Ecopsychology

Ecopsychology connects psychology and ecology in a new scientific paradigm. The political and practical implications are to show us ways of healing our alienation and to build a sane society and a sustainable culture. Theodore Roszak is credited with coining the term in his 1995 anthology, Ecopsychology, which he co-edited with Mary Gomes and Allen Kanner. This book, with articles by each of the editors and many others who would become prominent voices in the field, is still considered by many to be an excellent primer on Ecopsychology. To others, it could be more accurately termed a call for such a field to be developed.

The basic idea of ecopsychology is that the human mind is deeply and profoundly embedded not only in the social world but also in the wider, natural setting. Mental health or unhealth cannot be understood in the narrow context of only intrapsychic phenomena or social relations. One also has to include man's relation to other species and ecosystems. These relations have a deep evolutionary history; they are built in the many-leveled structure of our brains and they have deep psychic significance in the present time, in spite of urbanization. Man is dependent on healthy nature not only for his physical sustenance, but for mental health, too. The destruction of ecosystems means that something in us humans also dies.

An important part of ecopsychological practice is to take psychotherapy out of office buildings and into the open. A simple walk in the woods, even in a city park, is refreshing, because that's what we humans have over thousands of years evolved to do. The beneficial effects of natural settings, and even of looking at pictures of landscapes, can be measured. They have been verified in psychological studies.