Linda Buzzell-Saltzman

Linda Buzzell-Saltzman, M.A., M.F.T. is the founder of the International Association for Ecotherapy (IAE) and the editor of The Ecotherapy News. The IAE brings together therapists, educators, students and clients who are interested in the field of applied ecopsychology and healing the human-nature relationship. She has been a psychotherapist in private practice for over 25 years, and specializes in helping people with career issues and lifestyle choices. She is a Fellow at For the Future, a think tank founded by Dr. Richard Bruce Anderson that deals with sustainability and recovery from consumerism. She is the originator of For the Future's Sustainable Small Cities project. She teaches classes at Santa Barbara City College Continuing Education on ecopsychology, ecotherapy and career opportunities in the emerging sustainable society. She and her husband Larry are the founders of the Santa Barbara Organic Garden Club and they have created an edible "Backyard Food Forest" on their city lot, growing vegetables, herbs, tasty flowers and over 60 fruit and nut trees.

Linda also has a background in the media. She worked on documentaries with Capt. Jacques-Yves Cousteau and also served as a production company Vice President at Columbia Pictures and Lorimar. She is the founder of the International Documentary Association, the professional organization for documentary filmmakers, and the author of How to Make It in Hollywood (HarperPerennial), a career guide for entertainment industry professionals."

Comments

[Craig Chalquist]

Hi Linda:

Thought I'd go ahead and put the URL of my new "Glossary of Ecologically Relevant Terms" here in case anyone might find it useful: http://www.tearsofllorona.com/ecology.html. I'm still working on it, but most of the thing is in place. Thx--

[Jessica Rasku]

I was listening to the Healing the Earth podcast for 2006 February 8, and noted something in there that was somewhat alarming. Not alarming in the sense that I felt that something utterly wrong was being said, just alarming in that something that was inaccurate said by Matt Soltys was not corrected. This may seem like a little thing to you, but to me it's the little things that give a presentation strength, maybe this has been addressed somewhere, but Matt Soltys mentioned that he was talking about the ``using the definitions of various mental illnesses as ascribed by the American Psychology Association civilized humans in their relationship to nature fit the criteria for all kinds of psychosises'' (5:40 in the podcast) which is inaccurate on a number of fronts,
(1) The American Psycology Association does not exist,
(2) The association that he is referring to the American Psychological Association does not define mental illnesses, it is the American Psychiatric Association (primarily) that develops the diagnostic criteria for mental illness in their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM),
(3) psychosis and mental illness are two broad but interconnected aspects of mental well being, but certainly not equivalent as this can lead one to believe,
(4) Defining humans' interaction with nature as psychotic is really taking a social control definition of psychosis rather than a clinical use.

I just picked up this whole portion of the podcast. There are other technical issues which I will bring up with Matt. I know I'm picking nits, that's what us primates do. It's a very healthy behaviour in primates.

Jessica

[Linda Buzzell-Saltzman]

Hi Jessica,
I wish I had heard Matt's presentation. You're correct that it's the psychiatrists, not the psychologists, who put together the DSM. I think Matt may be making the point that by any definition of insanity, humans' current relationship with nature isn't sane. Whether or not we have some kind of collective psychosis or mental illness in DSM terms, which really only apply to individuals, is certainly debatable.

My own feeling as an ecotherapist is that in spite of the difficulties in doing so, it's worth examining humans' individual and collective relationship with the rest of nature to see if we can find a way to change our current self-destructive and terracidal behavior to something more sustainable. Psychology and psychiatry may have something to offer here -- I hope! We don't have much time to turn this around, imo. As we speak, global climate disruption is reaching a "tipping point" and daily we're losing more and more species.

[Lesley A. Osman]

It's hard to feel connected and hopeful in light of all the violence and terracidal behavior Gaia is enduring. However, on reading a recent article on, what else, but global warming, I misread the word Gain to read "Gaian." I took this as a synchronistic message that, yes, I am connected both to the rising temperatures, and the soaring ospreys birthing their offspring on Tomales Bay. Oh, to hold both the light and the shadow. I wonder if that's what a wise "Ecopsychological Gaian" can do? I get it intellectually but not always emotionally.
Lesley Osman, Ecotherapist

[Linda Buzzell-Saltzman]

Thanks, Leslie, for your wise comment. Yes, it's so difficult to hold the Gaian light and shadow simultaneously in one's heart, especially in these challenging times. How to stay connected both to the birthing ospreys and the rising temperatures (Gaia's fever?)...a spiritual mystery...

[Michael Schumacher]

Linda,

I wanted to tell you that I read your book "How to Make it in Hollywood" back in 1995 and it literally changed my life. I have enjoyed some great success over the years and I often tell people it began with your book. I have reached a new crossroads in my life and I'm curious if you offer career counseling either in person or over the phone. If you're not available, no harm done, just know you have had a wonderful impact on my life. My best to you Linda.

Sincerely,

Michael Schumacher
maschumacher73@aol.com
310-433-3303

[Maggie Sennish]

Dear Linda,

My sister Bronwen directed me to your site. I am in the process of beginning a psychotherapy support group for adolescent girls (ages 15-17). I recognized a ways back in working w/ adolescent girls a meaningful correlation between their feelings of helplessness and depression and their more heightened awareness as a group of the poisoning of the earth, poltical injustice, and so on. WIth that in mind I am designing an environmental activism component for these groups, and would love to consult with you or talk with you if you are willing.

Thanks very much, and I will puruse the site for ideas too!

Maggie

[Linda Buzzell-Saltzman]

Hi Maggie,

I'm so glad to hear that you'll be helping the girls you work with deal with their feelings about what's happening to the earth and her people. Therapists are beginning to notice a rise in "eco-anxiety" and "eco-grief" in many populations and one of the best treatments for this is to get involved in some kind of nature-connection or nature-healing activity.

My favorite is community gardening, and right now my husband and I are involved (hands-on and hoes-out)in building a school garden at a local high school. At first it was only a few environmentally-minded and nutritionally-concerned teenage girls who were interested in growing veggies, fruit and flowers, but as the garden is coming along, more kids, including the boys, are getting involved as the gardening sessions are so much fun. We're using permaculture techniques, sheet mulching etc. to prepare the earth and what we grow will go into the school cafeteria. It's a recipe for happiness and good health.

[David R. & Janis E. McCann]

Hello, Linda!
This posting follows the email we just sent to you, re-establishing an old link with you and Larry that goes back, what? 10 years or so. Very grateful to both of you for helping us then get back on the right financial foot. And we are thrilled to see what you are doing with Ecotherapy and want to join in. I think the first step is getting back to cultivating our own garden here in Ojai, which has lapsed into weed patches because we have been "so busy" with work, kids, grandkids et al. Just read Heinberg's book to get reminded there are no excuses for not thinking and planning a greener future.
Peace & Love,
Janis & David McCann