Report from Esalen Institute -- Ecopsychology ("EP") Workshop

I've just returned from 10 days at Esalen, on the beautiful Big Sur Coast -- - conducting a seminar on ecopsychology ("Nature and Sanity" -- An Exploration of Ecopsychology). Kind of a rocky (over verbalized) start, but we dropped into a groove, in part due to the warm sunshine, sparkling water, whales lumbering by, balmy nights.

An amazing group -- from writers and students to wilderness leaders, therapists, and international aid workers -- all sensing the basic premise of the workshop (a la Paul Shepard, "Nature and Madness") that without intimacy with nature, our culture, and ourselves with it, are, well, crazy.

The model we developed puts non-dual experiences at the center -- breathing, meditating, mindfullness -- the full natural awareness possible, even if for only moments at a time.

Surrounding that, we put non-verbal (but somewhat "formed") awareness, rooted in body awareness -- via dance, sound, yoga, etc.

Next, core principles emerge -- giving due to the fact that we are not only creating a basis for experience (experience that reflects a fully healthy human-nature-relationship ("HNR)), but we're creating a field as well -- a field circumscribed with concensus understandings (like, say Physics), with a language we can all understand and agree on -- even as we go back and forth to the experiential and even non-dual experiences.

It appears to us that the many college courses and curricula and even institutes springing up under the title of "ecopsychology" may reflect this or that portion of an EP map, but (at least rarely) reflect a map that embraces the experiential as well as spiritual and "deep cultural" sources of EP.

The group has already produced a functioning list-serv, papers are being exchanged, the struggle to define ecopsychology via a community of interested persons continues.

Robert Greenway
Corona Farm
Port Townsend, WA

Comments

[Amy Lenzo]

This is so exciting, Robert! I look forward to hearing what your group comes up with - maybe you would want to share some of this with us here as it develops...

[Linda Buzzell-Saltzman]

It sounds like it was a wonderful workshop, Robert - I wish I could have attended! And like Amy, I'm very interested to hear what evolves as the group develops further.

[Jalaledin Ebrahim]

I was privileged to attend Robert's workshop on Ecopsychology at Esalen. The key moment for me was when I asked Robert whether Ecopsychology is a window to the transpersonal. He replied in the affirmative! Having graduated from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, where I was first exposed to the concept, I was really inspired that in the study and practice of Ecopsychology we humans may have a way of catalyzing a profound transpersonal experience for individuals, groups and communities without speaking of it in spiritual terms, while maintaining a profound sense of groundedness to the experience - because we are already starting from the "roots" up. In cultivating an intimate and deep relationship with Nature, the opportunity exists for us to call enough numbers of humanity to achieve a critical mass for the "Great Turning" to actually take root. Robert Greenway, the Green man, really inspired me so profoundly as to look at the prospect of pursuing a Ph.D in Ecopsychology.

[Marjory Lokahi Gentsch]

I found this blog googling for Robert Greenway. I am in search of a Phd program in Ecopsychology. Can anyone help?

[Linda Buzzell]

Below please find a list of all the Ecopsychology and Ecotherapy courses and programs that I am currently aware of. Please contact me at lbuzzell@aol.com if you know of additional programs.

COLLEGE COURSES AND PROGRAMS IN ECOPSYCHOLOGY AND ECOTHERAPY

6/22/09

Linda Buzzell-Saltzman, M.A., M.F.T.
Founder, International Association for Ecotherapy
Santa Barbara, California USA
lbuzzell@aol.com
http://thoughtoffering.blogs.com/ecotherapy

Please note: The following list is very much a work in progress and I’m sure I’m missing some excellent programs – please send me any info you have so I can pass it along!

AKAMAI UNIVERSITY (http://www.akamaiuniversity.us/ ) offers online graduate degrees in environmental studies and in ecopsychology in cooperation with Project Nature Connect and the Institute for Global Education.

ANIMAS VALLEY INSTITUTE, Durango, Colorado. Founded by psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin, the author of Soulcraft, the Institute offers a nature-path to spirituality and soul development. www.animas.org

ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY, Seattle, Washington USA. Masters program in Psychology with a specialty in ecopsychology. www.antiochsea.edu/ec Professor: John Postma?
http://www.antiochsea.edu/academics/psychology/ecopsychology-overview.html Contact: Lisa Lynch llynch@earthlink.net 425-418-0763

CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRAL STUDIES (CIIS), San Francisco, California USA. Offers graduate work in ecopsychology and ecological studies. Professors: Duane Elgin, Ralph Metzner? www.ciis.edu
CENTRE FOR ECOtherapy, Oppauerstraße 10, D-45772 Marl, Duitsland
Tel. 0049-2365699395 Fax. 0049-2365699398 www.ecotherapy.org (Note: this doesn’t sound like ecotherapy as we define it, but rather a course on green living?) The Centre for ECOtherapy offers a 4-year training course to be an ECOtherapist. After finishing the training you will be able to work as an ECOtherapist with your own energetic home pharmacy, independently… Training consists of the courses *In resonance with Nature I, II, III and IV.* Courses start in January. During the fourth year you specialize in a direction where you have a professional, or a lot of practical knowledge. For instance dogs, horses, buildings, water, aquatic systems, agriculture, horticulture or forestry.
CENTRE FOR HUMAN ECOLOGY, Glasgow, Scotland. Ecopsychology module. (www.che.ac.uk)
This is apparently part of an MSc. In Human Ecology program in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde, but is also available as a short course to anyone interested. Key professors: David Key and Mary-Jayne Rust. We*re told that this is the only academically accredited ecopsychology module at master*s level available in the UK. Details available at: http://www.footprint-education.org/ecotherapy.html
Or email: info@footprint.education.org
ECOVERSITY, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Permaculture Design Certificate. www.ecoversity.org
ENDICOTT COLLEGE, Beverly, Massachusetts, USA and The Institute for Educational Studies (TIES) now offer a new variation of their online Master of Education in Integrative Learning program that may be of special interest to students of ecopsychology. This initiative is being led by Core Faculty member Lauren de Boer, former editor of EarthLight Magazine, contributor to Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind (Sierra Club Books 2009) and additional faculty with backgrounds in adult and childhood education, science, philosophy, and social change.
Established in 1996, this innovative *all on-line* program has attracted learners from all over the world. Students have always chosen an Emphasis Area that focuses on their individual interests and accounts for one third of the credits toward graduation. In this new program, this Emphasis Area is developed from the learner*s Great Work, or *allurement,* a passionate life interest to which they feel committed. The larger framework for integrative learning is provided by the remainder of the course, which is identified as *eco-cosmological.* An eco-cosmological context is one which stretches our thinking beyond *sustainability* by presenting cosmology as the fundamental and unifying context for the learner as an integral part of Earth's larger ecological community.For more information: www.ties-edu.org

INSTITUTE OF GLOBAL EDUCATION (online). Applied Ecopsychology program. Professor: Project Nature Connect’s Dr. Michael Cohen. www.gradschools.com/listings/distance/edu_outdoor_distance.html
And Dr. Cohen at: nature@interisland.net . PNC now has grants that can provide FULL FUNDING of a degree or certification program for those who need it. PNC offers many excellent programs in nature-connected counseling, education and self-help. http://www.ecopsych.com
INSTITUTE FOR TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY, Palo Alto, California. Distance format master’s & doctoral degrees, developing a certificate in ecopsychology. www.itp.edu
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, Center for Ecological and Environmental Studies, Applied Ecopsychology – iups@msn.com

JOHN F. KENNEDY UNIVERSITY, Pleasant Hill, California USA (in the San Francisco Bay Area). Masters in Consciousness Studies with emphasis on Deep Sustainability. Core Faculty member Dr. Craig Chalquist teaches *Planetary Psychology,* which includes a survey of such diverse fields as ecotherapy, ecopsychology, environmental psychology, conservation psychology, deep ecology, social ecology, ecofeminism, and bioregionalism *to see what they can tell us (and what they cannot) about nature, culture, mind, and sustainability.* JFK also has a new master’s specialization in Deep Sustainability, designed by Chalquist. Ecotherapy will be part of the curriculum.

LEWIS AND CLARK UNIVERSITY, Portland, Oregon, USA. Lewis and Clark's Graduate School of Education and Counseling will be offering a course entitled 'Foundations of Ecopsychology' next fall. Taught by Psychology-Ecology-Sustainability conference presenter and Ecopsychology journal editor Thomas Doherty, the class provides an introduction to ecopsychology practices in counseling and surveys related research-based approaches, such as environmental and conservation psychology, that study the restorative effects of natural settings and ways that individuals develop environment identities. The course is open to graduate students and continuing education students. For further information, please visit www.lclark.edu/dept/cpsy/electives.html

NAROPA UNIVERSITY, Boulder, Colorado USA www.naropa.edu/ecopsychology has both undergraduate and graduate programs in ecopsychology. It also offers a low residency MA in Transpersonal Psychology with a concentration in Ecopsychology, www.naropa.edu/eponline. Faculty: Jed Swift, Deb Piranian. Also Naropa offers an M.A. in Environmental Leadership for a just and sustainable society. Using *an integrated, living-systems perspective, the program offers a balance of theory, skills and practical application, infused with perspectives from ecopsychology and contemplative traditions.* For more info, go to www.naropa.edu/academics/graduate/enviro/index.cfm
NORTHLAND COLLEGE, Ashland, Wisconsin, USA. Humanities and Nature Studies Major, with Ecopsychology emphasis available. 1411 Ellis Avenue, Ashland, WI 54806 (800) 753-1840. Dr. Jorge Conesa-Sevilla.
OBERLIN COLLEGE, Oberlin, Ohio, USA. Environmental Studies Program. Dept. David Orr, who wrote Ecological Literacy and the Foreword for Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind, is on the Faculty.
PACIFICA GRADUATE INSTITUTE, Carpinteria, California (near Santa Barbara), USA. Offers Masters and Doctorate degrees in Clinical, Depth Psychology. Ecopsychology emphasis possible. Professors: Ed Casey, Mary Watkins. Off-campus learning program with monthly on-campus meetings. Dr. Casey teaches *Psyche and Nature,* which occurs in three parts: exploring ancient notions of the natural and the psychical in myth and philosophy; the ingrediency of place in nature and contemporary life; the wild and wilderness. Water as a basic element is discussed at each phase throughout. Authors range from Plato to Gary Snyder, Ivan Illich to Keith Basso, Susan Griffin to Paul Shepard.
PRESCOTT COLLEGE, Prescott, Arizona, USA. Offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in sustainability education and ecopsychology, both on- and off-campus. Contacts: Dr. Laura Sewell, Dr. Carol Parker. www.prescott.edu Offers coursework in Human Ecology, Therapeutic Applications of Adventure Education, Adventure-Based Psychotherapy, Equine Assisted Mental Health, Environmental Education, Sustainability Science and practice, Social Ecology, Sustainability.

SCHUMACHER COLLEGE, Devonshire, England. www.schumachercollege.org.uk International Centre for Ecological Studies founded by Satish Kumar, editor of Resurgence magazine. Faculty include Fritjof Capra, Janine Benyus (“Biomimicry”), Jane Goodall, Amory Lovins, Winona LaDuke, Jerry Mander, Vandana Shiva.

SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY, Sonoma, California USA. Professor: Mary Gomes, co-editor of Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind.

SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Is initiating specialties related to ecopsychology within the Masters of Counseling program. www.swc.edu Contact Dr. Carol Parker. Also offers Certificate in Transformational Ecopsychology: “This program uses ecotherapy, transpersonal and depth psychology, transformational learning, indigenous healing traditions, wilderness rites of passage/vision quest, and other earth-based healing modalities. Together they form a wellspring of knowledge and nourishment for the helping professional who wishes to incorporate soul-centered, earth-based practices into the mental health field.”

THE KING*S UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, Edmonton, Alberta. Dr. John Sneep (john.sneep@kingsU.ca)
teaches a course on Ecopsychology: Course Description: Ecopsychology, is a course that attempts to integrate psychological and environmental studies. We will look at some of the major environmental issues from a psychological perspective in an attempt to understand how our ecological worldview and our psychology together contribute to our environmental behaviour, both individually and as a society. We will also examine how the environment (e.g., climate changes, overcrowding, pollution, natural and human-made disasters) and our disconnection from nature affects us psychologically and behaviourally. Some field and laboratory exercises and seminars will complement the lecture material. Students will be challenged to examine their own lifestyles and to adopt attitudes and behaviours that reflect stewardship of and responsibility towards the environment.

UNION INSTITUTE AND UNIVERSITY, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. www.tui.edu Faculty: Joe Meeker, John A. Tallmadge, Kevin J. Sharpe. *Working closely with UI&I faculty, you can design your own undergraduate, master*s or doctoral degree program, studying from wherever you live and work.*

UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE, Glascow, Scotland. Ecopsychology: How can psychology help us understand and heal the environmental crises? Leads to a Certificate of Professional Practice. A four day residential workshop in a rural location plus private study.
http://www.che.ac.uk/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=179&Itemid=188 University of Strathclyde.
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, Seattle, Washington, USA. Professor: Peter H. Kahn, Jr., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Box 351525, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525
206-616-9395 (office phone)
pkahn@u.washington.edu
http://faculty.washington.edu/pkahn/
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN – SUPERIOR. Superior, WI 54880. Offers an *Ecopsychology and Art* course. Prof. Susan E. Loonsk. sloonsk@uwsuper.edu http://www2.uwsuper.edu/sloonsk/index.html

[Dredd]

Exciting concepts. It fits in so I invite you to a little ole blog I have presented.

Welcome to Ecocosmology Blog.

[Tulika .M.S]

Are these seminars also being held in India?
Also,
Can someone suggest institutes which offer masters in environmental studies,ecopsychology, ecology, after having done a bachelors in Visual arts.