Winter 2008
HEADLINES:
NEW BOOKS BY RICHARD HEINBERG, BILL PLOTKIN
JOB OPENING: TENURE-TRACK POSITION IN ECOPSYCH!
Contents:
1. QUOTES OF THE MONTH: Paul Shepard, Allison Ewoldt
2. RICHARD HEINBERG*S NEW BOOK *PEAK EVERYTHING*
3. ECOTHERAPIST BILL PLOTKIN*S NEW BOOK *NATURE AND THE HUMAN SOUL*
4. ECOTHERAPY AND SPIRAL DYNAMICS by Linda Buzzell
5. NEW ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUP ON *PERMA-PSYCHOLOGY*
6. NEW ONLINE COLUMN ON TERRAPSYCHOLOGY
7. JOB OPENING: TENURE-TRACK POSITION IN ECOPSYCHOLOGY!
8. THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS IS A CRISIS OF CONSCIOUSNESS by Craig Chalquist
9. UPCOMING EVENTS
a) Nature-Guided Therapy, Feb 24 in Denmark
b) Therapy with the Earth in Mind, June 20 in UK
10. POST YOUR ECOPSYCH COURSES AND PROGRAMS ON OUR WEBSITE
11. ON THE WEB: Cool websites to check out, including the International Community for Ecopsychology*s 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:
When we grasp fully that the best expressions of our humanity were not invented by civilization but by cultures that preceded it, that the natural world is not only a set of constraints but of contexts within which we can more fully realize our dreams, we will be on the way to a long overdue reconciliation between opposites which are of our own making.
-- Paul Shepard
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
2. *PEAK EVERYTHING: Waking Up to the Century of Declines* by Richard Heinberg
Book review by Linda Buzzell, M.A., M.F.T.
Richard Heinberg*s new book Peak Everything is now available from New Society publishers, and it*s a must-read for everyone interested in facilitating the transition from what eco-philosopher Joanna Macy calls *industrial growth society* to *life sustaining civilization* in the next few decades.
What*s great about Heinberg is his calm, reasonable and low-key presentation of a truly stunning situation. We all know bits and pieces of it (climate change, the end of cheap fossil fuels, overpopulation, habitat destruction, etc.) but he brings it all together in its up-to-the-minute form so we can view the entire challenge and its current direction.
*It is hard to escape the conclusion that while the 20th century saw the greatest and most rapid expansion of the scale, scope and complexity of human societies in history, the 21st will see contraction and simplification. The only real question is whether societies will contract and simplify intelligently or in an uncontrolled, chaotic fashion.*
*None of this is easy to contemplate,* he admits. *Nor can this information easily be discussed in polite company: the suggestion that we are at or near the peak of population and consumption levels* is especially taboo. *The result: a general, societal pattern of denial.*
In an especially powerful chapter entitled *The Psychology of Peak Oil and Climate Change* Heinberg looks at the role of psychology in the coming decades. He asks *Could the scientific understanding of human psychology help change our collective thinking proactively so as to minimize the chaos and suffering and maximize positive adaptive behavior?*
*Those with psychological training may play as important a role in our collective adaptation to Peak Oil and Climate Change as energy experts and permaculturists. The former should perhaps be gearing up to treat not only individuals but whole communities.* Yes!
He also addresses other subjects therapists and ecotherapists may be very interested in: the psychological stages of waking up to our present situation; Joanna Macy's despair-to-empowerment work; going beyond the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross stages of grief into action; collective PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder); using the addiction/dependency model to understand *addiction to oil;* and social marketing.
Heinberg doesn*t shy away from the psychological difficulty of absorbing the deeply threatening facts of our situation. He admits *Even those of us who have been thinking about resource depletion for many years are still just beginning to awaken to its full implications* and *I still find myself experiencing denial, anger, bargaining, and depression after years of studying the problem of oil depletion.*
Heinberg tells us that *Awakening…entails an emotional, cultural, and political catharsis. The biblical metaphor of scales falling from one*s eyes is as apt as the pop culture meme of taking the red pill and seeing the world beyond the Matrix: in either case, waking up implies realizing that the very fabric of modern life is woven from illusion... Holding that fabric together is one master illusion, the notion that somehow what we see around us today is normal.*
*The awakening I am describing is an ongoing visceral as well as intellectual reassessment of every facet of life -- food, work, entertaining, travel, politics, economics, and more. The experience is so all-encompassing that it defies linear description.*
But I don*t want to give the impression that Heinberg limits his discussion to psychological issues. This book covers a wide range of topics: farming, permaculture, aesthetics, technology, the definition of sustainability, bridging peak oil and climate change activism, the boomer generation*s *last chance,* and much more.
Whatever aspect of our current situation interests you, I highly recommend that you get hold of Heinberg*s book. He*s a wise guide to the real New Age.
3. ECOTHERAPIST BILL PLOTKIN’S NEW BOOK *NATURE AND THE HUMAN SOUL: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World*
Book review by Linda Buzzell, M.A., M.F.T.
A new book by ecotherapist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin, Ph.D., founder of the Animas Valley Institute and author of Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche, offers many practical riches for therapists and practitioners or students of ecopsychology.
In a fascinating synthesis of indigenous wisdom, non-Western spiritualities, depth psychology, social activism and ecology, Plotkin introduces an ecopsychology of human development that reveals how fully and creatively we can mature when soul and wild nature are allowed to guide us.
He outlines an eight stage wheel of *eco-soulcentric* development from early childhood through death, and includes practical methods of proceeding naturally through these stages. Some of the names he gives the stages can be confusing or even a little precious (*The Thespian at the Oasis,* *The Apprentice at the Wellspring*), but a close reading reveals their purpose.
I do a lot of career exploration work with clients, so was especially interested in the stage he calls *The Wanderer in the Cocoon,* which encourages us to follow Native American teacher Harley Swift Deer*s advice to find both our *survival dance* and *sacred dance.* Plotkin says that this transition is typically seen in late adolescence in indigenous cultures but in our culture may continue into the mid-life crisis era of the 40s and even beyond.
Plotkin includes psychotherapy as one of many valuable tools to employ as we journey through the stages, and he encourages us to explore the *sacred wound* which *holds a key to your destiny.*
Rather than merely patching up clients and sending them back out into unquestioned, nature-disconnected surroundings after 6 brief sessions or a course of meds, Plotkin suggests that therapists encourage clients to *Allow the wound to do its work on you. In the contemporary West, conscious investigation of the sacred wound, when attempted at all, most commonly takes place in those rare psychotherapies that journey deep into the psyche to encounter the demons and monsters of our greatest fears. These wounds can also be approached through exceptional forms of bodywork or through ceremonies that expose our grief and allow its full experience. In a soul-centered setting, the elders, who know we all carry sacred wounds, offer rituals and nature-based practices that help us uncover and assimilate the lessons and opportunities, the treasure, hidden in our wounds.*
Plotkin*s greatest concern about current Western society is that we are stuck in an adolescent stage (Duane Elgin also expressed this in his excellent book Promise Ahead) in which we are, in the absence of natural initiation, prone to addictions and highly destructive behavior.
*Sooner or later, we each have to address the paramount addiction in the Western world: our psychological dependence on the worldview and lifestyle of Western civilization itself. Ecopsychologist Chellis Glendinning makes this point brilliantly in her book My Name Is Chellis, and I*m in Recovery from Western Civilization. The Western worldview says, in essence, that technological progress is the highest value and that we were born to consume, to endlessly use and discard natural resources, other species, techno-gadgets, toys, and, often, other people, especially if they are poor or from the global South. The most highly prized freedom is the right to shop. This is a world of commodities, not entities, and economic expansion is the primary measure of progress. Profits are valued over people, money over meaning, our national entitlement over global peace and justice, *us* over *them.* This addiction is the most dangerous one in the world, because it is rapidly undermining the natural systems of earth.”
Plotkin also worries that our surface-oriented culture prevents us from developing desperately-needed ensouled elders to guide both the young and the middle-aged towards their soul’s purpose in life. Using the inspiring examples of theologian-cosmologist Thomas Berry and ecophilosopher-ecotherapist Joanna Macy, he tracks the life development of these sages through each of the stages to their current *Crowned* status as revered guides through the Great Work (Berry*s term) and the Great Turning (Macy*s), helping us transition from the egocentric *Industrial Growth Society* to a soulcentric *Life-sustaining Society.*
4. ECOTHERAPY AND SPIRAL DYNAMICS
by Linda Buzzell, M.A., M.F.T.
When my husband and I took the Permaculture Design Course last year, our teacher was always reminding us to ask the following questions on every design project: WHERE ARE WE? WHEN ARE WE? In other words, we needed to take note not only of the deep ecology of the landscape we stood on but also its (and our) place in the natural succession of things. Are we at the disturbed earth/pioneer plants stage? Or are we members of the mature forest?
Recently I discovered Spiral Dynamics, developed by Dr. Clare W. Graves and his followers, and was pleased to see that it too deals with this critical question of *when* we are in the evolving nature of things. SD focuses not on natural biological succession, but rather on the succession patterns of human culture. It is highly controversial, especially when misunderstood and misapplied, but also profoundly thought provoking.
Graves* followers have attached color descriptions to the different levels or *memes* to make them easier to understand. For example the *red* meme encapsulates those times in human history when the raw assertion of dominance, conquest and power predominates. *Blue* describes those cultures which follow higher authority, rigid rules and are absolutist. *Orange* is the meme involved with science, technology and the rationalist/materialist viewpoint. Supposedly we have now arrived at the dawn of *Green* which is just what it sounds like: the sustainability meme, involved with sharing, interconnections, collaboration. Other colors supposedly follow green: *yellow* is described as involving integralism, responsibility and a higher knowing or gnosis. Spiritual evolution is also included.
According to SD, different cultures have different predominances and mixes of the various memes. Each meme has its own strengths and weaknesses. The trouble starts when we foolishly consider some to be *higher* and more evolved than others without valuing the necessary contributions they make to the evolving whole. As with human life, we must learn to walk before we can run, and at any point we could lose that ability and be back to crawling if we don*t maintain the health of the whole organism and our respect for the job being done by legs, thighs and knees!
So what relevance can this viewpoint have for ecotherapy? It seems to me that we have arrived at the historical transition from red-blue-orange culture to green. Some would argue that we started out at green in the hunter-gatherer or horticultural stages of human culture and need to return to and recover that felt sense of connection. Others believe that this new 21st century green stage that follows the centuries of red-blue-orange will of necessity be a different version of green. In the spirit of *yellow* integralism, perhaps it*s a *yes/and* situation and both are true: we need to return, reclaim and recover the best of earlier historical stages and also honor the best of recent historical stages to create a new synthesis for a sustainable human future on this planet.
Ecotherapy is, I believe, called to facilitate this current transition, whatever its nature. If we fulfill our own promise we will be able to help our generation ford the raging, chaotic waters separating the old from the new. Of course much is at stake here. The doomsday clock is ticking ominously and it is way past time for us to wake up and begin paddling for all we*re worth. If we succeed in this transition, our species may continue its evolutionary path as a natural expression of Gaian life. If not – well perhaps it will be the work of other species to evolve into cosmic awareness and awakeness.
The challenge, I believe, is for humans to develop a deeper understanding of and compassion for the value and purpose of each successive meme and to avoid devaluing any. Even egocentric, dominating red has its purposes in the grand scheme of things. Even rigid authoritarian blue has its uses. And orange, so threatening now to the survival of our species and many others, must not become the baby thrown out with the bathwater. To achieve all of this, we have to evolve (quickly) to a higher level of consciousness and awareness.
So there is lots of work for all of us to do, especially community and cultural ecotherapists.
But where to start? Perhaps with those simple questions: where are we on planet earth in this giant cosmos? And when are we in historical, evolutionary succession at this moment in time?
5. NEW ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUP ON *PERMA-PSYCHOLOGY*
How can we apply permaculture principles to psychology and spirituality? And how can psychological and spiritual wisdom help permaculture design? This online discussion group explores the psychological and spiritual *invisible systems* that need to be at the heart and soul of any sustainable human endeavor.
To join the online discussion, go to http://groups.google.com/group/perma-psychology and sign yourself up. As with any google group, you can choose to receive every e-mail as it comes in, receive a daily digest or receive no e-mail but read and post online.
6. NEW ONLINE COLUMN ON TERRAPSYCHOLOGY
Craig Chalquist, PhD has started a new online column to apply terrapsychology (the study of the presence or soul of place) to ongoing events in California in order to investigate their symbolism and meaning. See his site Deep California: http://www.deepcalifornia.com
for more information.
7. JOB OPENING: TENURE-TRACK POSITION IN ECOPSYCHOLOGY!
NORTHLAND COLLEGE
Tenure-track Position in Psychology (Clinical Psychology/Ecopsychology emphasis)
Northland College is currently conducting a number of academic searches with special attention to diversifying the faculty. The Nature and Culture Program at the College invites applications from psychologists who are exceptional teachers and who are committed to the College’s environmental liberal arts mission and values.
Preferred areas of specialization are in clinical/counseling fields with an emphasis in Ecopsychology and the ability to teach (co-teach) courses in Counseling, Ecopsychology, Cross-cultural Psychology, Psychology of Gender, Eastern Psychology, History of Psychology, Abnormal, Personality, and Testing. Preference will be given to applicants with teaching and/or research experience in the above areas of specialization as well as to applicants who have a strong background in the application of ecopsychology to therapy, counseling, human growth, Adventure Therapy/Education, and/or Outdoor Education. The successful candidate will have a completed Ph.D. by August 2008 and a demonstrated ability to teach and work with persons from culturally diverse backgrounds.
This tenure track, full-time position carries the rank of Assistant Professor or above, and begins in the 2008-2009 academic year. The teaching load is seven courses a year in a 4-4-1 calendar system. Faculty teach courses within the liberal education program as well as within their major areas of concentration. Ecopsychology at Northland is part of a newly created Nature and Culture program that includes Psychology, Environmental Humanities, Native American Studies, and Outdoor Education.
Interested applicants should submit the following: (1) a letter that describes their interest in Northland College and the extent to which their experiences and qualifications match the College’s priorities; (2) a summary of student evaluations from at least two courses; and (3) a curriculum vitae, including names, telephone numbers, and addresses of at least four professional references, one of whom should be a student.
Candidates are encouraged to submit application materials electronically in Word format to humanresources@northland.edu. If this is not possible, please send materials to:
Human Resources Department
ATTN: Ecopsychology Search
Northland College,
1411 Ellis Ave.
Ashland, WI 54806
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. The College anticipates an appointment by early March 2008.
Northland College is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative/Action Employer. Northland is committed to excellence and actively supports cultural diversity. To promote this endeavor, we invite individuals who contribute to such diversity to apply, including minorities, women, GLBT, persons with disabilities, and veterans.
Additional Information
Preferred Professional Qualifications
• Demonstrated ability to work with a diverse student body
• Engages students in intellectually challenging activities to enhance critical thinking skills
• Enthusiastic about teaching and learning, and conveys that enthusiasm to students
• Respects students and is interested in their growth and development
• Employs effective strategies for active, experiential teaching and student motivation
• Understands and can teach to students with diverse learning styles
• Advocates service learning and educational outreach
• Familiar with technologies and multimedia that enhance learning
• Attentive to learner outcomes and multiple measures of learning assessment
• Engages students in research activities that lead to publications and/or presentations at conferences
• Aware of current environmental issues
• Works well with a diversity of students, colleagues, staff, and community members
• Works well with colleagues, staff, and community members in expanding/creating new curricula
Northland College
Northland College integrates liberal arts studies with an environmental emphasis to enable those it serves to address the challenges of the future. To meet this mission and accomplish the College’s strategic goal to be the nation’s leading environmental liberal arts college, the academic program is committed to demonstrating connections between ecological systems and human processes, using outstanding teaching and learning, faculty and student research, student leadership, civic responsibility, workplace sustainability, environmental problem‑solving, and outreach.
Building on a century‑old history of education and service to the Lake Superior region, Northland College initiated its environmental studies dimension in 1971. In 1972, Northland added the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, an outreach link to the Lake Superior region. The environment has been a focus of study, skills development, challenge, and opportunity in nearly every academic discipline at Northland for more than 25 years.
Regional Environment
Northland College is located in beautiful northwestern Wisconsin on the south shore of Lake Superior near the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Founded as North Wisconsin Academy in 1892, the College is affiliated with the United Church of Christ. Northland is located in the city of Ashland, population approximately 9,000, which has an excellent public school system, a full-service medical facility, and a wide range of retail services, recreational opportunities, and restaurants.
8. THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS IS A CRISIS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
*The Environmental Crisis is a Crisis of Consciousness: Bringing the Psychological Dimension into the Discussion* is a speech given by ecopsychologist Craig Chalquist to the students at Sonoma State University, California.
http://www.terrapsych.com/crisis.html
9. UPCOMING EVENTS
a) THE DANISH CENTRE FOR ECOTHERAPY will present the first course in Denmark in nature-guided psychotherapy: *Nature-Guided Therapy: Expanding the Boundaries of Healing* with clinical psychologist George Burns from Australia. Burns is the author of Nature-Guided Therapy: Brief Integrative Strategies for health and Well-Being.
In Copenhagen, Feb 24, 2008, 9:00 – 17:00
Contact: Anna Adhemar at Post@greenheart.dk Adhemar is the founder of the Centre.
Website: http://www.naturterapi.dk
b) SEEKING HEALTH IN AN AILING WORLD: THERAPY WITH THE EARTH IN MIND, Friday June 20, 2008 - Sunday June 22nd, 2008
A weekend residential workshop in North Norfolk for therapists who wish to explore ecopsychology in practice. Facilitated by Mary-Jayne Rust
What happens to our grief and despair for what we see happening to our world?
How does nature, beyond humans, shape our development, and nourish our lives?
Do our clients talk about these issues? How do we respond?
Therapy is an intensely personal process. Yet our well-being, as well as our suffering, is bound up with the whole web of life. Climate change and a litany of environmental crises come right into our bodies and psyches; in turn, our choices about everything we buy and use affect the lives of others. Spending time in wild places, or simply in our back gardens, can be deeply healing, bringing us back to the ground of our being.
Using experiential exercises, reflection and discussion, indoors and outdoors, this week-end will be a chance to explore areas such as: attachment and bonding with the other-than-human world; our responses to increasing trauma in the world; environmental concern as part of recovery; ecologically based spirituality as every day practice. There will be ample opportunity to discuss how these issues come into our therapy practice and
how we might respond.
Mary-Jayne Rust is a Jungian analyst, art therapist and ecopsychologist
practising in London. See http://www.mjrust.net
£225 including accommodation and meals
9 spaces available. Deadline for bookings 30th APRIL '08
For booking forms and more info see http://www.norwichcentre.org O1603 617709
10. POST YOUR ECOPSYCHOLOGY COURSES AND DEGREES ON OUR WEBSITE
Ecopsych courses and programs can now be posted directly on our website, so if you’re a student, check that out or if you’re a teacher, post your classes there. Also, I also 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.
And if you teach ecopsych, Here’s a new resource:
http://www.teachgreenpsych.com/
Britain S. Scott, Ph.D. and Susan M Koger, Ph.D. have put together a great online resource: Teaching Psychology for Sustainability: A Manual of Resources
11. 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 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...
* Check out the great academic search engine: http://scholar.google.com. Look up *ecopsychology,* *ecotherapy* for lots of interesting stuff…
