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Ecopsychology: Reconnecting with Nature

Ecopsychology: Reconnecting with Nature

His enthusiasm and intrigue in the subject and desire to spread the message of our innate connection with the Earth motivated him to email me several links (over 60 pages) of dissertations, books and articles he has written over the years to assist in answering my questions. With a degree in Biology, MA in teaching and a Ph.D. in Applied Ecopsychology, Natural Attraction Ecology, and Environmental Psychology, he has a wealth of knowledge about the natural world. Nevertheless, when it came down to the actual interviews, both Davis and Cohen were neck and neck with imparting, what they consider to be, important information on the topic of ecopsychology and the perspectives in which they hold to teach others along the way.

The concept behind ecopsychology is not new. Yet, like my own struggle to convey the experience I had with nature by defining the connection, there is a continuing debate of what ecopsychology means on a personal level. “In its simplest conception, an ‘eco-psychology’ places psychology in its ecological and biospheric context” (Doherty, 2009, p. 2). Both Davis and Cohen believe in the interconnectedness of person and planet. For Davis, ecopsychology is “a seamless connection between humans and the natural world. Both arise from the same source,” he explains; “there is a mutual contribution of ecology and psychology that manifests through two sides of ecopsychology” (Davis, 2009). He describes these two sides as a dialect between both fields where, together, they: 1) bring the healing and growth potentials of direct contact with nature into psychotherapy and human development and 2) bring more psychological sophistication to environmental action (Davis, 2009).

Although Cohen agrees with Davis when he says, “The human mind, body and spirit are a seamless continuum of nature’s life-giving flow in, through and around us,” he also adds, “humanity alone thinks and feels through literate and abstract stories that are foreign to nature. Ecopsychology is an investigation of the relationship and the adverse effects of human stories that demean nature’s self- organizing and self-correcting intelligence” (Cohen, 2009). Despite the subtle differences in opinion, it appears that most ecopsychologists, including Davis and Cohen, agree that direct contact with nature is healing.

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Ecotherapy, a form of healing through nature, is currently being viewed as “critical” for therapists to incorporate into their practice when dealing with some of the catastrophic earth-related disasters that have caused psychological damage to individuals (Berger & McLeod, 2006, p.80). Davis, who leads wilderness rites of passage trips and trains wilderness rites of passage guides through the School of Lost Borders, agrees that ecotherapy works because, “nature reflects or mirrors our wholeness and inner coherence. It also helps the tension, agitation, and defensiveness of the ego relax while promoting fascination, curiosity and love” (Davis, 2009).Through ecotherapy, clients relate directly to the natural world in which opens them up to transformation (2009). In spite of this, Davis does not take nature for granted. “I don’t want to dismiss the ways in which ‘nature’ can kill and eat us. I think the real edge of danger has an awakening effect because we are connecting with a part of our selves that has been unconscious or split off” (2009).

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