Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind

"Traditional psychology posits a strict distinction between me, in here, and everything else, out there. While such a paradigm has a long history, it was Freud who established such duality as dogma and insisted that a theory of human behavior must be based on scientific observation. Good idea, Sig. But science marches on. Now that physicists believe that experimental results depend as much on the observer as the observed, the old "in here/out there" dichotomy is falling on hard times. Further, evolutionary theory has embraced the idea that ecosystems evolve as much as individual species, and psychology continues to reveal the constant interplay between who we are and where we exist. Enter "Ecopsychology," a framework for rethinking the causes of environmental despoliation and its impact on personal growth. The growing field includes ecofeminists and deep ecologists, Buddhist and Native American psychologists, Harvard Psychiatry professors and architects. Why are we, as a specie, so willing to foul our own nests? How does that effect us? We evolved as widely dispersed hunter-gatherers intimately connected to the natural world and now often live in close proximity to thousands of other humans largely insulated from the living system that supports us. Who can reasonably claim that this would NOT have profound impacts on the psyche? Along the way, ecopsychologists surmise that there still exists a deep connection to nature that environmentalism would do well to tap. They suggest that joyful celebration of our interdependence will touch hearts turned off by scare tactics that constantly iterate impending doom. This book is an excellent overview of a new direction for psychology and the exciting convergence of post-Darwinian, post-Einsteinian, post-Heisenbergian, post-Toastian (isn't this fun?) thought."
~ Written on 2007-11-19

"This book contains essays from a variety of sources. It does not tell you what ecopsychology is but tells you why it makes sence.
It quotes many psychologists, even Freud, and analises the real issues of today. Excellent material for a college thesus, but no real info on the techniques used/"
~ Written on 2006-03-09

"This is a highly informative book. It tells about people's different points of view on the highly volatile and up-and-coming field of ecopsychology. This book is a great source of information and knowledge of the field as well as it's a pretty easy read. I used this book as a jumping off point for research for my undergraduate thesis. If you are interested in environmental issues and psychology, read this book."
~ Written on 2002-08-03

"Assembled here are some of the leading lights of ecopsychology, with papers and excerpts from the books they've written: Roszak himself, Aizenstat, Hillman, Gomes, Glendinning, and on and on. A rare collection of important voices.

The idea of ecopsychology is to open up awareness to the unheard voice of the Earth. "Animism" is a 19th century assumption that assumes the world lives only to the degree we project into it. The authors here realize that animism is a reductionistic and outdated concept that only serves to justify the ongoing rape and dematerialization of the natural world--a world that in fact projects her presence into those of us who can learn to hear her.

This is not a back-to-nature project but a necessity if we are to preserve what's left of the Earth from our greed, haste, and the global warming of the psyche endemic to a society of rapacious and immature consumers too bent on private advantage to do what our ancestors did for a million years of history and prehistory: recognize and respect her personhood. And today, we can do so with all our critical faculties intact and a bit of help from green technics."
~ Written on 2001-12-22

"To those who are environmental activists, this explains much of what the lay person thinks. This book I don't feel was meant to be a textbook of sorts, but it helps people who are trying to open up the minds and hearts of the human race to realize that we each as an individual can control how much and in what way we impact mother earth. Fact upon fact have been given out to try to convince people of the terrible acts we commit against Mother Earth and yet some people still don't feel they are responsible. I enjoyed reading the book. Honestly, I didn't rad the book to critique what the authors believe or rate their knowledge or intelligence, I read it for information on how to help! I feel it will help me to present my views to people in ways that they may understand and I will understand more of how people perceive them."
~ Written on 2001-12-15