HEADLINES:
THE ECONOMY AND ECOTHERAPY
ECOTHERAPY IN THE NEWS: GOOD FOR A LAUGH?
NEW BOOK: MIDDLE-CLASS LIFEBOAT
Contents:
- QUOTES OF THE MONTH: David Jacke, Carl Jung, Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme.
- THE ECONOMY AND ECOTHERAPY by Linda Buzzell
- THE PRESS AND ECOTHERAPY: ARE WE GOOD FOR A LAUGH?
- MIDDLE-CLASS LIFEBOAT by Paul & Sarah Edwards
- FIND YOUR POWER by Chris Johnstone, MD
- THE WORLD AT A GLANCE by Edward S. Casey
- BEYOND THERAPY: Enhancing Emotional Wellness in a Collapsing World
- UPCOMING EVENTS
- POST YOUR ECOPSYCHOLOGY AND ECOTHERAPY EVENTS, COURSES AND DEGREES ON OUR WEBSITE
- 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 internet!
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:
As Masanobu Fukuoka once said, *The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.* How we garden reflects our worldview. The ultimate goal of forest gardening is not only the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of new ways of seeing, of thinking, and of acting in the world. Forest gardening gives us a visceral experience of ecology in action, teaching us how the planet works and changing our self-perceptions. Forest gardening helps us take our rightful place as part of nature doing nature's work, rather than as separate entities intervening in and dominating the natural world.….
Dave Jacke, author of Edible Forest Gardens
But if we can reconcile ourselves to the mysterious truth that the spirit is the life of the body seen from within, and the body the outward manifestation of the life of the spirit - the two being really one - then we can understand why the striving to transcend the present level of consciousness through the acceptance of the unconscious must give the body its due, and why recognition of the body cannot tolerate a philosophy that denies it in the name of the spirit.
Carl Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 10, pp. 94
The well being of the planet is a prior condition for the well being of humans. We cannot have well being on a sick planet, not even with our medical science. So long as we continue to generate more toxins than the planet can absorb and transform, the members of the Earth Community will become ill. Human health is derivative. Planetary health is primary.
Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme, The Universe Story, p. 237
2) THE ECONOMY AND ECOTHERAPY
By Linda Buzzell
The implication is clear: if we hope to survive as a species, and if there is to be hope for millions of other creatures, we need to shrink the human enterprise. Economic contraction may be bitter medicine, but it*s part of the cure for what ails our planetary home. However, we can manage this contraction either foolishly or intelligently.
Richard Heinberg
Dmitri Orlov, who spends a lot of time these days comparing the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s to what he sees as the collapse of the American Empire in the 2000s, says that financial collapse is the first stage we have to deal with. As I write this article, the economic news seems to support his thesis.
Strangely, those who follow the political and economic play-by-play in our society are seldom the same people who follow the inexorable trends of environmental devastation and resource depletion. There are just a few people (Richard Heinberg is one of them) who track both and can help us understand the connections between them.
If ecotherapists hope to be able to help individuals, families and communities through increasingly difficult times, we need to join Heinberg in connecting the dots between the collapse of the industrial, economic-growth society and the slow rise of what Joanna Macy calls *life-sustaining society.* It will probably be a tough transition, and we can prepare ourselves to assist our clients and neighbors in making what for many will be an unwelcome shift away from life as they*ve known it to a new and initially uncomfortable but ultimately rich and satisfying alternative.
If we go by previous human history, odds are that we won*t respond intelligently to this challenge to change. Instead of *an explicit commitment to redesign the global economy,* as Heinberg recommends, we*ll probably stumble along, throwing expensive band-aids over the crumbling infrastructure hoping it will hold, and then resorting to bullying and war when things don*t allow us to maintain the supposedly sacrosanct and *non-negotiable* American way of life that involves endless shopping for Chinese goods at Wal-Mart, cheap airline and car travel, and up-to-the-minute media distraction involving the doings of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.
Heinberg still hopes that we*ll somehow come to our senses. *If we handle this well,* he promises, *the medicine of contraction will leave Nature intact and humanity in a state of greater happiness, equity, and peace.* Certainly an outcome devoutly to be wished, and perhaps one that ecotherapists can help facilitate.
Richard Heinberg’s article can be read in full at HopeDance magazine: http://www.hopedance.org/cms/content/view/479/107/
3) THE PRESS AND ECOTHERAPY: ARE WE GOOD FOR A LAUGH?
By Linda Buzzell
It is said of any social movement that first they ignore you, then they mock you, and then they say they agreed with you all along. Apparently as a field we*ve progressed from obscurity (Stage 1) to the uncomfortable Stage 2.
Recently the press has become fascinated by ecotherapy and *eco-anxiety.* Here are a few links to articles and broadcasts from the NY Times, Time magazine, the UK Independent, National Public Radio (NPR) and other mainstream media outlets:
*Agonising over the icecap or frantic about floods? You may be suffering from *eco-anxiety** by Michael Hewitt
The Independent (UK) , March 20, 2008
*…today's emerging solution to eco-anxiety is ecotherapy. The science originated among the New Agers of the USA.*
Interviewed: Jungian analyst Mary-Jayne Rust (UK), Melissa Pickett (Santa Fe, NM)
*Well, Doctor, I Have This Recycling Problem* by Gabrielle Glaser
New York Times, 2/16/08
Interviewees include: Thomas Joseph Doherty (Lewis & Clark), Sandy Shulmire (Portland, OR psychologist), Scott O. Lilienfeld (Emory University), Jeff Noethe (Portland psychologist), Bill Plotkin (Colorado psychologist). http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/us/16therapy-web.html?ei=5070&en=869c29a250a3b7e9&ex=1203829200&adxnnl=1&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1203201089-La5O+dr7E1rigqDQ0nrWag
*For *EcoMoms* Saving Earth Begins at Home* by Patricia Leigh Brown
New York Times 2/16/08
Interviewees include: Linda Buzzell, Riley Dunlap (Oklahoma State).
*Green with Worry* by Leslie Crawford
San Francisco magazine, Feb 2008
*In a blink, Bay Area residents have gone from being the most eco-conscious in the nation to the most eco-neurotic…One sure sign of how overwhelming *this stuff* has become for some of us: a new breed of mental-health professionals—*eco-therapists,* as (Linda) Buzzell and (Lesley) Osman identify themselves—has popped up on the Left Coast. You might expect them to be weirdos, preying on the equally wacko and forlorn—Aura Cleansers 2.0. But most are standard-grade therapists who*ve found a specialty that makes perfect sense in today*s world…*
*The bad feelings are reflective of the society we’re living in,* Osman says. *The depression, anxiety, panic, and feelings of hopelessness are symptoms of a world out of control. After all, what we*re facing is a fear of extinction. The people who are not anxious—those are the ones I’m really scared for.*
Therapists interviewed include: Molly Young Brown, Linda Buzzell, Lesley Osman, Miriam Greenspan, Nancy Hoopes, Hannah Levenson.
http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/green-worry
*Have Eco-Anxiety? You Probably Do, But there*s Help* by Max Lindberg
The Lindberg Report (online) 12/3/07
Interviewed: Melissa Pickett (Santa Fe, NM)
http://thelindbergreport.org/2007/12/03/have-ecoanxiety--you-probably-do-but-theres-help.aspx
*It’s Inconvenient Being Green* by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
Time magazine, Nov 21, 2007
*I am not particularly eco-conscious. But I am increasingly eco-anxious. Every day, it seems, I hear of some new way the world around me is going aggressively green…A so-called eco-therapist in Santa Fe, N.M., reportedly sees up to 80 patients a month who complain of panic attacks, loss of appetite, irritability and what she describes as some sort of a twitchy sensation in their cells.*
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1686805,00.html
*Worry Yourself Sick: Anxiety Over Environment Brings Weird Crimes and a New Industry* by Bertha Coomb
MSNBC/ CNBC, July 20, 2007
Interviewed: Melissa Pickett (Santa Fe, NM)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19856925/
*Eco-Anxiety* radio interview
*Living on Earth* with Bruce Gellerman.
National Public Radio, Sept 12, 2006
Linda Buzzell and Liz Galst, who wrote the article in “Plenty” about eco-anxiety.
*Eco-Anxiety* by Liz Galst
Plenty Magazine, Sept 2006
http://www.plentymag.com/features/2006/09/ecoanxiety.php
4) MIDDLE-CLASS LIFEBOAT: Careers and Life Choices for Navigating a Changing Economy by Paul and Sarah Edwards.
Book Review by Linda Buzzell
*Almost everyone we talked to was working harder and feeling stressed about how to find a better balance between personal desires and daily economic pressures.*
– Paul and Sarah Edwards
The timing on this book is perfect. Just when more and more Americans are barely hanging onto their fragile middle-class lifestyles and beginning to realize that (oops!) the economy is slipping into chaos, best-selling authors Paul and Sarah Edwards offer a lifeline in the form of an affordable and reader-friendly guidebook to our collective future. Ecotherapists may want to recommend this book to clients who are searching for a path out of a way of life that is no longer working for them.
The Edwards understand the post-carbon economic era we*ve entered. They have looked unflinchingly at the pricetag for the middle class of the global economy and the three-trillion-dollar, endless war. But they don*t just bemoan the situation; they offer up a menu of options: alternative careers and lifestyle choices that could help readers stay afloat whether the economy is up or down.
The careers are presented in a balanced way, with pros and cons. Some may not sound glamorous, but they*re put forward as sustainable and realistic ways of making a dependable living suitable for the new economic realities. A few examples: basic local (non-outsourceable) services like small-town newspaper publishing, personal paralegal services, non-toxic pest control, massage, bodywork and hauling/recycling; *nichable* virtual careers like editorial services, grant writing, private investigation, building performance auditing and virtual administration; alternative energy installing, elder services, small manufacturing, green burials, architectural salvage and microfarming.
The authors also explore quality of life issues in our rapidly changing world. They favor downshifting, simple living, clearing out clutter, nature-connection, eliminating excess *stuff* and escaping from consumerism. They weigh the pros and cons of moving to a small city or town, a rural area or even another country. Tips are offered on how to get room and board in inviting locales, live in campers or on boats or become an *urban Thoreau.* More options: living off the grid, powering down, cohousing, and cashless economies.
The Edwards* goal is to help readers prepare effectively to ride *the waves of a sea change.* More like a tsunami, it seems to me! Their book is designed to assist middle-class folk in meeting the multiple challenges *as we transition (away) from a job-based corporate economy…* They warn us that *The way things have been done begins to crumble in the wake of a sea change, but the new structures and economic safeguards for how things will be are not in place yet.*
This book is a practical guide to get us safely through that treacherous gap.
5) FIND YOUR POWER: Boost Your Inner Strengths, Break Through Blocks and Achieve Inspired Action by Chris Johnstone, M.D.
Chris Johnstone wears a number of hats. He*s a physician, an addictions specialist, a teacher of positive psychology and publisher of Great Turning Times, a quarterly online newsletter about finding our power to respond to global crisis http://www.greatturningtimes.org
Much of his new book *Find Your Power* is excellent self-help advice that could be useful for any therapist or client. What*s especially interesting for those of us who are ecotherapists, however, is the special material in Chapters 7, 9 and 11 that deals directly with our current environmental situation. Johnstone covers topics like *shifting stuck patterns,* *the power of deeper purpose,* and a stages of change model. In a section called *see your life as an adventure story* he addresses the issue of Peak Oil and how it can be a *call to adventure* rather than a trigger for depression. He also believes in the power of creating small study groups and describes one he belonged to that focused on *psychological responses to ecological issues.* *Looking at concerns like climate change and Peak Oil by myself can be depressing,* he admits. *But when I have the right level or company, it not only strengthens me but becomes enjoyable too.*
6) THE WORLD AT A GLANCE by Edward S. Casey
Phenomenologist Ed Casey, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at SUNY Stony Brook and a professor of ecopsychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara and the author of *Getting Back into Place,* turns his amazing mind to the art and sense of seeing things *at the edges.* Of special interest to ecotherapists will be his chapter on *The Natural Environment in a Glance,* that explores how much of what we see in nature comes not from staring directly at things, but from sensing at a glance when things aren*t right. *Ethical action often takes its rise from noticing that something is out of joint in our immediately surrounding world,* says Casey. Perhaps a glance reveals *parched yellowed leaves* or *the dead body of a seagull washed up with the tide, its body covered with dark oil.* He tell us that *a glance suffices not just to see distress and disorder. It also picks up the imperative to do something about these dissonances.*
7) BEYOND THERAPY: Enhancing Emotional Wellness in a Collapsing World
Beyond Therapy is a mentoring process created by Carla Royal, M.Ed. *to increase personal and environmental well-being. This work is grounded in the understanding that human health and the health of the Earth are inseparable.* Sounds like an ecotherapy to me! To learn more, go tohttp://royalmentoring.com/default.aspx
8) UPCOMING EVENTS
Ecopsychology Retreat. May 16-19, 2008, on Bowen Island near Vancouver, BC, Canada. Visit http://www.amblesidecounselling.com/retreat.lasso for more information.
Seeking Health in an Ailing World: Therapy with the Earth in Mind. June 20-22, 2008. Norfolk, UK. Facilitated by Mary-Jayne Rust. For more info: http://www.mjrust.net
9) 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.
10) 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…
