June 11 eco psychology in brief
Ecopsychology was born in California in the 1990s in the professional context of psychology to direct professionals - psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, teachers, educators - to help people rediscover an authentic connection with themselves through direct contact with the natural environment.
Why ecopsychology?
How did these two disciplines (ecology and psychology) come together? From... discomfort. Both understood that they needed each other to tackle the problems of man on the one hand, and the environment on the other; both discovered that these two planes were closely interconnected.
In the world we live in, existential malaise is rife. It's not just a socio-economic malaise, but a much deeper, impalpable problem: the problem of knowing clearly "where I come from, who I am, where I'm going". A malaise born of no longer being able to give clear meaning to our lives.
Ecopsychology focuses on the loss of connection with the Earth, with our more distant origins and with our way of being human. By losing touch with Mother Earth - with the Mother - we lose touch with our origin, with our most authentic nature, our deepest self and what ecopsychologists call "ecological consciousness". We close ourselves off to our ability to "feel" the presence and existence of others as equals, and to experience the world as a living thing to which we belong. As far as we're concerned, we're closing ourselves off to our ability to feel and bring to life the emotions we experience, the desires we harbor, the dreams we hold and the singularity we carry.
When we acquire a greater capacity for listening, empathy and self-understanding, it becomes easier to activate the same capacities with regard to others. By amplifying the fields of application of these capacities, we come to perceive as worthy of attention, of respect, in a unique and particular way, not only people, but also animals, then trees, plants, stones, mountains, entire landscapes and the natural forces that care for these landscapes.
It's at this point that we commit ourselves to caring for the world, not because it's the right and beautiful thing to do, but because we glimpse the possibility that we have something in common with the rest of creation, that we really are part of this world! Not a victim, not a boss, not a visitor, not a parasite, but simply an integral part of the life process.
This is exactly what ecopsychology proposes: to make human beings and, by extension, individuals aware, one by one to begin with, that we are not alone on this green and blue planet... in which we participate.
At this point, it's clear that "ecology" and "psychology" have a lot to exchange and collaborate on to achieve this goal. Ecology needs psychology, psychology needs ecology: ecology needs psychology and psychology needs ecology - this was one of the discipline's first watchwords.
What fields does ecopsychology cover?
personal development and therapy
green relations training
pet relationship and pet therapy
environmental education
land citizenship and environmental protection
organizational context
transpersonal development
Practical ecopsychology :
Towards a pedagogy of sustainable development
Within the framework of the EuropeanEcopsychology Society (EES), practical ecopsychology has been defined as "EcoTuning", in the sense of "tuning in", "reconnecting with nature".
Ecotuning takes nature on the outside as its starting point, leading to nature on the inside: by fostering a more attentive and sensitive contact with the natural environment, we also predispose ourselves to a greater reception (in the sense of acceptance) of our inner world.
Teachers, trainers, educators and nature guides have felt the need to expand the scope of ecology and environmental education from a cognitive sphere, where we learn to recognize flowers and insects, to a sphere that is above all experiential, i.e. with more frequent outings on the land and in direct contact with the environment.
The main element that characterizes ecopsychology in the educational field is that of focusing attention also on the emotional aspect to awaken sensitivity numbed by the mainly mental stimuli of modern life, and to recognize the emotion of an authentic encounter with a plant, an animal, a place. Traditional environmental education is thus playfully enriched with introspective elements and communication training. In particular, when working with children, we encourage the emergence of innate ways of relating spontaneously to nature and animals. Accompanying and guiding rather than predestining their attention and sensitivity.
In the context of education, it's important to understand that it's not so much a question of "giving" something to children or teenagers, but of helping them rediscover that connection to the world that they still potentially have alive inside themselves. As ecotuners, facilitators of the relationship with nature, the first thing we need to activate is the maieutic approach, in which we don't "teach" but rather create the conditions to awaken a greater sensitivity on the physical (sensory), emotional (attention to emotions) and cognitive (curiosity) levels. The difference with environmental education is that in this case, involving these three basic aspects of human nature - body, emotion, mind - means that by improving the relationship with nature, we invite people to get to know themselves better. At the same time, it's an education in listening to both the external and internal environments.
The ecotuner operates within the "eco" framework, gently and playfully opening a window onto the inner dimension. A contemporary term that comes close to ecotuning is education for sustainable development. If we want to honor sustainable development, we need to understand the organizing principles with which life develops. In the future, humanity's survival will depend on ecotuning to have clearly assimilated these ecological principles.
Reference: Ecopsiché - scuola di ecopsicologia