mind and body systems in order to avoid sickness, depression, stress and burn-out -- is a vital part of enhancing well-being and developing personal effectiveness.
£2.50 plus postage
11. POST YOUR ECOPSYCHOLOGY EVENTS, COURSES AND DEGREES ON OUR WEBSITE
Ecopsychology and ecotherapy events, courses and programs can now be posted directly on our website. If you*re a student, check that out; or if you’re a teacher, post your classes there. Also, I keep an ongoing list of college and university programs that offer ecopsychology courses and/or degrees: if you’d like to receive the list, please e-mail me. .
Upcoming event of special note:
Wild Nature, Human Nature: Deep sustainability through Ecotherapy
Dates: Monday 6th to Sunday 12th October
Location: Knoydart, Scotland
Facilitators: David Key & Mary-Jayne Rust
Price: £550 - fully residential including boat transfers and VAT
This is a retreat-style course set in a wild, remote and beautiful place. It's designed for anyone wishing to encourage sustainable living through a deeper level of psychological awareness. The course weaves together theory and personal experience to provide powerful inspiration for home and work.
We have come to believe that we are separate from nature: that we have, somehow, transcended our earthly biology and made ourselves an exception to ecological rules. This *separation myth* has led us to live beyond our habitat's ability to sustain us and we must deal with it urgently, if we are to survive its consequences.
This course explores the psychopathology of the modern separation myth and how we might heal it. The quality of wildness, that *self-willed* creative force that runs through the heart of all things, provides a thread that can directly reconnect us back to our ecological selves. We come to remember, beyond the realms of intellectual doubt, that we are of nature. This form of ecological therapy offers a way to re-unite personal and planetary healing.
This course is based on our previous Ecotherapy courses but introduces a new name and format. We wanted to make it clear that our course is as much about sustainable living as about the personal benefits that experiences of wild places can bring.
David Key & Mary-Jayne Rust
Footprint Consulting Limited
email: info@footprintconsulting.org
phone: +44 (0)1540 662424
web: http://www.footprintconsulting.org
12. ON THE WEB…
* INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR ECOTHERAPY. Our website at http://thoughtoffering.blogs.com/ecotherapy has current and past issues of Ecotherapy News. Many, many heartfelt thanks to ecopsychology maven Heather Witham for creating and hosting our site! Heather is an amazingly creative person who has some wonderful web offerings and gifts for us all. Check out: http://www.mymoonster.com a delightful way to get yourself back in sync with nature*s cycles and explore radical ecopsychology.
** ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUP: Join a list-serv where you can discuss activist ecopsychology with others interested in this topic:
chat_act_ecopsy-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
* INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR ECOPSYCHOLOGY. If you haven’t yet discovered it, check out http://www.ecopsychology.org: the best ecopsychology site on the web! Read *Gatherings* journal; sign up for the list serv to chat, check out the ecopsychology blog at http://thoughtoffering.blogs.com/ice_seeds. Sign up on the Practitioners page to tell the world about your ecopsychology or ecotherapy practice...
* ONLINE PERMA-PSYCHOLOGY DISCUSSION GROUP: This group discussed the connections between permaculture (permanent culture/agriculture, ecological design) and psychology. To join go to: http://groups.google.com/group/perma-psychology
* Check out the great academic search engine: http://scholar.google.com. Look up *ecopsychology,* *ecotherapy* for lots of interesting stuff…
