European Journal of Ecopsychology v1

ISSN 2040-4204
E u r o p e a n J o u r n a l o f
Ecopsychology
Volume 1
2010
Heart opening Viola Sampson, taken on summer solstice 2001
http://mjr.memers.gn.apc.org/!ouleVision/
European Journal of Ecopsychology 1: 1-3 (2010)
EDITORIAL
Ecopsychology: Past, present & future
Martin Jordan Paul Stevens Martin Milton
University of Brighton, U Bourne!outh University, U University of "urrey, U
One of the central tenets of ecopsychology is the articulation and examination of
our psychological, including the emotional, relationships with the natural world.
The fundamental challenge is to locate the human mind bac within the natural
world and to understand that this relationship is a reciprocal one !e.g., "oston,
#$$%& Schroll, '(()& Scull, '(($& *reenway, '(#(+. ,owever, finding a -core-
language to represent ecopsychology as a unified discipline is problematic, and it
might best be seen as a space for thought, language and practical actions that
attempt to articulate the human.nature relationship which, thus far, other branches
of the social and natural sciences have failed to do.
/s an emerging discipline, ecopsychology finds itself at an interesting time and
place within the history of ideas that underpin its position both in academic circles
and in relation to those wider issues faced by those of us living within
unsustainable societies. 0xisting at the interface between the disciplines of
psychology and ecology, and influenced by environmental philosophy, has led to
the field having a confused identity !unsurprising given that those fields have
radically different epistemological and ontological foundation+ with
ecopsychologists often finding the ivory tower of academia too confining. 0ven
sitting at the table of academic psychology !itself conflicted with competing ideas
and paradigms+ can be an uncomfortable placement at times, with ecopsychology
s1uee2ed between a humanistic3transpersonal paradigm !Schroll, '(()& *reenway,
'(#(& Met2ner, #$$$& 4eser, #$$5+ and the more experimental approach advocated
by branches of conservation and environmental psychology !4eser, #$$5& 6layton
7 Myers, '(($+. Many ecopsychologists see a large part of what they do as
existing outside the confines of academic discipline& an attempt to co.create a
common ground where people and movements with seemingly different agendas
can articulate their ideas and find shared meaning. This is increasingly seen in the
89 ecopsychology movement, which draws inspiration from diverse areas such as
#
Jor#an, "tevens $ %ilton E#itorial
permaculture, environmental politics, shamanism and dance.movement therapy, to
name :ust a few.
;et it is still important to locate ecopsychology within the pre.modern, modern and
post.modern systems of thought which have forged its birth. Over the last twenty
years, the advent of postmodernism and an anti.foundationalist stance !seen in the
deconstructive philosophical positions and ideas of Ja1ues <errida and Michel
=oucault+ have seen traditional certainties dissolved in certain areas of academia,
the social sciences in particular !see the writings of 9enneth *ergen, >an Parer
and ?icholas 4ose for an account of this movement within psychology+.
0copsychology developed in tandem with some of these ideas but has yet to find a
place to sit in relation to them. "eing named after two seemingly disparate strands
of thought @ ecology and psychology @ ecopsychology can often find itself
embodying the split in thining that has plagued Aestern thought since the
enlightenmentB perceived dichotomies of sub:ect and ob:ect, person and place,
mind and nature.
Some ecopsychologists, many whom emerged post.4os2a-s initial articulation of
the term, now position themselves as a group who argue that -ecopsychology- may
in some ways be a misnomer& that trying to mae a direct lin between psychology
and ecology can at times be problematic. The European Journal of Ecopsychology
(EJE) emerged from such a group, and aims to be a forum for a variety of critical
perspectives on how humanity might better relate to the rest of the natural world.
That the 0J0 is the second peer.reviewed :ournal to emerge in only two years is a
sign that there is lively debate and discussion amongst ecopsychologists !by
whatever name+ and a good indicator that the future of the field will be both
exciting and sustainable.
>n this, our first issue, we focus on the the field as it is now, asing where it came
from and where it might go. >n trying to understand the origins of the field,
Jonathan Coope sets the scene by putting 4os2a-s concept of ecopsychology
bac within a sociohistorical context, giving us a glimpse of a more inclusive area
of study that could help us to reframe our understanding of human existence
beyond the environmental aspects. Jamie Heckert then highlights the often.
overlooed contributions of anarchist thought to ecopsychology, offering shared
perspectives to inspire the future development of the field.
/ current common criticism of the field is the lac of empirical wor, citing the
'
Jor#an, "tevens $ %ilton E#itorial
success of the positivistic stance which dominates the natural sciences, guiding
them with a clear epistemological foundation and allowing these disciplines to
articulate cause and effect and uncover and predict patterns of relationship. Ahile
many ecopsychologists tend to be wary of a system of thought which has played no
small role in producing the current environmental crises, there is much to be said
for being a part of its evolution !e.g., ?orton, '((C+. >n support of this approach,
Jorge Conesa-Sevilla proposes a more interdisciplinary focus on humanity-s
evolutionary adaptation to the world as a more useful way of conceptualising the
human.nature relationship, while Mark Hoelterhoff argues for an increased
emphasis on naturalism that still recognises the importance of spiritual
experiences.
;et, for all the debate, it is important to remember that ecopsychology in the
present form still has inspired and helped many people. John Hegarty reminds us
of this by looing at a core concept of ecopsychology @ connection to nature @ and
showing how people find it both relevant and helpful in their everyday lives.
=inally, a short &nsights piece from the people at a leading and successful 89
horticulturally.based mental health charity @ Cherry ree !ursery @ 1uestions the
often too.simplistic notion of -horticultural therapy-, instead painting a wider
picture of the natural world as part of a therapeutic community.
"eferences
"oston, T. !#$$%+. 0copsychologyB /n 0arth.psyche bond. 'ru!peter #D!'+. /ccessed #( July '(()
from httpB333trumpeter.athabascau.ca3index.php3trumpet3article3view/rticle3'%$3E('
*reenway, 4. !'(#(+. Ahat is ecopsychologyF (atherings: Journal of the &nternational )o!!unity for
Ecopsychology. /ccessed ') May '(#( from
httpB33www.ecopsychology.org3:ournal3gatherings3what.htm
?orton, ".*. !'((C+. "eyond positivist ecologyB Toward an integrated ecological ethics. "cience an#
Engineering Ethics #E!E+B 5C#.5$'.
4eser, J. !#$$5+ Ahither environmental psychologyF The transpersonal ecopsychology crossroads.
Journal of Environ!ental *sychology #5!D+B 'D5.'5)
4os2a, T. !#$$'+. 'he voice of the Earth: +n e,ploration of ecopsychology. GondonB Simon 7
Schuster.
Schroll, M. !'(()+. Arestling with /rne ?aessB / chronicle of ecopsychologyHs origins. 'ru!peter
'D!#+. /ccessed ## October '(#( from
httpB33trumpeter.athabascau.ca3index.php3trumpet3article3view3$E(3#D5D
Scull, J. !'(($+. 0copsychologyB Ahere does it fit in psychology in '(($F 'ru!peter 'E!D+. /ccessed
## October '(#( from
httpB33trumpeter.athabascau.ca3index.php3trumpet3article3view3##((3#E'$
D
Ecopsychology and the historian: Some
notes on the work of Theodore Roszak
Jonathan Coope
University of Chichester U!
Abstract
Ecopsychology has many sources. Theodore Roszak is often regarded as one of its
co-founders not least, because it as he ho coined the term !ecopsychology" in
"he voice of the Earth #$%%&'. There, he hoped the field might ultimately( a'
!ecologize" psychology, and b' !psychologize" ecology. )et intriguingly, Roszak
as neither an en*ironmentalist nor a psychiatrist but, rather, a historian by
profession. Roszak had long been e+ploring ecopsychological themes in his orks
prior to $%%&, hoe*er, thus far, little scholarly attention has been paid to the
de*elopment of Roszak"s ecopsychology ithin the o*erall conte+t of his ork as a
historian. Conse-uently, this paper e+plores the relationship beteen
ecopsychology and earlier concepts in Roszak"s ork most notably, his
sociological and historical category of .counter culture/, first outlined in a series of
articles for "he nation in $%01. 2 second concept e+plored is .the spectrum of
consciousness/, an idea usually assumed to ha*e originated from ithin the field of
transpersonal psychology, hoe*er, as this paper shos, Roszak"s de*elopment of
the notion predates its appearance in transpersonal theory. This essay contributes to
crossdisciplinary studies in ecopsychology, first, by supplementing our
understanding of the field"s past de*elopments and, second, by indicating ays in
hich ecopsychological principles may be applied to a range of cultural and
historical issues in the future. 3t is hoped that the latter task is not merely of
academic interest but of therapeutic concern as ell i.e., as part of an ongoing
pro4ect of hat might be termed .ecological outreach ork/.
Keywords: ecopsychology, Roszak, historical
Introduction
5ark 6chroll reminds us that the de*elopment of ecopsychology has been o*en
of many threads #6chroll, &778'. 9or those ho seek origins to the field, Theodore
:
Jonathan Coope Ecopsychology an# the historian
Roszak proposes ;aul 6hepard as .the first ecopsychologist, the first thinker in the
en*ironmental mo*ement to apply psychological categories to our treatment of the
planet/ #Roszak, &77&'. 5eanhile, Robert <reenay indicates that
ecopsychology first began to take shape as a !field" or !discipline" ith the
publication of Roszak"s "he voice of the Earth in $%%& #<reenay, $%%%', =hit
>ibbard likeise obser*es that it as not until Roszak"s te+t .that ecopsychology
as named formally and outlined seriously/ #>ibbard, &77?'.
Theodore Roszak, the sub4ect of this essay, is thus idely acknoledged as one of
the co-founders of ecopsychology. 3n "he voice of the Earth, Roszak e+pressed his
hope that the field might help a' to !ecologize" psychology, in other ords, to re-
en*ision psychology ithin its ecological conte+ts, and b' to !psychologize"
ecology, that is, to bring psychological sensiti*ity and sophistication to the
en*ironmental mo*ements. )et intriguingly, Roszak as neither an
en*ironmentalist nor a psychiatrist but, rather, a historian by profession. 2nd,
hile <reenay notes ho Roszak had long been e+ploring themes of
!ecopsychology" in his ork prior to coining the term in $%%& #<reenay, $%%%',
little scholarly attention has hitherto been paid to considering the de*elopment of
Roszak"s approach to ecopsychology ithin the o*erall conte+t of his ork as a
historian. This paper thus considers the relationship beteen ecopsychology and
earlier concepts in Roszak"s ork most notably, his sociological and historical
category of .counter culture/, first outlined in a series of articles for "he nation in
$%01.
3 begin by e+ploring Roszak"s first e+plicitly psychological essay, !The >istorian as
;sychiatrist" #$%0&'. 3n that essay, Roszak first suggests folloing 9reud that
=estern modernity may be, collecti*ely, pathological. @o, if e ere to take that
assessment seriously, e might be tempted to ask !hat then are the roots of such
pathologyA" 2nd to sho ho Roszak came to his on conclusions on the matter, 3
then take a brief biographical detour to recount a key personal encounter beteen
Roszak and technocratic authority during the Cold =ar in the B6. Third, 3 outline
Roszak"s concern to place the *isionary dimensions of the personality, and the feel
of the orld around us, at the heart of his criti-ue of technocracy. 9ourth, 3 outline
Roszak"s inno*ati*e conception of the .spectrum of consciousness/ an idea often
assumed, mistakenly, to ha*e first originated among transpersonal psychologists
such as Cen =ilber. 9inally, 3 e+plore the relationship beteen Roszak"s
influential notion of !counter culture" de*eloped in his bestselling te+t "he
D
$a%ing of a counter culture #$%0%' and ecopsychology.
Roszak is only one contributor among many to the field of ecopsychology. Eut it is
hoped that this paper ill a' supplement our understandings of earlier de*elopments
in the field and, b' demonstrate ho one of the fe professional historians orking
from an ecopsychological perspecti*e has attempted, since the $%07s, to bring such
perspecti*es to bear upon a range of historical and cultural issues.
syche and history
Fespite a groing recognition that some of the most fruitful scholarship occurs
&et'een disciplinary boundaries, respecting those boundaries remains one of the
most common ays in hich academic training continues to discipline or, some
might say, constrain the pur*ie of the scholarly mind #Reisz, &771'. 9rom that
perspecti*e, the notion of a .psychiatrist as historian/, or a .historian as
psychiatrist/, all-too-easily smacks of dilettantism and inade-uate rigour.
>oe*er, there is another ay e might *ie the matter as Christine Faigler
recently indicated, ith respect to Jean-;aul 6artre(
The picture that emergesGHI is that of an intellectual ho grasped e*erything ithin his reach.
Talented and ith a *oracious mind, he de*oted himself to his riting. >e as a total
intellectual, in that his acti*ity as not confined to one realm or style. >e as fully committed
and belie*ed that, as a riter, he had an important social role to play. #Faigle, &7$7'
Roszak may lack the notoriety of 6artre, ne*ertheless, his book "he $a%ing of a
counter culture did coin a term in common parlance, selling o*er half a million
copies in the process -uite a feat for a scholarly te+t. 5oreo*er, it becomes clear
in Roszak"s $%0& essay .The historian as psychiatrist/ hy he decided to step
beyond the normal disciplinary boundaries of history. 9or Roszak became
con*inced that post-ar modernity its politics and culture as a 'hole as
becoming increasingly psycho-pathological. Fraing that conclusion, he sa that
an important task for the historian might be to e+plore the roots of that crisis.
3t"s orth briefly noting that in recent decades, many historians ha*e tended to be
suspicious of .big picture/ histories that attempt to summarise broad sathes of the
past. 2nd clearly such suspicions are not holly ithout foundation since !big
picture" histories in their search for broader themes, continuities and .grand
narrati*es/ can be liable as postmodernists ha*e noted to ride roughshod o*er
0
particularities and differences. Jther historians, hoe*er, increasingly recognise
the need for broader understandings in order to make sense of, for e+ample,
anthropogenic climate change and other en*ironmental challenges #Corfield,
&77%'.
3n his on approach to the past, Roszak escheed any claims on behalf of
dispassionate ob4ecti*ity claims still made by many historians today, including
en*ironmental historians #>ughes, &77D'. 3nstead, he suggested a different
conception of ob4ecti*ity(
2 grasp of ho deeply diseased man"s historical de*elopment has been ould ithdra from
his political beha*iour the respectability he re-uires to take himself seriously. 3t ould gi*e
rise to a ne ob4ecti*ity. @ot the ob4ecti*ity of one ho hides his sanity and ethical concern in
order to .understand/ retched and rong-headed men of poer, but rather the ob4ecti*ity of
the psychiatrist in*estigating the history of a sick soul, breaking don its defenses, gauging its
beha*iour at e*ery step by the standards of good health and happiness. #Roszak, $%0&'
6o hy had Roszak become con*inced humanity"s de*elopment as .diseased/A
Bpon hat evi#ence had he based that conclusionA 2fter all, the essay as ritten
prior to the modern <reen mo*ement, and Rachel Carson"s (ilent spring had only
been published to months earlier. >oe*er, among the influences on Roszak at
the time ere post-9reudians such as ;aul <oodman in )estalt therapy #$%D$',
>erbert 5arcuse in Eros an# civilisation #$%D0' and @orman J. Eron in *ife
against #eath #$%D%'. 2nd one thing that as ob*ious to these commentators as a
tendency in modern adulthood for people to be alienated from their on organism.
Roszak concurred and, folloing 9reud and @orman J. Eron, *ieed this
organic estrangement as an aspect of 9reud"s death instinct, for .man is the animal
ho cannot assimilate death/ #Roszak, $%0&'. 9urthermore, he sa this
estrangement beteen psyche and organism pushed to e*er greater e+tremes ithin
technologically de*eloped societies.
@o, if there is such a malaise in the present then that malaise must also ha*e a
past. 2nd for that reason, Eron had suggested that history possessed a
.psychoanalytical meaning/. Roszak argues the case in the folloing terms(
Fissociation Gbeteen psyche and organismI, or repression, is our ay of asserting our
independence of the body. 2nd history is the course of repression. 3t is man"s attempt to flee
his mortality by in*esting his sensuous *itality in an enduring personal pro4ect that outli*es
himGHI the psychic foundations of ci*ilisation, and of the historical process as a holeGHI
this is e+actly the historical problem that most fascinated 9reud #and Jung and 9erenczi and
8
Rank and Reich and Roheim'. 9ar from belie*ing that psychoanalysis as rele*ant only to
mankind"s outbursts of ob*ious indi*idual and collecti*e madness, 9reud as con*inced that
the ne science Gof psychoanalysisI also had much to say about our conditions of normalcy. Jr
to put it another ay, he became progressi*ely more aare that .normalcy/ may actually be
the socially acceptable form of psychic sickness.
2nd if history is the course of repression, then some of humankind"s most enduring
!achie*ements" ill be amenable to being read as pathological symptoms(
the building of cities, the raising of pyramids, the con-uest of empiresG...I 2t one and the same
time, the strenuous and ascetic task of making history is a means of punishing the body #thus
.mastering/ it' and of organizing an enduring substitute for it. #Roszak, $%0&'
@o, some might counter that this is surely speculati*e big picture history at its
most abstract, most generalised, and hence most irrele*ant. >oe*er, Roszak"s
essay is dated &: @o*ember. E+actly four eeks pre*iously the Cuban 5issile
Crisis had been at its peak the day the Cold =ar nearly turned hot. That prospect
of annihilation lent Roszak"s diagnosis of collecti*e craziness both plausibility and
ethical urgency.
Science! technocracy and moral nausea
3f society as as pathological as Roszak belie*ed, then e might ask hy so many
people collu#e in that pathology. 2s Roszak ould later put it, .The fundamental
-uestion of radical politics has alays been, hy do the people obey un4ust
authorityA/ =here, psychologically-speaking, are people .hooked/A #Roszak,
$%8&'.
Roszak recalls that during his on student days in the $%D7s he happily imbibed
the pre*ailing assumption of post-ar 2merican intelligentsia that science as the
only right and proper basis for a modern culture and that society as, fortunately,
liberating itself from the shackles of religious superstition. >a*ing been raised a
Roman Catholic, Roszak as soon on o*er to the logical positi*ism of his first
philosophy lecturer at BCK2, ho had used Eertrand Russell"s $%7& essay .2 9ree
5an"s =orship/ as the class te+t. .2 9ree 5an"s =orship/ espoused a bleak
scientific orld*ie that stoically re4ected the possibility that arm sentiment or
religiosity had any place left in our understanding of the uni*erse. 2ccording to
Russell(
1
man is the product of causes hich had no pre*ision of the end they ere achie*ingGHI his
origin, his groth, his hopes and fears, his lo*es and his beliefs are but the outcome of
accidental collocations of atomsGHI no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling,
can preser*e an indi*idual life beyond the gra*eGHI all the labours of the ages, all the
de*otion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to
e+tinction in the *ast death of the solar system, andGHI the hole temple of man"s
achie*ement must ine*itably be buried beneath the debris of the uni*erse in ruinsGHI Jnly
ithin the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can
the soul"s habitation henceforth be safely built. #Russell, $%0$'
2nd ith the zeal of the con*ert, Roszak found himself .proudly and
pugnaciously/ espousing Russell"s ords as a sort of secularist manifesto #Roszak,
$%%&'. >oe*er, Roszak"s faith in science as a .firm foundation/ of reason as
soon to be shaken.
=ith the de*elopment of the hydrogen bomb in the $%D7s, ci*il defence rapidly
became a national priority. ;resident Truman"s 9ederal Ci*il Fefense 2ssociation
suggested that the e*acuation of cities in the e*ent of a thermonuclear attack ould
be impractical, and proposed instead a massi*e bomb shelter programme to protect
the entire B6 population. 3n January $%0& ;resident Cennedy announced a L?.D
billion shelter programme #=inkler, $%1:'.
Roszak, ho as by then teaching history at 6tanford Bni*ersity, found himself
in*ited to speak at local meetings to protest at the shelter proposals. >e as
horrified by hat as being countenanced by the military and ci*il planners but
soon disco*ered that e+pressions of moral horror, or emotions of any kind, ere
simply dismissed as .irrational/(
The only legal tender for these debates ere the facts. 3f you introduced anything emotional
or e*aluati*e, you ere immediately cautioned for trying to arouse feelingsGHI someone
ould say !Ket"s not get emotional, let"s be as scientific as possible." That taught me hat
society"s going standards of rationality ereGHI 5y response as that feelings ere part of the
discussion( human beings are hole things, and the feelings of dread and horror and disgust
ere part of the issue in fact, the heart of the issue.
3ndeed, the e+clusion of such .irrele*ances/ from the discussions, in fa*our of
niceties such as the thickness of concrete needed to ithstand a firestorm .took a
hea*y toll of my appreciation for reason and rationality in 2merican society/
#Chedd, $%8$'.
Ey placing personal ethical sensibilities at heart of the issue, the supposedly
%
rational and scientific mindset of the e+perts appeared merely .pathetically small
and *icious/. >oe*er, Roszak noticed that e*en among opponents of the shelter
programmes those ho ere most likely to collude in the pretence .that certain
aspects of human nature either don"t e+ist or ha*e no *alue hatsoe*er/ ere those
ho clung fast to a scientific picture of reality. 2nd another contemporary critic
noticed ho the persuasi*eness of the shelter campaign rested upon the authority
accorded to supposedly scientific styles of knoledge(
the intellectual reputability of the ideaGHI is *ery largely a reflection of the reputability of the
social science literature in hich it has been put forthGHI this condition has come about
because of our society"s great respect for the claims of science and e+pertise. #<reen, $%00'
The distincti*e scientificMtechnocratic mindset of B6 authorities in the Cold =ar
era is e+emplified by >erman Cahn, an employee of the R2@F Corporation and
ad*iser to the B6 go*ernment. Cahn as proud to contemplate .the unthinkable/
and in one te+t on nuclear strategy from the time he proudly states that the
distinguishing *alue of his approach is its techno-scientific style of reasoning(
The ma4or -uality that distinguishes this bookGHI is the adoption of the 6ystems 2nalysis
point of *ie the use of -uantitati*e analysis here possibleGHI 3t is necessary to be
-uantitati*e. 9or e+ample, in describing the aftermath of a ar it is not particularly illuminating
to use ords such as .intolerable/, .catastrophic/. #Cahn, $%0$'
3t as in order to articulate his claim for those aspects of the personality dismissed
in the shelter debates, and hich those ho clea*ed to scientific assumptions about
reality appeared most likely to o*erlook, that Roszak concei*ed his notion of the
spectrum of consciousness and of knoledge in hich scientific understandings
ha*e their right and proper place, but should not $onopolise in a holesomely
ordered mind.
"The feel of the world around us#
Roszak"s argument as that personal ethical sensibilities ere at the heart of the
matter in his debates ith the technocrats ho had been proposing the fallout
shelter programme. Roszak e+tended this criti-ue to e+amine the ays in hich
technocratic styles of manipulation ere being applied in more and more aspects of
=estern modernity from economics to sociology and education. 3t appeared that
a pre*ailing .myth/ in modernity ithin scholarship and elsehere as that
$7
truly reliable knoledge of nature, politics or any other matter as only obtainable
by culti*ating an ob4ecti*e or de-personalising style of consciousness. ;art of the
function of many of the methodologies in *arious academic disciplines seemed to
be the culti*ation of a depersonalised response to the sub4ect matter. 2nd the
source of this pre*ailing .myth of ob4ecti*e consciousness/ as the cultural
authority accorded to science.
=ith regard to nature, Roszak noted that the increasing authority of science a
scientific orld*ie and its often ob4ecti*e style of knoledge tended to foist a
&oun#ary con#ition, or an emotional coldness and distancing, upon our affecti*e
responses to the natural orld. Fraing upon 9reud"s idea of the reality principle,
Roszak suggested that industrial society, 4ust like any other society, tends to
normalise its citizenry psychologically and that it often does so in subtle ays.
9or one ay Roszak percei*ed that e can become ad4usted to societal norms as
by absorbing a non-intellecti*e feeling tone for the orld around us. Jf course, it
may be that fe of us attend to this non-intellecti*e aspect of e+perience.
@e*erthless, as the poet Cathleen Raine obser*ed in +efen#ing ancient springs
#$%08', the underlying tone of e+periencing the orld can differ from person to
person(
e continue to imagine that e all li*e in the same apparent orld through sheer inability to
imagine otherise. 9rom time to time e recei*e a shock, hen e are compelled to realize
the immense di*ergence not of deductions and conclusions, but of the premises, the basic
assumptions upon hich these rest, and thus even of the pri$ary e,perience itselfH #Raine,
$%08'
Roszak, ho ould dra upon Raine"s ork for his later discussion of
.transcendent symbols/, concluded that any searching ethical discussion, or
criti-ue of society, must ultimately e+plore this visionary dimension of the
personality(
Jur action gi*es *oice to our total *ision of life of the self and its proper place in the nature
of things as e e+perience it most mo*inglyGHI =e ha*e no ser*iceable language in our
culture to talk about the le*el of the personality at hich this underlying *ision of reality
resides. Eut it seems indisputable that it e+erts its influence at a point that lies deeper than our
intellecti*e consciousnessGHI #Roszak, $%0%'
Roszak concluded that the collective vision of modernity as increasingly
circumscribed by the idespread assumption that science offers a holly ade-uate
$$
picture of reality and knoledge(
=hat is important in the e+amination of a people"s Gcollecti*e *isionI is not hat they
articulately kno or say they belie*eGHI =hat matters is something deeper( the feel of the
orld around us, the sense of reality, the taste that spontaneously discriminates beteen
knoledge and fantasy. 3t is in all these respects that science has been the dominant forceH
#Roszak, $%8&'
6o ho does Roszak characterise those *isionary aspects of the personality that an
ob4ecti*e or scientific standpoint often tended to o*erlook, or repressA
The spectrum of consciousness
3n a lecture at the Royal College of 2rt in $%8$ Roszak noted that primiti*e or
premodern cultures, and tribespeople such as Elack Elk or 6mohalla, often
e+pressed a personal, e+periential relationship beteen humans and nature(
6mohala and Elack ElkGHI represent a magical *ision of nature, in the truest sense of the ord
magicalGHI the con*iction that the orld is there to be communicated ith, that it can be
prayed to, that there can be a transactory relationship beteen people and their en*ironment.
>oe*er, hen such affecti*e, magical, or rhapsodic sensibilities toards nature
appear in the midst of our modern culture, as they fre-uently do in art and poetry,
for e+ample, they present problems(
=hat do e make of someone like the poet 6helley, ho as no sa*age but ho rites a poem
that begins, !Jh ild est ind, though breath of 2utumn"s being"A =hat do e make of
=ordsorth hen he says !the earth and common face of nature spake to me remarkable
things"A =hat do e make of Fylan Thomas hen he says !the force that through the green
fuse dri*es the floer dri*es my red blood"A Jr hat do e make of 6t 9rancis and the canticle
of the sun, hen he addresses himself to brother fire and brother sun and sister ind, and so
onA =hat does one make of Nincent *an <ogh"s 6tarry @ight in hich the *ery hea*ens seem
shot through ith a li*ing presence, ith a *itality that makes them seem to sirl and mo*e
ith a life of their onA #Roszak, $%8$'
The usual attitude has often been to accord such art its place in ci*ilised modernity.
Eut since such e+pressions tend to be at odds ith the scientific picture of reality,
their affecti*e claims tend to be regarded as .poetic licence/, or .mere metaphors/.
)et human consciousness is a spectrum of possibilities, Roszak insists. 2nd
scientific ob4ecti*ity should take its rightful place 'ithin that spectrum in a
holesomely ordered mind. The problem of scientism arises hen part of the
$&
spectrum comes to monopolise the hole of the mind or of our conception of
knoledge, so that other hues of the spectrum become repressed. Roszak"s
approach here is neither anti-intellectual nor anti-science though it has sometimes
been misread as such #5ar+, $%81', it is simply the recognition that there are other,
affecti*e styles of mind and knoledge. Roszak introduces the idea of
consciousness as a .spectrum/ in his te+t -here the 'astelan# en#s #$%8&' and
later outlined the idea in the folloing terms(
;erhaps the best ay to summarizeGHI is to concei*e of the mind as a spectrum of
possibilities, all of hich properly blend into one another unless e insist on erecting barriers
across the natural flo of our e+perience. 2t one end, e ha*e the hard, bright lights of
scienceH 3n the center e ha*e the sensuous hues of art, here e find the aesthetic shape of
the orld. 2t the far end, e ha*e the dark, shadoy tones of religious e+perience, shading off
into a*elengths beyond all perception, here e find meaning. 6cience is properly part of the
spectrum. .ut gnosis is the 'hole spectru$. #Roszak, $%8:'
This idea of consciousness as a spectrum is idely credited to the transpersonal
psychologist Cen =ilber #=ilber, $%8D, 5iller, $%%1, Nisser, &77?', but Roszak"s
use clearly predates =ilber"s.
3n Roszak"s hands, this idea leads to to important insights. 9irst, understandings
of nature that o*erlook the affecti*e or ecopsychological dimensions are
recognised as psychologically under-dimensioned, or neurotic. 3ndeed, he
describes his criti-ue as a therapeutic endea*our to address .a neurotic comple+
that profoundly flas the epic grandeur of science/ #Roszak, $%8D'. 6econd, so
long as science continues to assume that it is our only source of reliable knoledge
of nature, and then to claim that the natural orld is $erely an alien, meaningless
collection of unfeeling o&/ects ith hich e can ha*e no concei*able ethical
relationship then that is apt to lead, in an era of en*ironmental crisis, to an
irresponsi&ility e can ill afford(
Ey reducing the orld to nothing more than bits of matter in random motion, atomism helped
teach us ho to talk about nature mathematically. That is a formidable achie*ement and a
lasting contribution. EutGHI the e,clusivity of that approach has cost us dear. #Roszak, $%%%'
Roszak"s argument is that e can only be truly responsible, in any psychologically
sustainable ay, for hat e love. 2nd an under-dimensioned, neurotic
relationship ith nature diminishes our ethical capacity to respond ith
compassionate moti*ation to the needs of the earth. 5oreo*er, e*en if @etonian
$?
materialism is ell behind us, the .ne physics/ can still depri*e nature of hat
Cate Rigby describes as .moral considerability/ #Rigby, &77:', for, as Roszak puts
it( .The cold *oid/ of @etonian physics has merely been e+changed for .the
-ueasy absurdity of Einstein"s/ #Roszak, $%%&'.
3t is interesting to note that in the aforementioned lecture from $%8$, Roszak
predicted a coming split ithin the en*ironmental mo*ements( beteen those, on
the one hand, ho grant affecti*e, relational responses their epistemological
legitimacy as part of a more encompassing and holesome conception of
rationality and, on the other hand, those ho continued to sternly dismiss the
claims of animist or magical responses to nature as merely eak-minded or
irrational. 2nd that split does indeed di*ide en*ironmentalists today. 9or, hile
ecopsychologists, ecofeminists and others ha*e been keen to e+plore affecti*e
responses to the natural orld, many other articulate en*ironmental commentators
still assume science should monopolise our conception of reliable knoledge, and
of nature, and dismiss magical or affecti*e responses to the more-than-human
orld around us #e.g., ;hillips, &77?, <arrard, &77:'.
$ounter culture
Roszak coined the term .counter culture/ in a series of articles for "he nation in
5arch $%01. 2nd hile popular understandings of the term ha*e since tended to
refer to assortments of hippies, drugs, rock music and =oodstock, Roszak"s
intended meaning for the term as something rather more precise. Roszak defines
his counter culture in terms of hat it confronted( the pathological aspects of
modernity.
The only reason all this e*er had to be a counter culture as because the culture it opposed
that of reductionist science, ecocidal industrialism, and corporate regimentation as too
small a *ision of life to lift the spirit #Roszak, $%%D'.
2nd the most potent aspects of the counter culture, according to Roszak, ere
those that challenged the psychological foundations of modernity"s problems( its
peculiarly alienated sensibility, .it is ith respect to its interest at this le*el at the
le*el of *ision that 3 belie*e its pro4ect is significant/ #Roszak, $%0%'. Roszak
thus sought the seeds of a ne humane social order based upon an alternati*e
*ision to the dominant imperati*es of urban-industrialism, the con-uest of nature,
material progress and scientific .rationality/. The idea that life itself and the
$:
opportunities it might afford
for groth, for intellectual ad*enture, for the simple 4oys of lo*e and companionship, for
orking out our sal*ationGHI this is hat 3 ha*e alays assumed it meant to be
countercultural. #Roszak, &77%'
Jne suspects that many of the half million or so ho purchased his "he $a%ing of
a counter culture found it a rather more scholarly te+t than e+pected. 3n his -uest
for intellectual currents that e+plored other aspects of the spectrum of
consciousness, Roszak included a remarkably eclectic range of thinkers and styles
from 2lan =atts"s Oen Euddhism, to =illiam Elake and the Romantics, to
5artin Euber"s >assidic mysticism and Thomas 5erton"s accounts of Taoism, to
the *isionary anarchist sociology of ;aul <oodman and the personalist history and
philosophy of Keis 5umford and Emmanuel 5ounier. Eut his engagement ith
these authors as learned and rigorous. 2nd hile Roszak *ieed the counter
culture"s moral task in ambitious terms nothing less than .to proclaim a ne
hea*en and a ne Earth/ his assessment of its imminent prospects for effecting
idespread societal change as rather more muted. >e *ieed the task of
creati*ely transforming society into a humanely ordered orld taking at least four
generations, hile the counter culture itself as a sociological and historical entity
still consisted of only .a strict minority of the young and a handful of their adult
mentors./
To us no, Roszak"s te+ts from the late $%07s and early $%87s seem dated.
@e*ertheless, some of the themes they e+plored still ha*e resonance today. 9or
e+ample, ;atrick Curry notes in his Ecological ethics #&770' that
Eelief in technological fi+es is symptomatic of a ider faith in modern techno-scienceGHI the
idea that science offers uni-ue access to !the truth" has idespread rhetorical plausibility, e*en
among those hose interests are damaged by its e+erciseGHI parado+ically, the *alue that
proponents of science place on !ob4ecti*ity" can contribute to the ecocrisis as much as, in
another ay, it can help by gathering, analysing and presenting e*idence. =hyA Jne reason is
the e+tent to hich an o*eremphasis in this respect, and a corresponding de*aluation of the
Earth in its sensuous particulars and emotional meaningsGH.I is itself implicated in that crisis.
#Curry, &770'
Roszak"s suggestion that urban-industrialism is near its limit and that, for the good
of both the Earth and its human residents, industrial society re-uires a therapeutic
and creati*e disintegration found in his ork on counter culture #Roszak, $%8%'
$D
remains as part of his eco-psychological pro4ect in "he voice of the Earth. 2nother
aspect of his counter cultural criti-ue that may ha*e lasting rele*ance is Roszak"s
conception of transcendent symbols. 3n "he voice of the Earth, Roszak
characterises the mature ego in terms of its *i*id e+perience of relationship ith
nature. 2nd, as already indicated, from *i*id relationship, may come a *i*idly
e+perienced sense of responsi&ility. The aim of ecopsychology, Roszak suggests, is
maturation .toards a sense of ethical responsibility ith the planet that is as
*i*idly e+perienced as our ethical responsibility to other people/ #Roszak, $%%&'.
2nd among the repertory of resources to hich he suggests ecopsychology might
turn in order to recuperate the child"s innately animistic -uality of e+perience in
later adulthood are the cultural e+pressions of heightened *isionary response to
nature e find e+pressed in religion and art #Roszak, $%%&'. Roszak described such
cultural e+emplars as transcendent symbols by hich he means, e+amples of art
that ha*e the potential to communicate a uni-ue rhapsodic or *isionary response
#Roszak, $%8&'. =ith respect to nature, such symbols might thus ha*e a role to
play in aakening our slumbering capacities for affecti*e delight(
Jung ould ha*e called such images .archetypes,/ a fruitful idea, though one hich becomes
less interesting the more e psychologize its status as many Jungians are inclined to do. 3
ha*eGHI called them .transcendent symbols,/ images hose e+traordinary poer deri*es from
their uni-ue pro+imity to some original visionary e,perience. #Roszak, $%11'
6uch symbols may represent, Roszak suggests, human culture"s most *aluable
resource( indeed, in an era of increasing en*ironmental challenges, e may need
all the resources e can muster.
$onclusions
Ecopsychologists kno only too ell the therapeutic merits of acknoledging the
en*ironmental dimensions of the psyche for our personal ell-being. 2t the same
time, en*ironmental campaigners are increasingly recognising the psychological
dimensions of their pro4ect #Retallack, Karence P Kockood, &778, Crompton,
&771'. Eut Roszak"s early ork reminds us also that adopting an ecopsychological
perspecti*e reframes our understandings of both culture and history. 2nd
inevita&ly so.
Roszak"s term !counter-culture" caught something important about the spirit of the
times in the $%07s, and it remains ith us today as an important organising and
$0
historical concept for a range of dissenting cultural pro4ects, acti*ities and
protesters. Eut Roszak be-ueathes to us at least to other ideas of merit the
spectrum of consciousness and ecopsychology. 3n this essay 3"*e outlined ho
these three ideas !counter culture", the !spectrum of consciousness" and
ecopsychology reflect different facets of the same dissenting thesis.
Roszak"s detailed e+amination of the contours, or &oun#ary con#itions, of
collecti*e *ision appeared to offer a coherent strategy for cross-disciplinary ork
in reflecting upon and understanding the broader historical roots of en*ironmental
problems that still trouble us today. 2nd that perhaps raises a -uestion( ith hat,
in the tenty-first century, ill academic ecopsychology concern itself ith
pri$arilyA =ill it be the ell-being of the indi*idual psycheA a orthhile
pro4ect in itself. Jr, in its ine*itable e+amination of the boundary conditions of
collecti*e e+perience, to hat e+tent ill ecopsychology also address itself to the
broader culture to the future ell-being, and to the current pathologies, of our
society as a 'holeA
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$orrespondence
Fr Jonathan Coope
&0 Thoresby Court
Kuckno Fri*e
5apperley ;ark
@ottingham @<? DE>
$1
Anarchist roots & routes
Jamie Heckert
Anarchist Stuies !et"or#
Abstract
Following Andy Fisher's call for a radical ecopsychology one which heals
individuals and transforms social, philosophical and psychological systems of
organisation and knowledge this paper explores the anarchist pasts and possible
futures of the field !hile anarchists such as "ropotkin, #oodman, and $nyder are
mentioned in %os&ak's history of ecopsychology, these roots of the field have been
little explored 'here are clear affinities and overlaps between the two(
ecopsychology's criti)ue of disconnection is the flipside of anarchism's criti)ue of
hierarchy *n practising connection as interdependent e)uals, ecopsychology
practitioners might look to anarchist traditions of direct relationship, direct action
and direct democracy 'hese elements might weave themselves together into a
radical, fractal network of networks replacing dominant and dominating systems of
state and capital 'his of course re)uires practice 'he concluding section of the
paper turns to the work of the anti+state feminists !endy ,rown and the sub%osa
-ollective to hold on to both personal healing and political transformation in this
challenging process of nurturing autonomy
Keywords( anarchism, autonomy, radical, democracy
Introduction
.Humans suffer/ a nostalgia for which there is no remedy upon 0arth except as is to be found in
the enlightenment of the spirit some ability to have a perceptive rather than an exploitative
relationship with his $sic% fellow creatures 1,akunin, cited in 'ifft 2 $ullivan, 3456( 78
Anarchists have often compared this open cooperative social structure to a biological organism
9rganisms are living beings which evolve of their own free will through a process of perpetual
becoming that is unbounded and non+deterministic $imilarly, an anarchist society emulates
this openness through a harmonious social structure that is free, dynamic, and ever+evolving
1Antliff, 7665( :8
Andy Fisher has called for a recognition of ecopsychology as radical praxis a
34
Ja&ie 'ec#ert Anarchist roots ( routes
theoretically engaged and profoundly practical process of ;increasing critical
consciousness and reconstructing society< in order to address the deep sources of
problems which are simultaneously psychosocial and ecological 17664( :38 *n
other words, individual ecotherapy can only ever be part of the process of
undermining the dominant and institutionalised narrative of human beings as
separate from, and superior to, the rest of life Fisher looks to ecosocialism and
,uddhism as resources for radicalising ecopsychology Here, * suggest a third
complementary body of resources( anarchism
Anarchism as a tradition is both controversial and diverse !hereas the mainstream
represents anarchists as ;violent< or ;mindless thugs< 1=onson, -hesters, !elsh 2
'ickle, 766>8, my own experience has been very different !hile anarchism does
attract people whose idea of freedom is individualistic 1arguably a notion more
consistent with capitalism8 and anarchist subcultures and movements fre)uently
suffer from patterns of machismo and racism, these patterns of hierarchy are
themselves challenged and transformed as an integral part of a movement which is
a living tradition 1Ackelsberg, 766?@ =ark $tar -ollective, 7667@ starr, 766A8
Bany groups and individuals are involved in numerous grass+roots proCects
working to nurture autonomy our capacity to recognise our fundamental e)uality,
interdependence and ability to live without domination 1-lark, 766A@ Dotes from
Dowhere, 766E@ Fickerill 2 -hatterton, 766:8 9thers work to challenge andGor
subvert the official political economy 1state and capitalism8 and other hierarchies
in ;domination societies< 1%osenberg, 766E( 7E8 which are deeply intertwined with
the presumption of a separateGsuperior humanity
!hether or not a perfect anarchist society is achieved, or achievable, what
arguably matters most is the practice( the process of understanding ourselves, our
connections with each other and with the land *n this way, anarchism, like
ecopsychology, is deeply concerned with the interdependence of human well+being
with the well+being of the rest of the natural world For human beings, more
egalitarian societies are healthier 1!ilkinson 2 Fickett, 76368, and anarchism
promotes the most e)ual societies of all( classless, stateless and without hierarchies
of race, gender, sexuality or ability For the rest of the natural world, the anarchist
ethic of mutuality and recognition of interdependence promotes an awareness of
;the complex interrelationship between global ecological and individual
psychological problems< 1Fox, 345?8, leading one researcher to note that
environmental issues are ;so close to the central problem of anarchism that it is
76
perhaps the most directly relevant body of theory for many of the critical issues<
19phuls, 34AA( 7E?8
Anarchist roots
!hile anarchism is occasionally acknowledged in the history of ecopsychology,
my invitation in this paper is to take a deeper look at anarchist traditions which
might provide fruitful sources of inspiration for facing the challenges of nurturing
into existence a profoundly emotionally and ecologically sustainably society As a
brief introduction to an enormous field of possibilities, * begin here by outlining
the work of recognising anarchist roots of ecopsychology already undertaken
-ontemporary ecopsychology has roots not only in healing practices such as
wilderness therapy but also in radical social movements, counter+cultures 1%hodes,
7665@ %os&ak, 3447G76638 and critical theory 1Fisher, 76678 Anarchism, a diverse
set of political traditions advocating and practising decentralised, interdependent,
egalitarian and libertarian modes of living and relating, has been a part of all these
Pyotr Kropotkin
*n his influential ecopsychology text, )he *oice of the Earth, 'heodore %os&ak
13447G76638 counts the anarchist geographer and political theorist Fyotr "ropotkin
135>7 34738 as both ;one of the founders of modern ecology< and ;among the
first ecopsychologists< 1p 7758 !hile =arwin's theory of evolution was being
interpreted to Custify the white+supremacist global empires of 0uropean states 1ie,
survival of those most capable of dominating8, "ropotkin's painstaking fieldwork
led him to a very different understanding %ather than contributing to the
naturalisation of hierarchy and competition, "ropotkin's observations led him to
note that(
when animals have to struggle against scarcity of food ./ the whole of that portion of the
species which is affected by the calamity comes out of the ordeal so much impoverished in
vigour and health that no progressi*e e*olution of the species can +e +ase upon such perios
of #een co&petition 13467G7636, emphasis original8
He also noted the great extent to which mutual aid that is, care and support
among members of a species contributes directly to their individual and
collective well+being and thus their evolution %ather than reinforcing the
73
dominant political stories that human societies re)uire coercive institutions such as
states or corporations to maintain themselves, "ropotkin pointed to the ways in
which life is self+organising As %os&ak also notes, if an instinct for mutual aid or
;an ethical unconscious did not exist, no amount of police force or bureaucracy
could hold any society together !e form ourselves spontaneously into family,
clan, band, tribe, guild, village, town< 17663( 7748
Paul Goodman
%os&ak also acknowledged the role of Faul #oodman's ecological gestalt
psychology in the development of ecopsychology 'aking inspiration from
"ropotkin and Hao '&u's )ao )e ,hing 1for anarchist readings of the )ao )e
,hing, see He #uin, 344A@ Borris, 344:@ %app, 7664@ !atts, 34A?8 among others,
#oodman saw self+organisation, autonomy and interdependence as fundamental
characteristics of humanity and of the ecosystems of which we are a part %ather
than seeing human beings as inherently violent, dangerous or otherwise
pathological, #oodman viewed the individual as ;innately healthy and capable,
with pathology as a secondary disruption of an otherwise natural homeostatic
e)uilibrium< 1Aylward, 3444( 3378 His anarchist+inspired gestalt therapy offers an
alternative to those therapeutic approaches which emphasised adaptation to a
society dependent on domination and ecological devastation *nstead, it nurtures
autonomy through ;trusting the body, the senses, and the natural environment to
solve their problems in their own spontaneous way< 1%os&ak, 7663( 7748 And like
much recent anarchism, #oodman's politics and psychology 1for they were one and
the same8 were prefigurative 'hat is, instead of waiting for 'the revolution',
anarchist+inspired actors practice in the present the forms of social organisation
they would love to see more fully developed in the future 'he challenge, in
#oodman's ecopsychological terms, is ;to live in present society as if it were a
natural society< 1cited in Fisher, 7667( 3578
Gary Snyder
A third anarchist figure recognised by %os&ak, among others, at the roots of
ecopsychology is the ,eat poet and bioregionalist, #ary $nyder !hile %os&ak
refers to him only briefly, %hodes 176658 devotes significant attention to $nyder in
his own effort to synthesi&e an anarchist criti)ue of hierarchy with
ecopsychological efforts to recognise our connection with the rest of the natural
77
world For %hodes, the roots of ecopsychology lie less in ecology or psychotherapy
and more in the ,eatnik counter+culture with its blending of anarchist politics with
,uddhist, 'aoist and shamanic spiritual awareness Fisher, too, )uotes $nyder
favourably 176678, though without any reference to his ;,uddhist anarchism<
1$nyder, 34:3G76368 or his involvement in the non+hierarchical, grassroots union(
the *ndustrial !orkers of the !orld 1*!!8
Anarcha-feminism
!hile ecofeminism is generally accepted as one of the roots of ecopsychology
1Fisher, 7667@ %os&ak, 76638, the anarcha-fe&inist influences are rarely
mentioned, though there are plenty which are due acknowledgement 'he
intersections of anarchism, pacifism and feminism were, for example, key
influences in the evolution of #reenham -ommon !omen's Feace -amp
1%oseneil, 76668 which drew connections between the personal, political and
ecological aspects of a patriarchal culture which aims to create 'security' through
control rather than through connection $imilarly, environmentalist and anarcha+
feminist Judi ,ari worked hard to nurture connections between radical ecological
activists and loggers, bridging what was an apparent conflict of interests to
promote sustainable harvest of trees for generations to come For her efforts, she
was a targeted by the F,* and was the subCect of attempted murder by car bombing
1$hant&, 766?8 *n both these cases autonomy is nurtured through diverse practices
including direct action, consensus decision+making and crafting cultures of
resistance
'he ecofeminist and anarchist philosopher -haia Heller is someone * look to for
ecopsychological inspiration *n Ecology of e*eryay life: -ethin#ing the esire for
nature, she wrote that ;the antidote to capitalist rationali&ation is a new
relationality, an empathetic, sensual, and rational way of relating that is deeply
cooperative, pleasurable, and meaningful< 13444( 4E8 'his new relationality
includes both humans and the ;more than human world< 1Abram, 344A8
Hikewise, Irsula He #uin might also be considered an ecopsychologist *nspired
by the anarchism of "ropotkin and #oodman, and the insights of 'aoism, as well
as being a colleague of $nyder, He #uin links a deep respect for indigenous
cultures with a passion for social Custice and ecological sustainability throughout
her works 9ne of her most famous novels, )he ispossesse 134A>8, explicitly
links the connection of self to nature with the practices of freedom advocated by
7E
the anarchists who inspired her to write it 1$tillman 2 =avis, 766:8@ these anarchist
links are still very present, though implicit, in her later eco+utopia, Al"ays co&ing
ho&e 1345?8 *n addition, the sensual anarcha+indigenism of Jay #riffiths' travel
log, .il: An ele&ental /ourney 176658, is currently influencing ecopsychologists,
as might the similarly shamanic and 'post+anarchist'
3
ecofeminist writings of $ian
$ullivan 1see 7665a@ 7665b8
Finally, the most famous anarcha+feminist 0mma #oldman was both a student of
"ropotkin and a profound anarchist theorist in her own right 1Jose, 766?8 0ditor of
the anarchist monthly 0other Earth, she acknowledged that we, too, are nature(
A natural law is that factor in man $sic% which asserts itself spontaneously without any external
force, in harmony with the re)uirements of nature For instance, the demand for nutrition, for
sex gratification, for light, air and exercise, is natural ,ut its expression needs not the
machinery of government, needs not the club, the gun, the handcuff, or the prison 'o obey
such laws, if we may call it obedience, re)uires only spontaneity and free opportunity 'hat
governments do not maintain themselves through such harmonious factors is proven by the
terrible array of violence, force, and coersion all governments use in order to live 1#oldman,
34:4( ?58
'his may be read as a naive optimism toward human nature( a fre)uent criti)ue of
anarchism *n the same essay, #oldman countered this by noting the radical
changes in behaviour among animals in captivity Are we not also animals in
captivity, she asksJ !hat can we say about human nature, about human potential,
based on our experiences in a culture of controlJ #oldman, in other words,
challenges the human exceptionalism paradigm 1-atton 2 =unlap, 34A58 Inless
you believe in an interventionist #od, and #oldman vociferously did not, nature
has no ruler, no state Humans only need the state if we really are exceptional in
nature, a view challenged by anarcha+feminists and ecopsychologists alike
Social ecology
'his is also a view challenged by social ecologists, one of the maCor eco+anarchist
traditions Founded by Burray ,ookchin, social ecology, like the work of Fyotr
3
Fost+anarchism is the linking of poststructuralist political theories 1including =eleu&e, #uattari,
Foucault, =errida, Hacan and ,utler8 with anarchism #regory ,ateson, a key figure in
ecopsychology, was also a maCor influence on =eleu&e and #uattari, indicating another rich vein of
connections between anarchist and ecopsychological traditions For more details, see %ousselle 2
0vren 1in+press8
7>
"ropotkin, is something of a permaculture version of anarchism *n other words,
anarchist principals of organisation are developed from observations of nature
And for ,ookchin(
!hat renders social ecology so important is that it offers no case whatsoever for hierarchy in
nature and society@ it decisively challenges the very function of hierarchy as a stabilising or
ordering principle in both realms 'he association of order as such with hierarchy is ruptured
./ 9ur continuity with non+hierarchical nature suggests that a non+hierarchical society is no
less random than an ecosystem 1,ookchin, 3443G766E( EA8
As John -lark comments, this approach ;demands that a new ecological sensi+ility
pervade all aspects of social existence<, transforming society, individual
consciousness and humanity's relationship with the rest of the natural world 13446(
58 And, like many other anarchists, ,ookchin declared it ;axiomatic that there can
+e no separation of the re*olutionary process fro& the re*olutionary goal<
134A3G34A>( >?, original emphasis8 *n other words, if the ideal is an organic, self+
organising society which nurtures the autonomy and diversity of individuality
1human and otherwise8, then the methods of working toward that ideal must be as
consistent as possible Freedom, e)uality and ecological sensibility cannot be
legislated@ they can only be practised, nurtured
*t is perhaps unsurprising that ecopsychology and anarchism might overlap in so
many ways Anarchism, after all, has made maCor contributions to modern
environmental movements 1,ookchin, 34A>@ Bc"ay, 3445@ ,est 2 Docella, 766:8
and green political thought 1-arter, 3444@ =avidson, 76648 'heir obCects of
criti)ue, too, are intertwined For many in ecopsychology, disconnection is the
source of ecological and emotional unsustainability For anarchists, hierarchy is at
the root of social and ecological problems
7
1,ookchin, 766E8 Are these not too
different ways of saying much the same thingJ 'o imagine oneself hierarchically
superior or inferior to another re)uires a denial of human embodied
interdependence 1,easley 2 ,acchi, 766A8, of our dynamic embedment in nature
1$tevens, in+press8 or, in other words, our kinship with other living and nonliving
beings 1,ookchin, 766E@ Ha=uke, 34448 'he state, with its hierarchies, borders
and policing, its arms and armies, its Cudges and Cudgements, is always a state of
separation, of disconnection
7
'here is, of course, debate here *s the hierarchy of class primaryJ Are all hierarchies e)ually
problematic and deeply intertwinedJ !hile anarchists share a criti)ue of hierarchy and domination,
the nature of the criti)ue varies widely
7?
Anarchist routes
,oth anarchists and ecopsychologists realise the emotional and social benefits of
relating directly with each other, minimising the mediations of technology,
bureaucracy and money 1,ey, 344>@ #ordon@ 7665@ #lendinning, 344>8 !hereas
state politics are characterised by representation what =elue&e 134AA8 called ;the
indignity of speaking for others< anarchism, which is simultaneously personal
and political, replaces this with the dignity of speaking for oneself, of being
listened to and of listening to others 1human and otherwise8 in direct relationship
1Heckert, 76368 !hile shallow environmentalism is characterised by abstract
problem+solving, deep ecology+inspired ecopsychology highlights the importance
of a directly experienced relationship with the natural world for both promoting
pro+environmental behaviour and emotional well+being 1"als, $chumacher 2
Bontada, 34448 *n this way, we can recognise that we are co+creators of the
ecosystems of which we are an integral part 1Bacy 2 ,rown, 34458 'he same
applies to social systems( while we are led to believe that only some people are in
power, we are all already co+creators of our social worlds
*t seems clear to me that the )uestions facing ecopsychologists and anarchists are
intertwined !hat knowledge, practices or experiences help people recognise the
ways in which we are all capable of creating changeJ How do we learn to let go of
strategies of domination in our relations with ourselves, other beings and the landJ
How might we work together to further the ongoing process of co+creating the
psychic, organisational and cultural infrastructure for sustainable societiesJ *'m in
agreement with Fisher that these )uestions cannot be answered by individual
therapy alone and suggest that anarchist ethics and practices can offer support for
the practical, psychological, critical and philosophical tasks of renewing the
radicalism at the roots of ecopsychology 1Fisher, 76678
Direct action
0copsychology faces a dilemma( if the best way for people to recognise that they,
too, are nature is to spend time in wild spaces, and if this recognition is key to
addressing our current ecological crisis, how might those who fear the wild be
encouraged to 1re8connect with itJ
!e, too, are wild, and nurturing relationships between people is another way of
7:
remembering this $hared experiences of working together directly to meet the
needs of the people involved can be profoundly nurturing, profoundly connecting
Anarchism advocates direct action, itself a connection to the wild@ it is to connect
to our own will, individually and collectively ;'he wildest things and people are
the most self+willed, self+governing and, an+archic $ince will is wild, to damage
someone else's will is both unkind and unwild< 1#riffiths, 766:( 3>58 *ndirect
action voting, lobbying, ethical consumerism, petitioning all rely on submitting
one's will to those claiming authority 'his is undignified, unkind, unwild(
disconnected
!here it might be difficult for some people to take up the invitation of direct
connection with the land for fear of getting dirty, or connecting with others in
workshops dismissed as hippyish, other forms of direct action might be more
appealing As Franks notes, direct action is undertaken by those directly affected,
thus connecting directly with their own immediate needs whether for housing,
community, food or autonomy 1766E8 And, as others have noted, this can be
profoundly empowering
9n the #reen a hunched woman in her 56s was crying $he had always felt powerless, but
when she pushed the fences down with hundreds of others, she said she felt powerful for the
first time in her life 0mpowerment is direct action's magic, and the spell was spreading
1Anonymous, 766E( 3>@ see also ,egg, 76668
*n addition to other empowering and therapeutic methods, ecopsychological
practitioners might consider supporting themselves and others to nurture a sense of
awareness of the hierarchical patterns of relationships 1institutional and otherwise8
affecting them and how they might act directly in order to transform, undermine or
overflow them After all, the textbook definition of stress is a perceived
discrepancy between needed and available resources =irect action, involving
mutual support among participants and the sharing of resources emotional and
otherwise, addresses the root of stress As well as looking to practices of
environmental direct action 1see ,est 2 Docella, 766:@ $eel, Faterson 2 =oherty,
76668, the evolution of ecopsychology might draw sustenance from other forms of
direct action( autonomous feminist health movements 1#ordon 2 #riffiths, 766A@
#riffiths 2 #ordon, 766A@ Hisa, 76658, anarchist mental health proCects 1eg, 'he
*carus FroCect in Dew Kork8 and $oma, a playful and political group therapeutic
process developed in ,ra&il to undermine the psychological effects of military
7A
dictatorship 1#oia, 76658
Direct democracy
%ather than any indirect system, including representative democracy, anarchist
praxis tends to emphasise consensus+based decision+making and other forms of
irect democracy so the people affected by decisions are involved in making them
-ollective decision+making is counterbalanced by the appreciation of spontaneity
and individual initiative
=irect democracy is not a new improved system designed to replace an inferior
one, but an ethic, a process *t's something that people work out how to do,
together, with practice As -arole Fateman has pointed out, ;participation develops
and fosters the very )ualities necessary for it@ the more individuals participate the
better able they become to do so< 134A6( >7+E8 !orkers' cooperatives, housing co+
ops 1%adical %outes, 76368, neighbourhood assemblies, affinity groups, research 2
popular education collectives, community gardens, artists collectives, support
groups, food coops, herb study groups, grass+roots unions and so many more forms
of direct democracy contribute to vibrant anarchist1ic8 cultures
0copsychology can sometimes appear remote from everyday politics, focused on
helping individuals 1re8form their connections with the natural world but not
addressing the dominant systems that rely on disconnection Fulfilling Fisher's
tasks to build an ecological society re)uires practising reciprocity in our
relationships, addressing issues of isolation and disempowerment and critically
analysing the underlying structures that maintain these divisions !hile
conventional approaches might turn to official forms of politics to address these,
eco+anarchist =avidson 17664( >A8 argues that ;centralised systems of coercive
powers< are not needed to organise ecologically sustainable societies *ndeed, they
create institutionalised forms of disconnection
0co+anarchists have disagreements as to the particular forms direct democracy
might take ,ioregionalists tend to have a commitment to autonomous
communities, self+sufficient through their connection with the immediate
landscape For social ecologists, libertarian municipalism is key with village
meetings offering a source of inspiration for decentralised cities and confederated
eco+communities with a shared commitment to sustainability and freedom
1=avidson, 76648 For green syndicalists, democratic control of labour and the
75
creation of ecological guilds are central 1$hant& 2 Adam, 34448 =rawing from
these rich and diverse anarchist traditions of direct democracy, ecopsychologists
can contribute to the development of emotionally and ecologically sustainable
political systems
Networks of networks
'hat's all well and good for small groups, you might say, but how do you run a
whole country 1or perhaps a bioregion8J Fractally, in a word Fractals are the
geometry of nature( &ooming in or out, we see replicating patterns Forking of root
and branch, the curve and sweep of coastlines from near or far, the iterative
patterns of rivers, snowflakes and mountain ranges are all fractals Hierarchies, too,
are fractal Fatterns of domination found at the macro+level wars between states
and corporate ecological exploitation are repeated at the me&&o and micro+levels
of inter+group, interpersonal and internal relationships 'his is not the only fractal
pattern available to us *nspired by organisational examples and theories, $ian
$ullivan ;affirms the possibility of a proliferation of democratic processes ./ in
which people participate and which people self+organise, together with fostering
the dynamic feedback possible via connectivity between scales A fractal
e&ocracy, in other words< 1$ullivan, 766?( E56, footnote >?8 At large+scale
actions, such as those held at organising meetings of the #5 or !'9 or in
solidarity with imprisoned migrants, the spokescouncil has evolved as one method
by which small autonomous groups work together to make larger decisions 9ne
temporary recallable delegate 1rather than elected representative8 from each
affinity group meets with other delegates to feed in perspectives from their group
and then to report back !ith these feedback cycles, a large+scale hori&ontal and
fractal decision+making structure develops $imilar methods were used in ,uenos
Aires during and after the popular rebellion of 7663 when the official economy
collapsed and ordinary people found extraordinary ways of meeting their needs
!orkers continued to run factories after wealthy bosses fled the country, realising
that they didn't need a boss after all and that everyone could be a leader 1Havaca
-ollective, 766A8 Deighbourhood assemblies involving people who didn't
normally participate in 'politics' met to make decisions and to find ways to create
an alternative infrastructure of organic gardens, community kitchens, bartering
systems and transforming abandoned banks into community centres $ystems akin
to spokescouncils evolved in order to build connections between neighbourhoods
74
and workplaces 'hey call this hori1ontalia 1$itrin, 766:8 'his network of
networks continues to grow as social movements in Argentina make connections
with other movements throughout Hatin America and around the world including
indigenous direct democracies such as the Lapatistas, the Haudenosaunee
1*ro)uois8, and the Aymara, 1on indigenous democracy without states, see Alfred,
766?@ -onant, 7636@ -oulthard 2 Hasky, in+press@ 0steva 2 Frakash, 3445@
#raeber, 766>@ #rinde 2 Johansen, 3446@ $cott, 7664@ $mith, 766?@ Libechi,
76368 'his 'movement of movements' is not anti+globalisation as some
commentators have put it, but alterglo+alisation( another world is possible *n this
other possible world, the social practices of connecting as e)uals both directly and
through symbiotic networks of networks 1Halpin 2 $ummer, 76658 are
harmonious with other natural systems which work on the same principals 1Hitfin,
76368
Nurturing autonomy
Autonomy is not a fixed, essential state Hike gender, autonomy is created through its
performance, by doingGbecoming@ it is a political practice 'o become autonomous is to refuse
authoritarian and compulsory cultures of separation and hierarchy through embodied practices
of welcoming difference ,ecoming autonomous is a political position for it thwarts the
exclusions of proprietary knowledge and Cealous hoarding of resources, and replaces the social
and economic hierarchies on which these depend with a politics of skill exchange, welcome,
and collaboration Freely sharing these with others creates a common wealth of knowledge and
power that subverts the domination and hegemony of the masterMs rule 1sub%osa -ollective,
766E( 37+3E8
*f a certain tendency in ecopsychology exists to overemphasise despair in the face
of ecological uncertainty, a similar tendency exists in anarchism toward resentment
in the face of ine)uality and control ,oth can be radically disempowering,
undermining capacities for autonomy ,oth may function as an anaesthetising
response to pain( why isn't the world the radically egalitarian, libertarian and
ecological one in which you or * yearn to liveJ
Asking how ostensibly emancipatory political movements of the excluded come to
focus on state+centred strategies which maintain their position as excluded
minorities in need of protection, !endy ,rown turns to Diet&sche's notion of
;ressenti&ent, the morali&ing revenge of the powerless< 1344?( ::8 Hiberal
democracy, she suggests, makes promises of liberty and e)uality that it cannot
E6
keep and is therefore particularly prone to ressenti&ent 'his is strengthened by the
individualistic logic of independence, rather than interdependence, at the core of
liberal political philosophy 0ncouraged to think of ourselves as independent
individuals living in free and e)ual societies, who must we blame when we do not
experience that freedom, that e)ualityJ ,rown suggests we might blame either
ourselves, doubling the pain, or we proCect that blame on to those we imagine to be
other to ourselves in terms of race, class, sexuality, nationality, species or other
social classification 0ither strategy is one of disconnection and the reinforcement
of hierarchy
* suggest the same logic might be at work in environmental politics calling for state
protection of our powerless and vulnerable 1though sometimes angry and vengeful8
Bother 0arth $he, who existed for millions of years without humans and who will
exist long after humans become extinct, is not weak and needing protection
%ather, it seems to me a certain kind of environmental politics proCect human
desires for a particular ecological configuration which suits us 1and other species8
on to the planet as a whole, thus evading the vulnerability of speaking our own
feelings and desires 'his is a strategy which is both moralising the good
environmentalists who want to save the 0arth versus the bad capitalists who want
only profit and putting both the environment and environmentalists in a position
of powerlessness, dependent on the protection of the state For those who recognise
that the nation+state and the market economy are one and the same 1Folyani, 76638,
this strategy is particularly likely to lead to despair
*f holding on to pain, if basing one's sense of self on loss, resentment or despair,
reinforces a sense of powerlessness, what is to be done with pain and lossJ ,rown
argues that ;all that such pain may long for more than revenge is the chance to
be heard into a certain release< 1766?( A>8 Hike Fisher, ,rown reminds us that
individual healing is insufficient *nstead, she asks, how might we nurture into
being radically democratic autonomous cultures which do not both produce and
depend upon subCectivities fuelled by ressenti&ent while at the same time
recognising that individual healing is part of this processJ
!hereas the liberal democratic state claims to be already achieved, based on a
social contract to which we are all presumed to have consented, and freedom
something we have because of the protection we receive from this, the sub%osa
-ollective remind us that autonomy is a process, a practice *t's not something we
E3
ha*e, it's something we o !hile anarchists and others advocating and practising
politics without the state may be attracted to particular visions of an ecological
social order 1FB, 76648 and may find those visions helpful in many ways,
anarchy is necessarily organic !hen it becomes rigid, as explored in He #uin's
)he ispossesse, ;an anarchist criti)ue of anarchism< 1-lark, 7664( 778 is
re)uired Hike any other ecosystem, social systems are living things constantly in
process, never accomplished or achieved And, like the ecosocialism Fisher 176648
looks to for inspiration, anarchism is prefigurative practising in the present ethics
and structures desired, thus contributing to the unfolding of the future
*n conclusion, this paper is a recognition of the anarchist influences in
ecopsychology as well as an invitation to ecopsychology to nurture autonomy 'he
therapeutic practices of ecopsychology have a crucial role in this process of
liberation Anarchist ideas and practices provide a valuable complement, offering
inspiration for egalitarian, libertarian and ecological social systems as well as
renewing our relationships with ourselves, each other and the land Anarchist
praxis, when done with care, can offer the direct experience of Cust how nurturing
autonomy can be
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Acknowledgements
* thank Faul $tevens for his intellectual stimulation and editorial support in the
process of nurturing this paper into fruition -omments from three anonymous
reviewers were also immensely helpful for me in clarifying and adding nuance to
the arguments in this paper 'hank you
Correspondence
E&ail: JamieHeckertUgmailcom
E:
Evolutionary ecopsychology
Jorge Conesa-Sevilla
Managing Editor !he !ru"peter
Abstract
It is argued that ecopsychology as it moves into the arena of necessary ideas and
practices, with humanity facing challenging, even dire, times ahead needs to be
grounded on tested and encompassing paradigms such as evolutionary biology. In
this sense, ecopsychology can be seen as an application of, specifically,
evolutionary psychology. A call is made for testable constructs that can move
ecopsychology forward to become a significant, interdisciplinary contributing field
its integration into the natural sciences.
Keywords evolutionary psychology
Introduction
!roughly, "#$ generations of civili%ed society lie atop &$$,$$$ generations during which we
have been hunter-gatherers living in small social groups. And selection would have had many
eons to adapt us to such lifestyle. 'volutionary psychologists call the physical and social
environment to which we have adapted during this long period the ('nvironment of
'volutionary Adaptedness,) or ''A. (Coyne, "$$* ""+,.
-he opening .uote by Coyne /"$$*, illustrates, in my opinion, what psychologists
/and all social scientists, must address as brute facts
0
the reality of having to
embrace the ever-e1panding evidence that a long e1istence as a very specific type
of animal, and the conse.uences of this long e1istence and evolved adaptations,
e1press themselves in psychological processes, responses, and social proclivities.
-o ma2e matters even more confusing, psychology, as a social science, has been
distracted by a perverse adoration of human culture and society,
anthropocentrically so, while disregarding for the most part the now conclusive
edicts of evolutionary science /3ar2ow, Cosmides, 4 -ooby, 0**"5 Crawford 4
6rebs, "$$7,. -hat is, by conveniently ignoring the role that /for e1ample, natural
0
Spanish-American 8eorge Santayana9s phrase to describe the invariants of the universe.
&+
Jorge #onesa-$e%illa E%olutionary ecopsychology
selection might play in social constructs, their approaches have tended to a circular
transducti%e loop, moving from one e1tant social construct to the ne1t without
grounding most of these on a, at least, 0.7 million-year odyssey of flesh, blood,
bones, and minds co-evolving with the natural world.
In my mind, the above emphasis .ualifies /but does not delimit, :ecopsychology: as
an application of 'volutionary ;sychology and 'volutionary 3iology. Specifically,
this emphasis ma2es use of 'volutionary ;sychology9s /3ar2ow, Cosmides 4
-ooby, 0**", insights as part of a general habit /perspective, of as2ing basic
.uestions about mental health, most li2ely adaptations, and their implications to
:eco-therapy:.
Specifically, Cosmides, -ooby and 3ar2ow /0**", propose the study of
scientifically testable, domain-specific adaptations that could have emerged during
the last 0.7 million years. 3ecause natural selection wor2s slowly certainly for
most of the integrated circuitry that orchestrate multi-modal psychological
proclivities and behaviors it is more li2ely that our mind<body systems continue
an (e1istential e1pectation) /a genome momentum, that those particular behaviors,
social organi%ations, and environments are still in place small family units
covering great distances in open savannahs, greater physical output during hunter-
forager-scavenger daily activities, greater psychological and physical endurance,
and the almost complete control of manufacturing (culture) with our very own
primate hands /to mention =ust one generali%ed description,. In their words
>atural selection can generate comple1 designs that are functionally organi%ed organi%ed so
that they can solve an adaptive problem because the criterion for the selection of each design
feature is functional A design feature will spread only if it solves an adaptive problem better
than e1isting alternatives. ?ver time, this causal feedbac2 process can create designs that solve
adaptive problems well designs that (fit) the environment in which the species evolved
/0**" *,.
In this light, it becomes a central .uestion for (eco-therapists) as well to ascertain
whether some modern-day (dysfunctions) originate in se%ere and culturally-
ar&itrary di%ergences fro" ancestral adaptations. -o the e1tent that we could
agree that (nature estrangement and<or alienation) /Conesa-Sevilla, "$$@,, and its
comple1 and multi-varied manifestations, is confounded with medical and
psychological problems, then we have an (ecopsychology). Aor any psychologist,
these adaptations /challenges<problems and solutions, run the gamut from the
&7
(evolution of psychodynamic mechanisms) />esse 4 Bloyd, 0**",, (cognitive
adaptations for social e1change) /Cosmides 4 -ooby, 0**",, to (pregnancy
sic2ness as adaptation) /;rofet, 0**",.
Cy limited sense at this historical =uncture is that the future of ecopsychology will
have to integrate these and more perspectives if it aims to e1tend its now more
psychological, transpersonal and clinical /personal growth, therapy, counseling,
foci to include a vast field of integrative and developing ideas, while engaging in
potentially profitable interdisciplinary useful collaborations. -he very term (eco)
implies interdisciplinarity. -his emphasis fashions a natural scientific approach to
ecopsychology an evolutionary ecopsychology.
Evolutionary ecopsychology
As a way of a very modest evolutionary ecopsychology manifesto, we can state the
following Dhen humanity invents /spea2s, itself e1temporaneously outside
(nature9s te1t,) it has not, on a fundamental level, escaped nature, for it is and
always will be a product of nature. Eowever diversely culture can be twisted by an
inventive ape, if this culture is e1tant from (nature,) it is doomed to fail5 cannot
provide him with the physical and cognitive resources that would ma2e him
(happy) or, in other words, fully integrated in the circle of life.
Cy own phrase (evolutionary ecopsychology) might, in the minds of most
ecopsychologists, con=ure up the foundational wor2 of ;aul Shepard, and
specifically his seminal boo2 'ature and Madness /0*7"<0**7,, which I consider
to be the original evolutionary /and developmental, ecopsychology manifesto. -his
paper is simply a more modest continuation and reiteration of his insights. As some
of the readers may 2now, before there were any ecopsychologists around, Shepard
used the word (subversive) to characteri%e the effects of what the science of
ecology would have in radicali%ing societies and minds /Shepard 4 Cc6inley,
0*@*,. -he su&%ersi%e science: Essays to(ard an ecology of "an /0*@*, introduces
some of the arguments and themes that would later find a more e1panded form in
his later wor2.
'volutionary ecopsychology does not do away with transpersonal
ecopsychological approaches but rather allows for a more complete discourse
participation, an enlarging of the scope of what ecopsychology could be about. In
this sense, even though I agree with Faplh Cet%ner9s /0***, idea of a (green
&*
psychology) a radicali%ed, mainstream- and /ironically, nature-deconte1tuali%ed
psychology my own perspective is that it is in e%olutionary science that the most
green can be sought and found.
Bac2ing this sensitivity and<or training, one of the great dangers I sense in
privileging a (spiritual) /whatever that means, view of humanity /if that is what
some ecopsychologists are doing, is the accompanying anthropocentric myopia
that has been rationali%ed as a (manifest destiny) to place ourselves arbitrarily in
some teleological enterprise or =ourney that ma2es our march through history
/another invention and myopia, a more significant myth />ash, 0*7",. Gltimately,
how we come to ac.uire a (significance) of self-place is, after all, a semiotically
interior process whether it e1cludes small self from grand >ature or connects big
Self to the rest of our biosphere. ;erhaps we should start here.
Certainly, some myths are more (natural) /ecologically valid, than others, as even
myopic history
"
shows. Certainly, the human mind has mythic-cognitive
proclivities /Campbell, 0*77,. In classical psychology, these mythical proclivities
may be an aspect of an ideal super ego helping us conceive of a grander and better
self. A few, however, are rationali%ations of supremacy5 reiterations of a divine
entitlement to produce the most distorted forms of social organi%ation and
psychologies, resulting in environmental and ecological mayhem. 'ven in
seemingly more benign (>ew Age) approaches, the new rationali%ations aim to
replace the dominant religious ideology with monstrous hybridi%ed forms that
spea2 of a greater ecopsychological need, but fail to address it, or that satisfy it
with an easy (spirituality), more )ana*
3
-li2e than fundamentally useful.
If a respect and sensitivity e1ists for the 2nowledge that &$$,$$$ or more
generations of humans were doing very specific things /biology, that gave rise to a
specific homo configuration of flesh, blood, bones, and minds, then many other
scientific .uestions have to follow from this base. -hat is, even the phenomenon of
transpersonali+ation /with its multifold varieties and implications, falls under the
study of evolutionary ecopsychology and as2s (simple), functionalist .uestions Is
there survival value in having the cognitive capacity to put oneself outside of ego
by any number of methods and practicesH Is transcending ego boundaries adaptiveH
"
(Cyopic) if we neglect to include the longer period of pre-history /roughly 0.7 million years, when
our human ancestors evolved our uni.ue and shared homo and hominid characteristics respectively.
&
-radename of a ben%odia%epine class drug, often used to treat an1iety disorders and panic attac2s.
I$
Is transcending ego boundaries a sort of built-in mental hygiene, a sub-routine
prescription for coping with the harsh e1istential realities of human e1istenceH
Dhy are humans morbidly and dangerously religious and<or spiritualH
-hese .uestions and more are in the domain of evolutionary ecopsychology /and of
evolutionary psychology as well,. In the ne1t section, I will summari%e with a wide
brush the noble, courageous, and foundationally useful =ourney that ecopsychology
undertoo2 as one answer to the deep emotional distraught that gained prominence
and ma1imum intensity in the 0*@$s and 0*+$s5 a reali%ation and insight of a
shared and collective sense of greenness.
Ecopsychology: The first phase
Dhile loo2ing for common ground, I will venture a guess that most readers of the
words that follow a poem by Dalt Dhitman /077$,, !he ,alliance of the Eagles
- would recogni%e it as a literary e1ample of what I believe many ecopsychologists
would classify as (nature-identification) or as a moment when a human (connected
with nature)
S2irting the river road!
S2yward, in air, a sudden muffled sound the dalliance of the eagles,
-he rushing amorous contact high in space together,
-he clinching, interloc2ing claws a living, fierce, gyrating wheel,
Aour beating wings two bea2s A swirling mass, tight grappling...
In this sense, ecopsychological insights are well represented in the history of ideas
in literature for sure. Dhenever humans have felt a generali%ed or even specific
:connection: to or :disconnection: from nature, and could translate these sentiments
into an artistic form, they have done so. -o the e1tent that there e1ists a significant
canon of literature that addresses these sentiments, :ecopsychology: is nothing new.
Dhitman, li2e -horeau /07@",, was an avid wal2er and an observer of nature
I
.
Core to the point, Dhitman lived and wrote as if (nature mattered) /Jevall 4
Sessions, 0*7#,. Eis poem does not mention :nature:, :connection: or
:ecopsychology: but, nevertheless, it implies all these. -herefore, much of what
:ecopsychology: is about has been tangentially defined but it should not be.
>either should we discount the real urgency of understanding the psychologies of
I
;ertinent to the mis-significations addressed in this article, Dhitman misidentified the eagles as
male and female, not reali%ing that they were two males loc2ed in aerial combat.
I0
an ape that has produced so much environmental and ecological mayhem e.ually
a challenge for ecopsychologists.
What is 'ecopsychology' ?
-o the e1tent that the morpheme te1t :ecopsychology: is con=oined, it suggests that
two scientific enterprises, ecology and psychology, are partnering toward an
emergence a third interdisciplinary area from which to advance theories and
hypotheses, and test them with 2nown scientific methodology. Aor starters, there is
an assumption that psychology is a scientific endeavor. Cost te1tboo2s of 8eneral
;sychology define psychology, to paraphrase, as -he scientific study of :mind: and
behavior /mental and behavioral processes, both in individuals and in groups.
Dithin psychology, however, there are differences of opinion about what
constitutes valid psychology which have caused rifts and divisions.
'cology is described by the 3ritish 'cological Society as
...the scientific study of the distribution, abundance and dynamics of organisms, their
interactions with other organisms and with their physical environment /3.'.S., "$$*,
A reader or client see2ing :ecopsychological services: would assume that an
ecopsychologist is trained or well-versed in a scientific study of systems in order to
satisfy the :eco: prefi1 related to their nascent profession and area of e1pertise.
Core importantly, viewing humans as animals, as another species, would mean
that claims, concepts, theories advanced within ecopsychology should not diverge
very far from robust /well tested, paradigms, such as evolutionary science, and
would have a lot to say about the original and psychologically relevant conte1ts
from which hominids emerged. It could be argued that the combined areas of
evolutionary psychology, human ecology, and environmental psychology are
already contributing a great deal to our :ecopsychological: understanding /if
defined in scientific terms,.
?n the other hand out of historical necessity and need for affiliation perhaps
the first phase of ecopsychology has been mostly a humanistic, hard to test
construction of :relations: or :connections: to the :natural world:. Dhen it comes to
phrases that could become verifiable constructs, such as :nature connection:, or
(>ature Jeficit Jisorder) /Bouv, "$$#, we enter the land of the conveniently
fu%%y. -his characteri%ation may seem harsh coming from an ecopsychology
I"
sympathi%er. Eowever, given this lac2 of scientific rigor, it seems that
ecopsychologists are mostly content with becoming another mystical enterprise
within psychology where evidence-based approaches are rarely, if at all, pursued.
Dhen pursued, they are seldom if at all grounded in evolutionary theory /with the
notable e1ception of the wor2s of ;aul Shepard,.
-o boot, other than a few ma1ims cloa2ed in the language of psychoanalysis
/Fos%a2, 0**0<"$$0,, there are no credible theories /falsifiable, that direct the
wor2 of ecopsychologists. ?nce again, let me reiterate that in a bigger tent of
ecopsychology, all approaches should, ideally, contribute to a noetic convergence
that ma2es our collective case an almost irrefutable paradigm. As alluded to
before, there are significant and few e1ceptions, namely, ;aul Shepard9s human
ecological proposals which contain verifiable or testable historical, evolutionary,
and psychological insights /Shepard, 0*7"<0**7,. It is .ueer that few
ecopsychologists I read do more than pay lip service to Shepard9s contributions.
Core often than not, I get the sense that they are unaccepting of the strong
evolutionary /scientific, message implied or present in his wor2. -his may be an
unfair characteri%ation of their te1t, but it needs to be mentioned when it is
blatantly absent.
In the sections that follow, I address several problems associated with lac2ing
testable constructs, without which ecopsychology could become /or is, merely
another passing, >ew Age denial-therapy for yuppies and boomers. I have raised
similar issues in other wor2 /Conesa-Sevilla, "$$@5 "$0$,.
Nature connection
-he theoretical and therapeutical languages of ecopsychology often lead to an
in.uiry of what is meant by /and a clearing of obstacles that impede, :connecting to
nature:. -he assumption is that a therapist can facilitate a process by which her<his
client can create, strengthen, or rescue such a connection. -he difficulty of using
this terminology is that no ecopsychologist has put forth a credible /i.e., widely
accepted and testable, operational definition of what :connecting with nature: is.
Alone, the operative words :connection: and :nature: are<have been difficult to
define. Dhat is :connecting:H Is :connecting: a specific and measurable feeling or
emotion, an abstract or intellectual e1perience, a vague but certain :spiritual:
e1perienceH Is :connecting: something that varies greatly from individual to
I&
individualH -hat is, for a hunter, :connecting: might mean the semiotic coda
trac2ing-stal2ing-chasing-2illing-butchering /s2inning and dismembering,-
carrying-sharing a 2ill. Aor a gardener in Canhattan, it could mean ta2ing care of a
few plants and a cat. Imagine any conceivable and actual way of :connecting: to
something the individual decides to identify and define /sub=ectively, as :nature:,
and it is clear that an operational definition, hopefully based on credible ecological
science, is sorely needed. Imagine further that different ecopsychologists have
different ideas of what (connecting to nature) could mean, from wearing cardboard
mas2s and pretending to be a non-human animal to 2aya2ing to an island. In this
range of possibilities it may be true that whatever wor2s, whatever activity does the
tric2 of transforming a :disconnected: client into a :connected: one can pass for a
:cure: hindsight therapy.
Apropos, there is no standard measure /widely accepted and tested-normali%ed, to
be used that could give us a baseline dysfunction or dys-affectation, a
symptomology, of what .ualifies as :disconnected from nature:. Aor e1ample, it
may be true that any person who chooses to live in a suburb or a big city is
automatically :disconnected:, by definition, in some sense of that word. It may also
be true that a natural Kanomamo, forced to relocate to downtown Chicago, will be
:disconnected:. '.ually /H,, losing a pet, a plant dying, not being able to listen to
the waves by an ocean or sea could potentially lead to cases of :disconnection:. 3ut,
how are we testing itH Dhat are we testingH Are there degrees of differentiation
between the states of :disconnection:H
-he converse a trip to sunny Ce1ico in the middle of a harsh Disconsin winter
could also .ualify as :therapy:. So why do I need ecopsychology or an
ecopsychologistH
-he symptomology of :disconnection: may very well include measurable
psychological and medical states such as depression, an1iety, fatigue, and an
enduring sense of alienation /or estrangement,. ?n the other hand, made-up
disorders /e.g., >ature Jeficit Jisorder, are vague and untested. It is usually easier
to define something in the negative. 3ut :connecting: and :connection to nature: are
altogether different matters. -he positive definition of either, toward a testable
psychological construct, must be complete, replete with testable options to insure
that scientific or medical protocols are followed. Short of this, what we have is a
pseudo-science more pseudo-psychology.
II
Whose nature anyway?
-he term :nature: is even more problematic to define. Is nature a garden /;ollan,
0**0,, the :wild:, a farm, a river, the sea, my dog bar2ing, a bird singingH Joes the
term :nature: imply interactivity /wal2ing, running, swimming, hunting, etc.,H -hat
biosemiotician 6alevi 6ull /0**7, distinguishes between four types of nature is an
indicator of the challenges that serious scholars and scientists encounter in defining
:nature:. 8iven 6ull9s definition, what type of nature is to be found in an ultra-
manicured Japanese gardenH Is this landscape merely alluding to natureH -he
Japanese garden seems to be a lie
#
natural :nature: is never that peaceful, under
human obsessive control, a one-dimensional focal space for tran.uility and
meditation, where lions and scorpions never shall intrude. ?n the other hand, at a
cognitive and basic level the natural world all survivable u"(elten seems to
afford us consistent and predictable e1istential tags that can be recogni%ed and used
by most organisms /Conesa-Sevilla, "$$0,.
Additionally, nature is neither masculine nor feminine, wrathful<vengeful nor
loving<merciful, blac2 nor white, past nor present, sea and<or mountain, or :out to
get you:. Arom an evolutionary ecopsychology perspective at least, nature has no
motives, no intentions, no plans, because nature as a single-minded entity does not
e1ist /never has,. According to the best scientific evidence, nature seems to be a
collection and interaction of comple1 energy e1changes embodied5 cyclical,
continuing and ceasing5 e1tremely diverse5 e1panding and contracting, or
appearing and disappearing, to the whims of none. In short, there is no :nature:,
only natural processes and living systems. Eumans are aware of them or they are
not5 they are fully embedded or only-to-a-degree-involved in them, or they are not.
As psychologists we must ac2nowledge that in all the above dichotomies :nature: is
a pro=ection both or either /male-female, negative-positive, good-evil, hard-soft,
depending on custom or on personal psychological necessity. 3oth valences or
sides are potentially useful for personal transformation.
In short, the degree and .uality of these personal :immersions:, while ta2ing into
account individual differences, cultural practices, and evolutionarily real scenarios,
could account for a vast array of accommodations, interpretations, and responses to
the dynamics of nature. 'copsychology, without evolutionary science, human
ecology, or environmental psychology, is at a loss to describe these comple1 and
#
All gardens are (pathological) in this sense.
I#
multivariate interactions. Aacile and simplistic notions of what it is that some
humans do when :connecting to nature: define, thus far, the enterprise of
ecopsychology.
A different but important .uestion Is an ecopsychologist who lives and wor2s in a
city and only seldom parta2es of raw nature still an ecopsychologistH In other
words, is s<he credible, comparable to the physician who smo2es, as a counselor of
better habitsH Joes the same ecopsychologist who spea2s of nature in the abstract,
or even concretely, when recommending a trip to 3a=a, really understand natureH
It is li2ely that, li2e most people, the ecopsychologist runs ahead with words
farther than understanding can go, labeling ob=ects, acts and states supposing that
they are correctly /inclusively, signifying the phrase :connecting to nature:. Bi2e
most people, the ecopsychologist enters the habits of languaging, copying others
without due analysis and reflection on what these words could mean /6ull, 0**7,.
In therapy this could be either annoyingly or disastrously vague.
Ecopsychology as mature emergence
In order to be helpful and to foster ideas that could end up as part of testable
constructs, it may be better to ma2e the distinction between diverse, natural
environments or natur u"(elten /from seaside, to desert, to mountain, to alpine
meadow, etc., and synthetic<artificial, built up /even solipsistically created,
environs. -he assumption here is that this continuum allows for testing specific
hypotheses about what type of natural and synthetic environments and
corresponding activities can be conducive to better mental and physical health /I
ma2e the assumption that many humans can, and apparently do, live happily in
built-up environments. -his fact should be as interesting to ecopsychologists as any
other &iophilic tendency that we could enumerate and test,. 6aplan and 6aplan:s
wor2 on the cognitive and affective reading of landscapes as comple1, mysterious,
legible, and<or coherent is useful in as2ing .uestions about innate cognitive
capacities to resolve artificial versus natural comple1ity /6aplan 4 6aplan, 0*7",
0*7*5 6aplan, 0*7+,.
6ey to the above continuum is the idea of accepting the lac2 of personal control, or
how we live with<without the lac2 of control. It may be safe to suppose that
humans assume that synthetic<artificial, built up environs are more controllable
perhaps another e1pression of a personal fable. Baws, peace2eepers, good
I@
neighbors, water, food and electricity on demand, with an almost certainty that a
citi%en won9t be mugged or 2illed, all could add up to a sense of control /albeit
illusory and confabulated,. Eaving too much control may also lead to boredom and
to the :pursuit of happiness: unhealthy pastimes that engender a vicious
psychological circle where cyclical dissatisfaction and consumerism go hand in
hand. -o mention the wor2 of the 6aplans: once more, the continuum for both
artificial and natural environments runs a gamut from highly legible and coherent
but low in mystery and comple1ity /to put it another way boring,, to being legible
and coherent enough with enough mystery and comple1ity to 2eep us cognitively
engaged.
Feturning to the issue of control we lac2 control in natural environs, or a sense of
control is scaled down to the reali%ation that our actions will never reach more than
a sustainable balance where we are never masters of the universe. -he farmer is
reliant only on a fic2le weather, in most cases, for her<his crops to come to harvest.
?n a hi2e, in a national par2 or by the beach, a person cannot control whatever
forces are at play that create an ever-present sense of danger where caution is
re.uired. As an e1ample, one presumes that a Kanomamo from the Ama%onian
rainforest could never really fully rela1 in a Lene%uelan tropical forest and yet we
may thin2 of her<him as the most ecopsychologically embedded individual on this
planet. ?ne assumes further that the same Kanomamo can be e.ually unhappy and
happy, angry and content, sic2 or well, high on Kopo or sleeping it off, young and
old, and satisfied or dissatisfied.
-hese interactions are the purview of an anthropological and environmental
ecopsychology if it dares to construct falsifiable theories and hypotheses. -he
.uestion again is whether we should embar2 on this investigation employing
scientific means, in a time of crisis, in order to e1pedite remedies. Core succinctly,
having a :psychology: is li2e having a brain, a heart, or a :mind:. -he act of
possessing them does not ma2e one an e1pert on their functioning. Saying
:ecopsychology: and, more importantly, saying that ecopsychology is about this or
that only, could oversimplify the vast ocean of meanings and sciences that could
contribute to a situation where interloc2ing definitions are giving rise to a better
and better understanding/s,5 to an emergence first-order facts.
Dords, no matter how often we use and repeat them, do not a real-reality ma2e.
-hat is why both non-verbal, insightful, and direct phenomenological e1periences
I+
and scientific constructions can resolve the confusing middle ground of familiar
but meaningless /or, at least, not very useful, languaging. A mature emergence of
ecopsychology in the field of significant ideas, and as a practical vehicle for
effecting change in the lives of individuals and societies, necessitates a well-
orchestrated, well-integrated, and inclusive compendium of methodologies and
worthy, e1ploitable constructs.
Conclusion
-he word :ecopsychology: denotes that :eco:, as in ecology, stands for :house:, or
:house<home: as in our planet 'arth. In ta2ing this prefi1 to be a metaphor, the
:ecopsychologist: may wish to see beyond the more humanistic /i.e., human-
centered, including the untestable assumption of the :spiritual: or the metaphysical,,
signifying that this planet has been, for a long period, more than a :house:. -he
ecologist /and the human ecologist as well, views this planet as host to systems of
/is :home: to, living creatures, including humans, without losing a sense of wonder
and awe. If and when an ecopsychologist disregards the facts presented by
reputable and uncontestable scientific evidence and falls bac2 on personal
sentiments, hunches, and romantici%ed ideas of what this chun2 of roc2 might be
about, s<he ceases to be, in my opinion, an authentic green counselor. Dhen the
green counselor underestimates and obfuscates the full splendor of nature, its
brutality and its gentler side, by contriving idiosyncratic ideas of what nature
means to her<him, then her<his client is ill served. It is tantamount to sending a
person to climb Count 'verest without fully e1plicating the rigors of mountain
climbing roc2s falling, free%ing temperatures, dropping o1ygen levels a
strenuous physical endeavor. It is always easier to apply :ecopsycology: to gardens
and flowing rivers with gentle currents than to accept nature on its own, often
brutal, terms. In this, we are always as2ed to accommodate to it, not the other way
around.
-he real tas2 for a serious ecopsychology is indeed enormous. In fact, the tas2
the introduction and deconstruction of a narrative of place, geography, space, and
psyche is one that even the social sciences have yet to underta2e in a credible
way. According to 'dward Soya /0*7* 0", (!this reassertion of space in critical
social theory is an e1ercise in both deconstruction and reconstitution. It cannot be
accomplished simply by appending spatial highlights to inherited critical
perspectives and sitting bac2 to watch them glow with logical conviction). -hese
I7
radical perspectives propel us to study human-nature interactions from an even
grander scale, that of organism-nature meaning interactions. In the words of
Dinfried >Mth /0**7,, (-his definition presupposes that the center of interest of an
ecological semiotics is not a ho"o se"ioticus, but more generally, an organis"us
se"ioticus), all organisms acting as interpreters in ever e1panding and interacting
circles of meaning.
Jabbling in and dallying about ecopsychology as a purely humanistic enterprise
would be acceptable if the very word that describes its purpose did not carry such
baggage already. In addition to misrepresenting itself, it sounds too much li2e
ecology without containing or representing the rigor of this science. 'cology too
has been on the defensive within biology to the e1tent that it con=ures up the
cancellation, with scientific validation, of the privileges to do with nature as we
please. Ainally, ecopsychology, as written about or presented, rarely describes its
methods as ecological science.
Also confusing to readers is that the :eco: part is connected to the :psychology: part.
-o a reader already fatigued and testy with ?prah, #os"opolitan or .sychology
!oday versions of psychology, ecopsychology may prompt the e1pected comment
Dhat will those silly psychologists thin2 of ne1tH ;sychology already has
problems with not being ta2en seriously, generally spea2ing, by the medical
profession or the rest of academia. -o the e1tent that well-intentioned but
scientifically ill-prepared ecopsychologists push for acceptance within a larger
psychological body of professionals, then, sooner or later, their credentials,
abilities, professional training, and claims will be tested and scrutini%ed.
Dhitman9s eagles can afford dangerous or daring amorous play or dalliance even
if they are both males. -hey are, after all, eagles, and in my boo2, eagles can do
whatever they li2e. 'copsychology could be li2e the dalliance of eagles to the
e1tent that it seems not that interested in being recogni%ed as a bona fide scientific
enterprise, or interested in being treated with respect when that respect comes from
clarifying central issues and defining terms in a satisfactory manner protocoli+ing
language so that it serves the scientific enterprise.
>either should ecopsychologists be annoyed or surprised that, when :selling: their
area of interest to the masses or other professionals, these fol2 scratch their heads
in disbelief or confusion when that ecopsychologist is in a tangle or in ignorance
with respect to the basic terms s<he uses while describing her<his enterprise,
I*
oblivious to the wisdom of the natural sciences.
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Acknowledgments
Cy gratitude to Cichael Caley, Chief 'ditor of the !ru"peter, for suggestions that
led to improvements in the first draft.
Correspondence
Jorge Conesa-Sevilla, Canaging 'ditor the !ru"peter3
'mail ChitolaRshaw.ca or =conesaRpd1.edu
#0
Advice from a sceptic: There is room for
naturalism in ecopsychology
Mark Hoelterhoff
University of u!"ria# U$
Abstract
Ecopsychology has a rich history of embracing knowledge and practices from
many traditions. This large umbrella has widely embraced religious and spiritual
practices while at times rejecting mainstream psychology. Considering the future
of ecopsychology, is there room in such an inclusive discipline for a naturalist
approach This essay e!plores the current metaphysical approaches in
ecopsychology and making a case for naturalism. "t e!plores both the metaphysical
and methodological implications of naturalism and suggests ecopsychology is
strengthened by a methodology that seeks reliability and validity. #aturalistic
methodology allows space to recognise the importance of anecdotal accounts of
spirituality and avoiding a completely secular ecopsychology.
Keywords$ ecopsychology, naturalism, spirituality
Introduction
"t is easy to feel like an atheist at a tent revival when one is a sceptical
ecopsychologist. "n popular culture, scepticism is seen as being cynical or close%
minded even in the face of overwhelming evidence, as with the phrase &global
warming sceptic&. However, scepticism is a 'uestioning attitude in which claims
that could be taken for granted are open to doubt. (cientific scepticism is
'uestioning the reliability of doubted claims without systematic investigation
)*ardner, +,-./. Many times this in done through empirical methods, however it0s
simply a process of gathering evidence for claims made. 1f course, the scientific
approach is the subject of much debate and rightly so. However a certain cynicism
has emerged in the field of popular ecopsychology$ doubting the doubters. Coupled
with this mistrust of the scientific method, there is a call to emphasi2e that which
science cannot measure$ spirituality )*lendinning, +,,3/. There is room for
empirical work in the scholarly pursuit of ecopsychology, as many publications
-4
%ar& 'oelterhoff ()vice fro! a s&eptic
would support. However this author0s e!perience of ecopsychology as a practising
field has been one in which those who adopt a sceptical stance on concepts like
spirituality, mysticism, religion transcendence and so on, often get bo!ed in a
category of (kinnerian black%bo! psychologists. 5hat follows then is pressure
from some ecopsychologists to adopt, for lack of a better term, a &spiritual& world
view.
6n e!cerpt from the European Ecopsychology *ociety0s )4778/ 9Manifesto for
Ecopsychology: states an ecopsychologist is characteri2ed by$
6 wider vision of humanity which recogni2es an interaction between physical, affective,
cognitive, and spiritual elements which is coherent with ;eep Ecology, Humanistic%E!istential
<sychology and Transpersonal <sychology
=irstly, this manifesto lays out specific theoretical orientations for
ecopsychologists and one can assume neuro% or cognitive psychologists need not
apply. However more importantly it e!plicitly states that awareness or acceptance
of spirituality is an essential characteristic of ecopsychology. Terms like
transcendence, spirituality and mysticism are very subjective and defined in a
variety of different ways. This essay will not delve deeply into defining these
terms> they have not been defined by organisations such as the European
Ecopsychology *ociety and so must be taken in the most general sense.
?ndefined spirituality may create a wide umbrella for different religious and
spiritual approaches> however, it leaves a certain sense of ambiguity for those who
are uncomfortable with traditional or even non%traditional spirituality. Thus the
knee jerk reaction is to reject and drop out of ecopsychology entirely. @o2ak
)+,.+/ suggested a potential split between environmentalists who adopt an organic
animistic orientation and those who develop a more &modern& perspective of the
mind. "n other words, two stands appear to be emerging in ecopsychology> one
which accepts this &wider vision& and one which is 'uite sceptical of it.
*iving voice to the sceptics, this essay attempts to provide a springboard to begin a
healthy debate about naturalism and supernaturalism in ecopsychology. "t is
intentionally provocative and understandably may ruffle feathers. However, if this
debate is not welcomed and instead ecopsychologists are pushed into the
environmental or ecopsychology camp as @o2ak )+,.+/ implies, it will surely be
the demise of vibrant development in ecopsychology. 5hile it0s true that
-A
psychology in general has become a haven for naturalists and sceptics, it doesn0t
necessitate that ecopsychology become a haven for supernaturalists. ;ivergent
ontological beliefs can be a part of fruitful discussion. "n this vitally important
issue of the European Journal of Ecopsychology, the theme includes the future of
ecopsychology. The fundamental assertion of this essay is that there is enough
room for both the naturalists and supernaturalists to take the field into the future.
There is no need to send the naturalists packing to the environmental camp. "t is
important that non%naturalists take note of the current biases of the popular field of
ecopsychology before naturalism can be an e'ual partner in the future of
ecopsychology.
;espite the difficulty defining the terms used in the European Ecopsychology
*ociety manifesto, two terms will be consistently used$ natural and supernatural.
Every attempt will be made to use these words within the common usage implicit
in the most basic definition. ;espite the emphasis on spiritual in ecopsychology
writings, the term supernatural will be used instead. To attempt to define spiritual
in any specific sense would inevitable e!clude many spiritual people0s subjective
definition. "n addition, there are attempts to create a very naturalistic spirituality
and religion )(tone, 477,/. =or the sake of argument, supernatural will be used as
anything beyond the realm of physical nature. This is restricting and perhaps
religious language would be more comfortable with words like spiritual, divine or
even *od. "t0s also uncomfortable for the naturalist to describe supernatural
because they may argue that there is nothing that e!ists beyond the natural.
However supernatural is a more appropriate term because it not be based on any
specific religious ideology, it merely refers to a power or force outside the natural
material world. 6nother limitation of this term is its dualistic worldview of the
material and immaterial )e.g., spiritual and physical/. ?nderstandably this is not a
view shared by all ecopsychologists or naturalists, but the term supernatural
catches the mystical otherness that the previously mentioned manifesto implies.
Metaphysics
"n order to accurately propose naturalism in ecopsychology, it is essential to touch
briefly on metaphysical ontology. "n philosophy, the field of metaphysics deals
with the nature of reality. "ndividuals that identify themselves as atheists,
agnostics, freethinkers, materialists, rationalists, secular humanists, brights and
sceptics typically share a common naturalistic worldview )Carrol, 477A/.
-3
#aturalism is a theory within metaphysics that holds that reality can be e!plained
mechanistically or often referred to as &natural phenomena&. This worldview is
contradictory to the view that there are natural and supernatural layers to reality or
even more contradictory to a monistic ideology that would hold the &infinite& is the
only true reality. #aturalism is in stark contrast to many pantheistic philosophies in
which &god& is the world. The divine essence of the natural world comes across in
some ecopsychology authors0 writings$
*aia herself seeks to have our species leave its adolescence behind and assume its
responsibilities of adulthood. This task is going to take the harvesting of the gifts and wisdoms
granted to us by all A+ of the civilisations of the last five thousand years. "t needs the insights
and abilities of all the first nations0 indigenous cultures of every continent. 5e need to distil the
wisdom and insights of all sages, teachers, and spiritual students, swamis, gurus, prophets,
saints and martyrs that have ever e!isted. #othing can be left out, nothing forgotten. )Croft,
477./
5ithout getting into the specifics of this kind of mentality, it can be disconcerting
to some ecopsychologists to use the &wisdom& of ancient traditions. 5hat
&distillation& process will we need to implement and what regurgitated ideas from
past religions should be embraced =or e!ample it0s obvious to most clinicians that
harvesting ancient ideas like mental illness originating from demon possession is
very damaging.
Book at a potential scenario$ if ecopsychology embraces an ontological belief
called idealism, it0s in direct opposition to the claim that the true nature of reality is
based on physical substances )materialism/. (o in this scenario, an ecopsychologist
might adopt the eastern philosophy of the Cedas where reality is best described as
a dynamic consciousness of living entities that originates from a supernatural
divine cosmic source )=lood, +,,8/. =air enough for the individual, but when
popular writings of organisations within ecopsychology adopt this view of reality,
it will alienate the naturalist. 6 naturalist does not simply reject the &divine&
cosmos$ that0s atheism. #aturalism makes spiritual or mystical e!planations an
unnecessary hypothesis and essentially supererogatory to scientific investigation
)Carrol, 477A/. @o2ak0s )+,.+/ impending spilt becomes inevitable. "s it possible to
avoid this division by using language that does not imply ontological worldviews
--
Uncritically critical
"n essence, being a sceptic is about asking important 'uestions without accepting
things at face value. <eople can claim to be sceptical, yet unfortunately some will
accept things without much critical evaluation. Ecopsychologists will fall prey to
this very easily by embracing self%titled critical psychology. Critical psychology
thrives on a rejection of traditional patriarchal obsessed western culture and rightly
so. 6 &western worldview& adopts a technology and consumer%orientated mentality
that in turn treats natural resources as a commodity, not an entity> this undermines
the earth0s natural systems )*lendinning, +,,3/. However simplistic it is to
categorise an entire hemisphere of the earth as a worldview, there are important
implications of this criticism. Dut rejecting one worldview merely to replace it with
another is not actually critical thinking$ 96 great many people think they are
thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices: )5illiam Eames, cited
in Miller, Drewer F (poolman, 477G$ A/. The destructive elements of any culture
should be critically evaluated. However there is a significant risk of throwing the
baby out with the bath water. Deing concerned about the lobbying power of the
pharmaceutical companies does not mean that psychiatric science is invalid.
The counter response from naturalists is to re%assert the importance of natural
e!planations of human behaviour. 1ne such area is in the discussions around
consciousness. @ejecting mystical causality, philosopher ;aniel ;ennet advocates
naturalism by using the analogy of magic$ Magician Bee (iegel writing a book on
magic was asked if his book was about &real magic&, by which real magic means
miracles and supernatural powers. Demused she had to say no, the book was on
magic that involves conjuring tricks, not &real& magic );ennet, 477A/. ;ennet uses
this story to highlight the non%naturalists view of consciousness. His argument is
that some people e'uate &real magic& with the supernatural, while the magic that is
staged or mechanical is not &real magic&. Turning back to consciousness, if it is
e!plained in mechanical physical properties as a naturalist would do, somehow it is
deficient or not &real consciousness&. The &magic& will always escape e!planation if
it is presupposed to be an une!plainable mystery );ennet, 477A/. Therefore when
non%mysterious e!plainable ways in which the brain can create consciousness are
used, it is rejected outright.
#aturalists would be very critical of a non%physical or supernatural connection
between human consciousness and nature. (upernaturalists in turn would see
-8
material e!planations of this connection as not being &real& ecopsychology, instead
relying heavily on non%material e!planations. =or e!ample, ecophilosopher
=riedrich 5ilhelm Eoseph von (chelling sees supernatural agency as an integral
part of everyday life. Mind and nature are spiritually one, thus favouring a theistic
interpretation of the human earth connection )as cited in 5olfe Dolman, +,8./.
Modern ecopsychologists may try to redefine &god& as *aia, presence or &spirit&,
perhaps portrayed as psychologically meaningful metaphors. ;errick Eensen
)4773/ suggests conscious awareness of the our relationship with nature has been
silenced by both western religion and science. He states that humans live in a
Hmake%believe worldH in which the delusion that everything is okay with the planet
and despite being alienated from it$
"f we celebrate life with all its contradictions, embrace it, e!perience it, and ultimately live with
it, there is a chance for a spiritual life filled not only with pain and untidiness, but also with joy,
community, and creativity )Eensen, 4773$ +34/.
"t is right to challenge the delusions about global warming and the abuse of natural
resources. <erhaps certain cultural ideas have contributed to this delusion.
?nfortunately it appears ecopsychology is to substitute one 9make%believe world:
for another, merely replacing western religion with eastern and indigenous
spirituality. The naturalist is concerned about knowledge construction via religious
tradition, for e!aple neuroscientist (am Harris says$
The difference between science and religion is the difference between a willingness to
dispassionately consider new evidence and new arguments, and a passionate unwillingness to
do so )Harris, 4778/.
6lthough this is a harsh and perhaps unfair judgement on religious faith, it draws
upon the concerns of naturalists. "f ecopsychology is built predominantly on the
past and under the guise of being critical of western society, then it is a shaky
foundation. 6 foundation housed in religious ideology concerned predominantly
with doctrine preservation while mas'uerading as critical evaluation.
Teleological purpose
6nother essential difference between naturalistic and supernaturalistic philosophy
might best be understood in terms how e!planations are used in the description of
phenomena. 5hen describing specific events, naturalists do not e!pound upon
-.
9teleological e!planations: that admonish purposes or design on the grand scale
)Carroll, 477A/. E!plaining how a clock works is much different than e!plaining
why measuring time is important or who invented that clock in the first place.
#aturalism might take issue with the depth at which ecopsychology tends to define
purpose and meaning to the connection of human and nature. Ecopsychologist
<lotkin )477G/ has developed a very interesting 9soulcentric or ecocentric: model
of human development. 1ne of the precepts in his work is that if human beings are
to thrive socially and psychologically, among other things, they must embrace
spiritual traditions. This implies a specific purpose in the human nature interaction$
(he must learn her people0s way of treating sacred things properly and maintain good relations
with the spirits, gods, animals and landforms )<lotkin, 477G$ +A-/.
#aturalists do not need to make such claims of teleology on a large scale. *ranted,
individual motivation and judgement is a part of the human condition. However a
study of ecological systems need not be seen as purposeful or even sacred. 5hat is
concerning is the admonishment to establish relationships with spirits and gods.
That0s not to say spiritual traditions are worthless, but they are not mandatory in
understanding ecological systems and human behaviour. 5hen it does advocate
&shoulds& and &musts&, ecopsychology is in danger of becoming prescriptive rather
than descriptive. This &wider vision& admonishes the spiritual as an interpretive
framework, and in turn a teleological one as well. The e!tent to which depth and
purpose is advocated in ecopsychology traditions is perhaps what makes it so
appealing to many, moving away from shallow mechanistic e!planations of the
world and e!ploring how humans encounter the natural world in a deep a
meaningful way. Iet great caution should be taken in this endeavour.
Ecopsychology can become far too pontificating without much effort.
Methodology
"n looking at the naturalism, there needs to be a distinction between a metaphysical
belief system and methodology. 1ne could argue that a naturalist would hold that
ideas should be tested and that which can not be tested should be rejected, in this
case spirituality. This results in a rejection of ideas that may be true because
naturalists do not hold that only that which can be tested and detected by current
methods is actually real )=orrest, 4777/. There may be things that e!ist which are
not currently testable, as advocated in 'uantum physics for e!ample. Dut there is a
-G
difference in what to believe about reality and a method of investigation to
understand that reality.
The supernatural can be arbitrary and hard to 'uantify, often relying on an a priori
use of mystical agency, and therefore is not an important matter of scientific
investigation )=orrest, 4777/. However, that does not mean a supernatural reality
doesn0t e!ist or that certain belief systems present a supernatural framework that is
internally logical and consistent. <erhaps one way to prevent the potential split in
ecopsychology is to avoid focusing predominantly on metaphysics. "nstead,
naturalistic methodology )regardless of ontology/ could be used to e!plore ideas in
ecopsychology. <ractitioners and popular authors in ecopsychology are wise to
include ideas outside the realm of psychology, thus incorporating many modes of
knowing. (till, the heart of ecopsychology is psychology, which distinguishes itself
apart from religion and spiritual traditions in its dependence on the scientific
method.
(o can the future of ecopsychology be strengthened by methodological naturalism
Ies, because it is a !etho)ology that relies on the scientific method, grounded in
empiricism as opposed to a purely metaphysical naturalism which holds to the
inadmissibility of the supernatural into scope of reality )=orrest, 4777/.
Ecopsychology would do well to move away from metaphysical assertions and
instead bolster the methodology on which it0s built. 5hat is proposed is a
methodological naturalism as an epistemological approach within ecopsychology>
one that asserts knowledge is gained from the natural world and that methods of
accessing this knowledge should be separate from metaphysical views. 1f course
this approach affects what is said about ecology and psychology. Ecopsychology
would then promote hypotheses which are testable and rely on causal agents which
are e!plained by natural forces. Effects from observable events are considered to
be from natural causes or mechanisms, not from super% or supra%natural forces.
6gain, this is an epistemological, not an ontological position. "nstead of speaking
to what e!ists in the human nature interaction, it addresses how this e!istence is
known. "n other words, is it possible that supernatural forces impact the human
being connection to the environment 1f course it is possible, but that0s not the
same as a knowable )Carrol, 477A/. Methodological naturalism does not speak to
e!istence but that which can be known. Ecopsychologists can embrace naturalistic
methodology in reference to epistemology without a metaphysical naturalism.
-,
Iet why not consider supernatural e!planations in the relationship between human
beings and nature (houldn0t all modes of knowing be valued This approach is
very susceptible to ;rummond0s )47+7/ 9god in the gaps.: "f the causes of an event
are une!plainable and unidentifiable, it must be something supernatural. The
tendency is to postulate supernatural forces to e!plain phenomena for which
scientific naturalism cannot. The future of ecopsychology is in danger when it
ascribes ine!plicability to the supernatural, if only for the simple reason that the
gaps in which a &god& can fit are growing increasingly smaller. Decause of the
newness of ecopsychology, there are significant gaps that e!ists inviting many to
propose supernatural e!planations. *reat disservice to the credibility of the
ecopsychology occurs when arguments from ignorance are e!plained by
supernatural forces. <atience should be e!ercised as methods of investigation
continue to be developed, avoiding the idea that naturalism cannot understand
everything.
=rost )4777/ makes the distinction that transcendent spiritual forces are logically
possible, but their status as e!istential possibilities remain problematic )=orrest,
4777/ There can be all sorts of mysterious spiritual forces and forms that can be
imagined up from nowhere to e!plain the comple! nature of the world )(trahler,
+,,4> =orest, 4777/. "t logically impossible to prove the e!istence of something
about which nothing can be known, a mystery. "t also &procedurally& impossible to
prove the e!istence of something about which nothing can be known through
investigation and gathering of evidence )=orrest, 4777/.
Ecopsychology should seriously consider the viability of its future without solid
epistemological grounding. Even the naturalist must concede that although there is
no successful procedure for knowing the supernatural> strictly speaking it does not
logically preclude its being known at all through prayer, intuition, revelation or
some other transpersonal approach )=orrest, 4777/. However these ways of
knowing do not lend themselves to the same standards that one would e!pect when
designing an aeroplane or choosing the best medical option for a severely ill child.
"n these cases, no level of intuition or divine revelation is satisfactory. 5hy is it
when it comes to psychology interacting with ecology, practitioners and theorists
are not willing to hold ecopsychology to the same rigour The future of
ecopsychology should seek to ways of understanding human and nature
interaction, but in ways that allow for the establishment of legitimacy. ?ntil a
method of knowing the supernatural is developed in a valid reliable and consistent
87
manner, comparable to the knowing the natural, this is not a viable e!planation for
the interaction between ecology and psychology.
Avoiding secularism
;espite the emphasis on naturalistic methodology, ecopsychology does not need to
be entirely secular. (ecularists would support a society devoid of all religion and
spirituality due to its destructive nature. They may define religion is as oppressive
divisive and unhealthy. 6lthough an interesting political and sociological
discussion, this view on religion is not necessary in naturalism. #aturalists do not
advocate removing spiritualism from the subjective e!perience of people0s lives.
<eople0s phenomenological e!perience of the supernatural provides enough
support to allow the possibility of it.
How can ecopsychology avoid becoming completely secular "n the same way
psychology on the whole has, ecopsychology should support the incorporation of
subjective 'ualitative, albeit anecdotal e!periences of individuals. (ubjective
e!perience is crucial for hypothesis generation and motivates researchers to
investigate many different phenomenons. To deny the personal subjective
e!perience of billions of people around the world is ridiculous. (piritual traditions
and beliefs need not be abandoned nor even divorced from the dialogue. Iet it
must not dominate the field either. #aturalism is not about creating a secular
society. However, it is about creating a secular methodology.
Conclusion
Ecopsychologists who do not embrace naturalistic methodology are in danger of
using epistemological approaches that operate as though metaphysical supernatural
forces were true as regulatory principles )=rost, 4777/. "n addition, the challenge to
naturalist ecopsychologists is to avoid reductionism limiting e!planation for
comple! ecological systems. ;espite the emphasis on natural processes, nature
must be understood in different levels of observation, both at the micro% and
macro% level$ from electrons to comple! organisms, cognition to culture )Jurt2,
+,,G> =orrest, 4777/ 1f course methodology changes ontology$ it should. "f the
future of ecopsychology is one in which naturalists are allowed to participate, it
must be open to the ideas that emerge. Historically there are countless e!planations
for human behaviour that were once based on supernatural e!planations that have
8+
now been changed to natural ones. "t0s difficult to find many naturalistic
e!planations of human behaviour that have been replaced by evidence from
supernatural e!planations. "f solid evidence is discovered that replaces a
supernatural idea with a natural one, it should be embraced and vice versa. That is
the true spirit of open%mindedness. "f ecopsychology can e!plore people0s
subjective spiritual e!periences without circumventing probable natural
e!planations, it will thrive as a respectable field.
References
Croft., E. )477./. (piritual implications of climate change. +atherings: Journal of the ,nternational
o!!unity for Ecopsychology. 6ccessed + Eune 47+7 from
http$KKwww.ecopsychology.orgKjournalKe2ineKarchive3Kimplications.html
;ennet, ;. )477A/. E!plaining the 9magic: of consciousness. Journal of ultural an) Evolutionary
-sychology +)+/$ .%+,.
;rummond, H. )47+7/. .he ascent of !an. Toronto$ #abu <ress.
European Ecopsychology (ociety )4778/. ( !anifesto for ecopsychology. 6ccessed 47 (eptember 47+7
from http$KKwww.ecopsychology.netKmanifestoLEE(Len.pdf
=lood, *. )+,,8/. (n intro)uction to 'in)uis!. Cambridge$ Cambridge ?niversity <ress.
=orrest, D. )4777/. Methodological naturalism and philosophical naturalism$ clarifying the connection.
-hilo A)4/$ .%4,.
*ardner, M. )+,-./. /a)s an) fallacies in the na!e of science )4
nd
ed./. #ew Iork$ ;over <ublications.
*lendinning, C. )+,,3/. %y 0a!e is hellis an) ,1! in recovery fro! 2estern civili3ation )+st ed./.
Doston F Bondon$ (hambhala.
Harris, (. )4778, 4
nd
Eanuary/. (cience must destroy religion. .he 'uffington -ost.
Eensen, ;. )4773/. ( language ol)er than 2or)s. Cermont, M6$ Chelsea *reen <ublishing.
Jurt2, <. )+,,G/. ;arwin re%crucified$ 5hy are so many afraid of naturalism /ree ,n4uiry +G)4/$ +-%
+..
Miller, *. T., F (poolman, (. )477G/. 5earning s&ills6 5iving in the environ!ent: -rinciples#
connections# an) solutions )+8
th
ed./)pp. +%3/. #ew Iork$ Drooks Cole.
<lotkin, D. )477./. 0ature an) the hu!an soul: ultivating 2holeness in a frag!ente) 2orl). #ovato,
C6$ #ew 5orld Bibrary.
(tone, E.6. )477,/. 7eligious naturalis! to)ay: .he re"irth of a forgotten alternative. 6lbany, #I$
(tate ?niversity 1f #ew Iork <ress.
(trahler, 6.#. )+,,4/. Un)erstan)ing science: (n intro)uction to concepts an) issues. Duffalo, #I$
<rometheus Dooks.
5olfe Dolman, =. )+,8./. *chelling: .he ages of the 2orl). #ew Iork$ 6.M.(. <ress, "nc.
84
Acnowledgements
" would like to thank the editors and authors of this first issue of the European
Journal of Ecopsychology for engaging in divergent yet fruitful discussions on the
developing theoretical framework within our field.
Correspondence
;r. Mark Hoelterhoff
6pplied <sychology
?niversity of Cumbria
=usehill (treet
Carlisle
C6+ 4HH
E!ail: mark.hoelterhoffMcumbria.ac.uk
8A
Out of the consulting room and into the
woods? Experiences of nature-
connectedness and self-healing
John R. Hegarty
Keele Universiy! UK
Abstract
Nature-connectedness is a core concept in ecopsychology. It could be a proxy
concept for hypothetical biophilia. Focussing on peoples experiences of nature-
connectedness, and ho far people ha!e found the" to be e"otionally helpful,
"ay help social and health-care professionals in their or# ith clients. $his study
ai"ed to explore this idea by as#ing people to describe their personal experiences.
%e"bers of a scientific panel on &green care' (n ) *+, and a group of postgraduate
counselling trainees (n ) -., described experiences of connectedness and
disconnectedness to nature, and ga!e exa"ples of ho they had found nature to be
a positi!e force for personal healing. /articipants described the positi!e e"otional
effects of being in contact ith nature, contrasted by the feelings of isolation,
sadness and other negati!e conse0uences of being disconnected fro" nature.
1ontact ith natural settings appears to generate a range of positi!e feelings to the
extent that therapy and support professionals should consider routinely as#ing
clients about their connectedness to nature and explore ith the" ho their
relationship ith nature could be enhanced. Hoe!er, e can all use nature-
contact for &self-healing' at ti"es of e"otional or physical dis-ease.
Introduction
In this paper I explore the notion that "any of us readily feel a connectedness to
nature and that this is good for us. 2 #ey i"plication for social care and health
professionals is that they could use a persons positi!e nature-relationship as a
starting point for their inter!ention and ongoing support 3 or, to put it another ay,
lea!ing the consulting roo" for a al# in the oods. If e dont ha!e a
professional helper, of course, e should consider doing this oursel!es.
.4
John "# $egary %aure-connece&ness an& self-healing
2 throb in the heart-beat of the ecopsychology "o!e"ent is the concept of
biophilia, &the innate tendency to focus on life and life-li#e processes' (5ilson,
*6748 *,. 9ellert and 5ilsons (*66:, boo# on biophilia refers to its existence as an
&hypothesis', since it cannot be directly obser!ed, only inferred fro" exa"ples of
people preferring natural en!iron"ents. Nor can it be easily shon that nature-
contact has healing properties. Indeed a recent "ultidisciplinary pro;ect to
conceptualise &green care' (<e"pi#, Hine = 5ilcox, ->*>, shos ho ide-
ranging the concept is, hich "a#es it difficult if not i"possible to find an agreed
ay to establish the therapeutic efficacy of contact ith nature. Hoe!er, &nature-
connectedness' can be thought of as a "anifestation of biophilia and, as I explore
here, people fre0uently describe nature-connectedness experiences hen as#ed,
and recognise that nature-contact is good for the".
$he starting point for "y or# in this area as %ayer and Frant? (->>4, paper
describing a self-report scale ai"ing to "easure &nature-connectedness'. $heir *4-
ite" 0uestionnaire appears to reliably "easure here an indi!idual is on an
ideological continuu" ranging fro" a feeling of inter-connectedness ith the
natural orld to alienation fro" it. $he authors report that they found &a
"oderately strong positi!e relationship beteen the 1N< (1onnectedness to
Nature <cale, and eco-friendly actions' (p. @*-, and offer it as &a ay to "onitor
atte"pts to change peoples orld-!ie to one that is "ore en!iron"entally
sensiti!e' (i'i&#,. 5hilst this scale is a !aluable tool for 0uantitati!e research, I
thought that the fourteen 0uestions too# a narro !ie of hat nature-
connectedness "ight "ean for indi!iduals. I anted to find out hat peoples on
experiences ere.
I as also interested in the i"plications of nature-connectedness for psychological
healing. <e!eral authors ha!e de"onstrated ho nature can be used alongside other
psychotherapeutic strategies. Aurns (*667, is an inspiring "anual for integrating
nature experiences into hypnotherapy. Binden and Crut (->>-, used allot"ent
gardening as a #ey ele"ent in their psychotherapeutic or# ith torture !icti"s.
Aerger and %cBeod (->>.8 7>, present &an alternati!e approach to therapy,
conducted in creati!e ays in nature, addressing the en!iron"ent not "erely as a
setting but as a partner in the process'. Neuberger (->>+, has extensi!ely
de!eloped the &phyto-resonance theory' of /aul <hepard in his or# ith
psychiatric patients and gi!es exa"ples of specific horticultural acti!ities that
create &self-reflecti!e processes DEthatF set i"pulses to understand and change
.@
personal proble" sol!ing strategies' (Neuberger, ->>+8 *@:,. %ore broadly, one
could cite the horticultural therapy and ecotherapy "o!e"ents as affir"ing the
healing poer of nature. $hese are exa"ples of a tripartite therapeutic partnership
beteen the client, therapist and beneficent nature, but I a" particularly interested
in this paper in ho far people ha!e spontaneously experienced nature-as-healer,
and hether they see# out nature experiences at difficult ti"es.
$he or# I report here, then, ste"s fro" to 0uestions. Firstly, hat are peoples
e!eryday understandings of the ter" &nature-connectedness'G <econdly, do people
report see#ing out natural settings to feel betterG I de!ised a si"ple 0uestionnaire
to find out. Here I present data fro" to sa"ples, using the first !ersion of "y
0uestionnaire (2ppendix *,8 a "ultidisciplinary sa"ple of scientists and
practitioners attending a "eeting on &green care' as part of the Huropean 1I<$
7.. action, and a group of postgraduate counselling trainees at a Aritish Jni!ersity.
Method
Design
$he study as concei!ed as 0ualitati!e, narrati!e, and ethnographic8 I anted to
collect exa"ples of peoples self-reports of nature-connectedness and their
unpro"pted use of nature for self-healing. I contrast this ith a &sur!ey', hich
collects 0uantitati!e data on the pre!alence of particular !ies or experiences.
%ore broadly, the or# sits ithin pheno"enological approaches to research.
Ceorge 9ellys (*6@@, &personal construct theory' is also personally influential.
9elly argued for the i"portance of understanding an indi!iduals !ie, or
construction, of the orld8 a person-centred, idiographic approach to research. In
this study, I reproduce !erbati" "any of "y participants 0uestionnaire responses
and #eep "y on interpretations to a "ini"u".
Construction of the questionnaire
%y 0uestionnaire (2ppendix *, begins ith an introductory paragraph designed to
orient participants to the purpose of the research. Kuestions * and - as# for
peoples experiences of nature-connectedness and its contrasting construct, &dis-
connectedness'. Kuestion : is a single Bi#ert-scale 0uestion as#ing for peoples
agree"ent ith the assertion that &Aeing connected ith the natural orld is a
..
positi!e force for healing' and Kuestion 4 in!ites people to share an experience of
this, after a pri"ing LesMNo 0uestion.
Study participants and procedure
<a"ple *8 *+ "e"bers of a Huropean research group (HJ 1I<$ 7.., accessed
accessed *6
th
%ay ->*> fro" http8MM.u"b.noMgreencareM, on &green care and
health' agreed to co"plete the 0uestionnaire at the end of a "eeting. $hey ere
scientists and practitioners in a range of professions including social and health
care, agriculture, !eterinary science and psychology, fro" "any Huropean
countries. Nine other "e"bers of the group declined to co"plete the 0uestionnaire,
so"e confessing that they felt their co""and of Hnglish as not sufficient.
2lthough the topic as broadly fa"iliar to the", they had not been introduced to
"y research or 0uestionnaire before co"pleting it.
<a"ple -8 -. uni!ersity postgraduate counselling students ranging in age fro" ---
.- years co"pleted the 0uestionnaire as part of a or#shop on general research
"ethods. <tudents had a range of personal and professional bac#grounds but had a
co""on interest in supporting and helping others. $he or#shop included
exercises on research "ethods and students ere as#ed to !olunteer to co"plete
the 0uestionnaire at the end of the session. Hcopsychology had not featured in their
course, and as not "entioned in that session, so the experiences that they dre on
in co"pleting the 0uestionnaire ere fro" their personal or professional
bac#grounds. 2ll co"pleted the 0uestionnaire.
Data analysis and presentation
/eople in both sa"ples see"ed to find the 0uestionnaire interesting and
sti"ulating. 5hilst so"e people ansered the 0uestions ith ;ust a fe ords,
others rote lengthy personal accounts of experiences and e"otions. <o"e ere
"o!ing and poetic.
I considered at length ho best to con!ey this richness and di!ersity of experience
here. I felt that a detailed, reductionist content or the"atic analysis, hilst
potentially of interest, ould destroy the flo and i""ediacy of indi!idual
narrati!es. I therefore decided to present the ansers 0uestion by 0uestion, and to
0uote fro" the" as fully as space alloed.
.+
2 stri#ing initial i"pression for "e as ;ust ho "uch people rote, particularly
for Kuestion 4. I con!ey this by a brief analysis of the ord count for each
0uestion and beteen each sa"ple. <econdly, it as clear that there ere "any
si"ilarities in peoples accounts. I highlight these at the beginning of "y analysis
of each 0uestion. Finally, I reproduce a representati!e selection of peoples
ansers, grouped into categories or the"es that appeared during "y extensi!e
reading and re-reading of the data.
Results
In the folloing extracts respondents are identified by group (C1 ) Creen 1are
group, sa"ple *N 1/ ) counsellor psychology trainees, sa"ple -, and by an
arbitrary index nu"ber. /ersonal details such as age, nationality and gender ere
not identifiable.
Connectedness (Question 1)
H!eryone ansered this 0uestion and indicated that connectedness did ha!e
resonances for the", ith contributions that ranged in length fro" a fe ords to
paragraphs. $he "edian length of contribution as -> ords (range :-.*, in the
Huropean Creen 1are sa"ple and -4.@ (range 4-+*, in the J9 counseling
psychology sa"ple. $his difference , hoe!er, is not statistically significant
(%edian test, O- (*, ) *.*-, p ) >.-6, --tailed,.
$he shorter responses con!ey a positi!e response to the idea of connectedness but
tell us little about the indi!idual respondent. Hxa"ples include8
<ilence, grace, holeness. (C17,
Aeauty, groth, outside, countryside, !ie therapeutic, oxygen, escape, healthy. (1/+,
/leasure generated fro" nature. $he positi!ity that nature can e!o#e. $he onder of natural
beauty. Respect, ell-being, relax, e"pathy, "ore senses in use, pleasure, learn ne s#ills.
(C1**,
Feeling at peace ith nature. Feeling cal"ness and acceptance of nature, sloness. (1/-:,
Relaxation, release, feeling free. (1/-@,
.7
$he longer contributions disclose "ore of the indi!iduals !ies and thin#ing
about the topic of connectedness, for exa"ple8
I li#e the idea of being connected ith nature, to "e it "eans being a part of "y natural
surroundings and particularly here there are no buildings. For "e it is i"portant to be by the
sea and I find this refreshing, cal"ing and de-stressing. I also find these feelings hen or#ing
in "y garden, or on a lesser scale, atching the birds in the garden before I go to or#. (1/*,
1/*s contribution has a nu"ber of ele"ents that ere echoed in "any others.
$here is an o!erall positi!e tone, here stated explicitly (he or she &li#es the idea' of
a connection to nature,. $his connection in!ol!es an identity (&being a part of',
ith nature. $his is a natural, not constructed en!iron"ent (&natural surroundings
and particularly DEF no buildings',. 2 personally-i"portant location is "entioned
(&for "e DEFi"portant to be by the sea',, and there is a positi!e e"otional effect
(&refreshing, cal"ing, de-stressing',. $he final sentence generalises the experience
to other natural settings. <i"ilar ele"ents can be seen in "any accounts.
$he positi!e e"otional tone runs through all the contributions to Kuestion * (in
contrast to Kuestion -, as e shall see, hich as#ed about disconnectedness,.
/articipant 1/* abo!e "entions explicitly a relaxing effect, and i"plies a personal
!alue gained fro" being part of natural surroundings. Ither "ention si"ilar
feelings, that connectedness is spiritually "eaningful, Cod-li#e and e"otionally
helpful, as in the folloing exa"ples.
Not being religious in the traditional "eaning I do feel a larger "eaning ith life or being part
of a larger being hen I a" close to or feel part of Nature. It is li#e being part of life, being
real, being acti!e. (C1*,
1onnection ith so"ething bigger so"ething poerful, uncontrollable, groth, longe!ity.
Relaxation. Feeling of not being alone. Creater poer 3 beyond. Crounded. /eace. Aeauty.
Aeing part of so"ething. (1/-,
%y strongest experience is the undersea en!iron"ent hen you beco"e part of the
en!iron"ent. (C1-,
1o"e closer ith "y real self, or Cod. (1/@,
$his resonates ith "e. Nature is cal"ing, helps put the rest of life in perspecti!e. <easons lin#
us ith the seasons of life 3 <pring 3 groth. 5inter - death and loss. Bin#s us ith natural
cycles and our on life cycles. (1/7,
.6
In!ol!e"ent of "any senses. Feeling &at ho"e'. Feeling of being supported. <tress relief.
Prop shoulders. (C16,
<pirituality 3 idea of seeing Cod in creation 3 that as hu"ans e are all part of creation. Ay
being close to nature DyouF can connect ith Cod and the inner life. (1/6,
Bin# to &fro" here all life starts'. $he nature of things 3 ho things really are. (C1*>,
2t peace in natural surroundings such as open air 3 green fields, trees, particularly oodland 3
touching ood 3 natural, berries, bringing "e bac# don to earth 3 so"ething pure, safe and
real 3 so"ething hich has alays been there. (1/*-,
$hat hu"ans are connected to nature ith all their physiology, culture, e"otional and social
context but are not aare of it any "ore "ost of the ti"e. (C1*:,
2 spiritual connection ith the uni!erse through nature. Hncourage"ent fro" &alternati!e'
gurus to get in touch ith nature and as "eans of balancing, healing, cal"ing the spirit. (1/*+,
I feel that e are a part of nature, because the creator of nature is also the one ho "ay ha!e
created us (no, I dont thin# its Cod,. 1onnectedness ith nature for "e ould be being in the
presence of our on i.e. hat as "ade ith us. (1/->,
Not e!eryones passage con!eyed a deeper spiritual lin#, hoe!er8 so"e ;ust
reported that being in nature felt good, or as associated ith pleasant feelings.
$rees, relaxation, ani"als, fresh air, long al#s, brightness, "ountain, picnic. Relax, being
cal"er, clearing thoughts, catharsis, get in touch ith inner self and soul. (1/.,
2utu"n colours, short inter days, snoing, bright inter days 3 sun is shining and sno is
full of dia"onds, spring ti"e hen nature is aa#e 3 all getting green, garden in the ar"
e!ening hen seeds are son and the earth is blac# and ar", su""erti"e ith floers, rain
and sun 3 long bright days, butterflies in sunny forest and in "eados. (C1+,
/leasure generated fro" nature. $he positi!ity that nature can e!o#e. $he onder of natural
beauty. (1/*:,
/eacefulness, al#ing, "ushroo"s, si" in the la#e, ee#end, su""er, s#iing. (C1*@,
I thin# natural ele"ents are !ery therapeutic i.e. al#ing through oods, fields is cal"ing and
relaxing and allos "e to unind and thin# freely. I feel particularly dran to the sound of a
+>
ri!er or e!en the ater feature in the garden. 2ay fro" the house and chores I feel "ore
relaxed and stress free. (1/*.,
2nother the"e as that indi!iduals ere draing on acti!ities they regularly too#
part in, such as al#ing and gardening (belo,, or underater si""ing (C1-,
abo!e,, that brought the" satisfaction.
Cardener 3 touching plants M soil is cal"ing, grounding. 5atching sunlight on lea!es is
spiritual. Cardening 3 the garden reflects "y personality. Aird atching 3 ne exciting
fulfilling. 5al#ing in the oods 3 life-gi!ing. (1/*4,
Aeing connected ith nature "a#es "e thin# of health, al#ing, exploring, ildlife, beautiful
scenery, cal"ness and purity. (1/-*,
5hen I go for al#s in the la#e district I feel !ery cal"ed and relaxed by being surrounded by
nature. (1/-4,
5al#ing in "ountains re"ote fro" areas of population. I find that ildness and rugged nature
of this type of en!iron"ent !ery challenging and sti"ulating. (1/-.,
$here ere contributions that see"ed to con!ey !ery deeply-held principles8
&Nature ne!er did betray the heart that lo!ed her' (E<ha, It is i"portant to "e that I li!e in
rhyth" ith nature, not cut across the natural grain. (1/4,
I ish the orld as &constructed' differently so that it asnt such an effort to be physically
connected to nature. $he "odern orld is too "echanical. I feel &connected' ith nature is the
ay e ere "eant to be. (1/**,
%other Harth and the fact that e only ha!e one earth, cant gro "ore land and that land
pro!ides food sources and nurture. (1/*7,
Finally, so"e ere idiosyncratic or enig"atic8
%y e!eryday life, or#ing on our on ecological far" or ad!ising far"ers to sol!e their
proble"s in ecological far"ing. (C1:,
$ree hugging, Creen "an, Robin Hood, Bady 1hatterley, 2ncient oodlands, National $rust.
Ine!itability of death, nu"inosity, chaos theory, pri"ordial sa"p, ele"ental eather. (C1--,
H"pathy, Coethean pheno"enology. (C1*+,
+*
Inly one contributor rote that she did not feel connected ith nature, although
en;oyed it8
I dont really feel &connected' ith nature but I li#e spending ti"e in nature (relaxation, and
en;oy nature and ildlife. (C14,
I ha!e 0uoted in full "any of the 4: responses to Kuestion * abo!e to gi!e a
representati!e picture of hat respondents contributed. $he choice of those to
include as in a sense arbitrary, as any of the" could ha!e been included, and
those o"itted ere si"ilar. 2lthough the abo!e exa"ples reflect personal and
indi!idual experiences, the o!erall content is consistent. /articipants are reporting
e"otionally positi!e experiences that ha!e arisen hilst they are in touch ith
natural places or things, that are fre0uently associated ith acti!ities (such as
al#ing or gardening,, and hich often ha!e a deeper, spiritual "eaning for the".
$he associations &disconnectedness ith nature' (Kuestion -, that people
described are in clear contrast. Pisconnectedness see"s to i"ply "any negati!e
e"otions such as tension, isolation, blea#ness, e"ptiness, stress, "eaninglessness
and fear.
Disconnectedness (Question 2)
H!eryone replied to this 0uestion. 1ontributions ere briefer than to Kuestion *.
$he C1 sa"ple "ade shorter contributions (%edian ) *>.@ ords, range *--7,
than the 1/ sa"ple (%edian ) *@ ords, range 4-:-, and the difference
approaches statistical significance (%edian $est, O- (*, ) -.7:, p ) >.>6, --tailed,.
$he o!erall tone of the responses to Kuestion - hich, as one "ight expect since it
is as#ing for the opposite pole of the construct &connectedness', is distinctly
different than the ansers to Kuestion *. $his contrast is illustrated by /articipant
1/*. ho specifically lin#ed 0uestions * and -8
K*8 I thin# natural ele"ents are !ery therapeutic i.e. al#ing through oods, fields is cal"ing
and relaxing and allos "e to unind and thin# freely. I feel particularly dran to the sound of
a ri!er or e!en the ater feature in the garden. 2ay fro" the house and chores I feel "ore
relaxed and stress free.
K-8 1on!ersely, to be in a cluttered roo" or a roo" full of ob;ects and people ith no natural
light or fresh air can feel stressful, draining and tiring.
+-
2nother contributor (C1*-, offered a string of ord-associations for 0uestions *
and - hich again shos a clear contrast8
K*8 $ree-hugging, Creen %an, Robin Hood, Bady 1hatterley, ancient oodlands, National
$rust DJ9 charity preser!ing nations heritageF. Ine!itability of death, nu"inosity, chaos
theory, pri"ordial sa"p, ele"ental eather.
K-8 Jrban arrior, yuppie, "etropolitan, reductionis", "edical "odel, dead ani"als on the
road, high-tech, steel and glass buildings.
1ontributor 1/. also feels the to are !ery different8
K* $rees, relaxation, ani"als, fresh air, long al#s, brightness, "ountain, picnic. Relax, being
cal"er, clearing thoughts, catharsis, get in touch ith inner self and soul.
K- 1ity life, fast-"o!ing society, pollution, cars, busy, "oody faces, being practical.
%any ansers to this 0uestion had si"ilar ele"ents to the abo!e three, illustrated
in the exa"ples belo. 1ontributions fre0uently referred to contrasts in place
(outside, contrasted ith being inside,, in acti!ity (al#ing against being in a
roo",, to the 0ualities of place (the &sound of the ri!er' !ersus &roo" full of
ob;ectsDEF ith no natural light',, and to the effects on the indi!idual (&"ore
relaxed and stress free' in contrast ith &stressful, draining and tiring',.
$he built, urban en!iron"ent as a place as cited by "any people, particularly in
the 1/ sa"ple8
Pisconnected fro" "y core nature, fro" "y first en!iron"ent. Ae closer to technocratic orld,
"aterialistic orld. (1/@,
1ity life, fast-"o!ing society, pollution, cars, busy, "oody faces, being practical. (1/.,
Inside, no !ie, i"prisoned. (1/+,
Pisconnected 3 cities. 1rods of people. Poing rather than being. 2lienation fro" self and
other li!ing things. %aterialis". Iut of sync ith ti"e. $i"e-dri!en. (1/7,
Aeing disconnected suggests the idea of the absence of li!ing things - the "etaphor of the
concrete ;ungle 3 sic# building syndro"e etc. (1/6,
+:
Jrban context. <tress, fatigue. (C1*4,
Aeing in the city 3 no trees or open spaces, noise, fu"es, no 0uiet places. (1/*7,
Factory, cars, e!ery #inds of pollution, fashion. (1/*6,
&Aeing disconnected' re"inds "e of "y city life, here nature is "issing and is replaced ith
synthetics and "an "ade instead of original and natural. (1/->,
In the abo!e exa"ples the urban en!iron"ent is "entioned but the e"otions that
people associate ith it are largely i"plied. Ither contributions focus less on place
than on the feelings that they associate disconnectedness ith, as the folloing
exa"ples sho.
Aeing alone, being petrified, being unhappy, being isolated, being outside. (C1*,
2lone, isolation, stressed. Jgly, <oulless, e"pty. Frightening. I!erhel"ing. (1/-,
Aeing disconnected ) sadness, loneliness, a big part of the life 0uality "issing. Routine life,
dri!ing a car. (C1-,
Bonely isolated afraid re;ected. (1/:,
Not fully li!ing. 2 loss of spirituality. Jnhappiness. 2 blea#ness. (1/4,
2nger, isolation, speechlessness, being upset, loneliness.(C16,
<piral-ing aay fro" the "eaningful. I!er-rationalisation, o!er econo"isation (presu)a'ly
)eaning in he sense of econo)ics as )aerial gain*. (C1*>,
No resonance 3 feeling separate al"ost alien. Not understanding or feeling "eaning 3 alone 3
untouched 3 untouchable. (1/*-,
1ut off 3 fro" part of "yself. Par# nights 3 ithdra fro" life into "yself. Not aare Dof
beingF connected to natural rhyth"s i.e., seasonsMchanges in bird "igration. (1/*:,
Boss and fear 3 alone in "y on inner ilderness 3 I a" in!isible to the orld. Pisconnection
relates to the safety here no-one can get "e or hurt "e, "y e"otions ha!e left. (1/--,
+4
<adness, confusion, feeling different fro" other indi!iduals, hopefulness that things "ay
change, feelings of aloneness. (1/-@,
$he abo!e contributions focus on ho disconnectedness "ade the" personally
feel. Inly three contributors focus on other people8
For "e, being disconnected ith natures "a#es "e feel that that people dont care about
nature, dont respect nature or dont ha!e the opportunity to spend ti"e in nature. (C14,
Not appreciating nature. Not respecting nature, for instance, by da"aging trees that Dha!eF
spent "any years groing. (C1@,
I ha!e little respect for people ho feel disconnected ith nature. (C1*@,
I conclude this section ith to of the longer ansers to this 0uestion. $hey "a#e personal as
ell as "ore general points.
I thin# "y generation (I a" -+ years old, is really disconnected ith nature. Hspecially hen
you are li!ing in the estern part of the Netherlands. I e!en li!e in the &countryside' ith lots
of forest but nature is for "e "ore a #ind of &theatre' or &bac#ground', here you can al# in
it or run in it. It rushes you along and you do not ha!e the ti"e to see the details for instance
ho things gro. (C1.,
Ausy, unhealthy, fa#e, out of touch ith hats really i"portant. $he thought "a#es "e ish
for ti"e-out. I connect ti"e-outs ith nature cos you get to ;ust appreciate e!erything around
you. (1/**,
$he ansers to Kuestion - hint at those to the final 0uestion, shoing that people
found nature-contact personally "eaningful and e"otionally !aluable. 2s#ing
the" specifically about the !alue of nature-connectedness produced a ealth of
additional detail, as e see in the next section.
Connectedness and self-healing (Questions 3 and 4)
Ha!ing encouraged respondents to thin# about the idea of connectedness to nature,
the 0uestionnaire ends ith as#ing the" ho far this is lin#ed to their ellbeing. It
see"ed to find a strong resonance. $hirty-eight of the 4: respondents said that they
agreed or strongly agreed ith the state"ent in Kuestion : (: circled &neutral'
and - &disagree',8 &Aeing connected ith the natural orld is a positi!e force for
+@
healing'. $hree people rote nothing in the follo-up 0uestion to this (K.4, hich
as#ed the" to share personal experiences. $he re"ainder rote "ore in response
to this 0uestion than to the others8 the "edian ord length for the C1 sa"ple as
-6 ords (range @-6+, and for the 1/ sa"ple, 4- ords (range *>-*-*,. $he
"edian difference beteen the to sa"ples, although apparently large, is not
statistically significant (%edian test, O- (*, ) *.*-, p ) >.-6, --tailed,.
$he ansers "a#e fascinating reading and "any ha!e si"ilar features. For
exa"ple, consider the folloing to extracts8
5hen I a" particularly stressed or run don I feel better able to cope and feel better in "yself
if I a" able to be in nature in so"e ay 3 this "eans ta#ing ti"e out to ;ust &be' outside
so"eti"es. (1/*,
5al#ing outside for cal"ing don, relax, recreate, feel better hen depressed. Instead of
al#ing outside, these effects can also be reached by spending ti"e ith ani"als, doing sports
outside. (C1*:,
$hese accounts tal# about the occasions on hich nature as used and the specific
nature of the proble" (&henDE.F particularly stressed', &hen depressed',, the
acti!ity engaged in (&ta#ing ti"e out to be ', &al#ing outside',, the place in
nature accessed (&outside', &spending ti"e ith ani"als',, and the therapeutic
effect (&better able to cope', &cal" don',. Ine can see these the"es in "any of
the folloing accounts8
H!ery ti"e I ha!e to li!e in an urban en!iron"ent etc for shorter or longer periods (study-
years, or# etc, especially in big, loud, stin#y cities co"ing bac# into far"ing (practically,
hands-on, is healing, "a#es breathing free again. (C14,
If I a" lac#ing clarity, inspiration or feel &closed don' I al# high hills M "ountains 3 it is
here I re-connect. Relaxation 3 near ater, especially "o!ing ater, ri!ers, falls, sea. $rees 3
gi!e the" a hug, their energy is poerful and gi!ing. 1olour 3 floers, lea!es 3 in!igorates.
%editation in!ol!es these things. $he abo!e are all a part of "eQ (1/4,
Puring the inter days ith sunshine "a#es "e "uch better. Iutdoor acti!ities, al#ing,
cleaning up your garden etc. stabilises "y "ood. (C1@,
I al# regularly in the countryside hich I feels pro!ides "e ith an opportunity to de-stress
and escape and it feels !ery healthy and therapeutic. (1/+,
+.
$o stay alone in nature and ilderness for so"e hours or days to feel conte"plation, reflection,
"editation and relaxation. (C17,
Fa"ily "e"bers ho are depressed go to <cotland to al#. $his alays has a healing
outco"e. 5hen feeling stressed I alays find a al# in nature helps. 5hen you are alone in
Nature you can finally listen to yourself. Nature helps us to lea!e the busy orld behind. (1/7,
Just si"ply al#ing by a la#e or ri!er, being under trees and loo#ing up at a "ountain fills "e
ith ;oy and re!i!es "e spiritually. I cant really explain it other than a spiritual experience or
being in touch ith creation 3 and perhaps the creatorQ (1/6,
$oo "any to count but its "entally therapeutic to be placed so"ehere you N2$JR2BBL
belong (in nature, aay fro" all the technology. %editation is an exa"ple of e!ery-day-stress-
relief-therapy sort of thing. 2lthough you can "editate aay fro" nature, it facilitates and
inspires the process. $heres ;ust so"ething about the s"ell of "ountain air or freshly cut grass
isnt thereG (1/**,
I ha!e since a child ta#en a huge co"fort fro" being in the countryside 3 ;ust a certain s"ell in
the air can literally transfor" the ay I a" feeling. I a" choosing to al# in the countryside
for - hours each day in order to pro!e a fruitful area for "editation and reflection. (1/*-,
5al#ing outside for cal"ing don, relax, recreate, feel better hen depressed. Instead of
al#ing outside, these effects can also be reached by spending ti"e ith ani"als, doing sports
outside. (C1*:,
Les8 I use nature and garden to balance "y "ind. (C1*@,
I find that al#ing in the fresh air cures "y "igraine attac#s better than ta#ing tabletsM
"edication. It also "a#es "e feel !ery happy on days hen I a" run don. (1/-*,
I often go on a long al# in hills or open countryside hen I ant to clear "y "ind andMor
hen see#ing inspiration. (1/-.,
Boo#ing across all the ansers to this 0uestion, I as struc# by the fact that three
ti"es as "any people described their use of nature for self-healing in a ay that
as habitual, as distinct fro" relating a particular incident or ti"e in their life. If
the nine in the latter category, the folloing are !i!id exa"ples.
I had had an argu"ent ith "y "u" hich as !icious. I opened "y bac# door and a ha#
had brought don a pigeon. $he pigeon as bleeding at the nec# and the ha# ;ust stood and
stared at "e before it fle off. $he pigeon died. $his "ade "e recognise ho cruel I had been
++
to "y "u" - I anted to hurt her. I felt !icious but did not ant her to die. I later apologised
for ho I had treated her but not for hat I had been trying to say. 5ho as the pigeon, ho
as the ha#G (1/:,
For about *> years ago I as !ery tired of too "uch or# and responsibilities ith or# and
fa"ily. It as late su""er and the doctor ga!e "e to ee#s free fro" the or# DE.F I ent
to the forest and pic#ed blueberries for the first :-4 days. I needed to do so"ething different
but I had to do so"ethingQ Noadays I gro illo (different parts for ea!ing, and
har!esting the different colours fro" yello to purple and "a#ing bas#ets is a great recreation
for "e. (C1+,
5hilst !isited by the fa"ily finders hilst in the process of adopting our son. $hey pic#ed and
ate a straberry fro" the hanging bas#et outside the bac# door. $hey co""ented on its
seetness and ho lo!ely to find straberries in <epte"ber. I still ha!e those straberries,
they co"e bac# e!ery year, they relate to an i"portant part of "y life. $hey helped "e connect
to to strangers ho ere i"portant in their decision to "atch us to our son. $he !isit ent
extre"ely ell and it as a poerful and positi!e experience. 5e had a fire recently hich
too# aay "ost of "y garden and the loss of the straberries as greatly felt "ore than
anything. $han#fully they ha!e re-e"ergedQ (1/*:,
5hen I anted to die and had lost all hope, I ent to the Dplace is na"edF and sat high on a
hill, hen I loo#ed around "e I felt life groing in "e, I experienced a deep sense of
connection and freedo" ith all the beauty surrounding "e. I felt cleansed and fresh, hope and
onder"ent leapt into "e and I anted to li!e. $his place is no sy"bolic for healing to "e
and I belie!e "y life as sa!ed fro" direct contactMexperience ith nature. (1/--,
I ha!e li!ed in 1entral Bondon for - years because I as bored ith country life as the pace
as slo and boring. In the - years I ha!e been aay I ha!e been doing e!erything 3 (fro"
actions to e"otions, 3 at a speedy pace 3 has not been good for "y health 3 as I need to slo
don 3 and &go bac# to basics'. I ha!e been bac# to and a half "onths. I find it hard to ad;ust
to the slo pace yet ha!e realised ho cal"ing nature can be. I appreciate it "ore and ta#e
"ore ti"e to appreciate and respect it. I has alloed "e to ta#e "y ti"e and slo don and
loo# after "yself "ore. (1/-:,
%ost contributors rote in the first person, but to contributors in the Creen 1are
sa"ple rote about their or# experiences, or "ade "ore general points8
Riolent patients ne!er da"aged plants during last years. $he ones that participate in the
horticultural therapy respect the plants8 they ha!e ne!er been ob;ect of a !iolent aggression.
(C1-,
%ore in the con!erse 3 ho unnatural en!iron"ents particularly psychiatric ards are clearly
+7
detri"ental to healing unless a holistic !ie is ta#en. Ho "uch difference things li#e green
space, running ater, ooden furnishings, outdoor seating, natural light etc. ha!e. (C1*-,
Discussion
I ha!e illustrated, by extensi!ely 0uoting in full, a ide selection of responses to a
si"ple 0uestionnaire on ho people experience nature-connectedness, nature-
disconnectedness, and nature as healer. 2lthough these to sa"ples (a scientific
group studying green care, and a counselling group studying therapy, ere
positi!ely biased by their interests and professional orientation toards the to
concepts I a" exploring, I feel that their ansers support the notion that
connectedness to nature is a concept that is in at least so"e peoples e!eryday
experience and that they can relate it to their health. Further"ore, their responses
sho that so"e indi!iduals regularly see# out nature-experiences to help their
e"otional or physical health, or lin# a nature-connected experience to an i"portant
psychological ti"e in their life.
If course, these are preli"inary findings. Further research is necessary to
in!estigate ho far such experiences apply in other cultures, ith younger people,
and in people ith different #inds or degrees of contact ith nature, such as
participants in outdoor sports, or those ho regularly or# in natural settings,
perhaps contrasted ith people ho ha!e !ery little contact at all. 2 "a;or
li"itation is that it is not possible co"pletely to exclude experi"enter effects8 ho
far "y personal enthusias" for ecopsychology and nature-based therapy, as ell as
the ording of the 0uestionnaire, led to the findings reported here. Ne!ertheless, at
least for these sa"ples, and ith the li"itations of this 0uestionnaire, I feel e
ha!e re!ealed a ealth of genuine personal experience hich people see"ed
pleased to share.
$he C1 group rote less on their 0uestionnaires than the 1/ group, possibly
because, for "any of the", Hnglish as not their first language, or they ere tired
at the end of a long day. Hoe!er the "edian differences did not reach statistical
significance and the general content and tone of the contributions fro" the to
sa"ples ere broadly si"ilar. 2s noted abo!e, there is considerable scope for
further researchN hoe!er, participants fro" <pain, Creece, and the Jnited <tates
ho co"pleted the 0uestionnaire since this study report si"ilar experiences to
those presented here. I tentati!ely suggest that these experiences are idespread.
+6
Aased on the data reported here, nature-connected experiences see" to be strongly
e"otional, and positi!ely so. H"otions include not only relaxing and pleasant ones
but also those hich are described as religious. Ither researchers ha!e found this
too. 2n i"portant and original or# by /affard (*6+:, describes the responses of
4>> sixth-for"ers and uni!ersity undergraduates to a literary extract describing a
poerful nature experience. I!er half of these young people (@@.@S, described
experiences of &nature-"ystical ;oy, ae and fear' (p. *>-, they had encountered
through contact ith nature. /affard e"bar#ed on the study after ondering
hether young people could identify ith the nature-poetry of 5illia"
5ordsorth in hich he details "any experiences he had hilst groing up in the
Hnglish Ba#e Pistrict. /affard painsta#ingly categorised his respondents accounts
according to the #ind of e"otion they describe (for exa"ple, ;oy, fear, ae,, and
noticed that "any could be described as a#in to religious experiences, e!en
transcendental. He decided that the ord, &nu"inous' (i"plying the experience of
Cod in nature, as particularly appropriate to describe these transcendental
"o"ents.
Jnderstanding the de!elop"ental groth of nature-connectedness is i"portant.
9ahns (*666, detailed or# on childrens "oral reasoning about nature is rele!ant,
hilst 1ynthia $ho"asho (->>-, describes or# she has done ith children on
nature pro;ects such as the design of a ?oo exhibit or the protection of a ildlife
sanctuary. <he found the" ready to engage ith en!iron"ental pro;ects and felt
that it ga!e the" a chance to explore their &ra, ild nature' (p. -.., and indeed
"anage the tensions of adolescence. $he childrens narrati!es she has collected
sho their contact ith nature and she poerfully argues for the educational !alue
nature has in e"otional groth8
$hrough nature, adolescents are pri!y to "odels of li!ing other than the cos"etically-dri!en
orld of "aga?ines and "o!ies and to rhyth"s and cycles that are different fro" those
i"posed by the constructs of a school day. $hrough nature they gain access to the ild and
untethered, the na#ed realities of life and death DEF and co"e face to face ith their biological
origins and the underpinnings of hu"an purpose and "eaning ($ho"asho, ->>-8 -.4,.
$he recent surge in interest (in the J9, of gi!ing children a school lesson in
nearby oodland each ee# (TForest <choolT, is a practical instance of ho this can
be done in practice, and e!aluation reports sho not only the strong support this
idea has fro" teachers, parents and children but also the !alue it has for childrens
personal groth and physical health. For exa"ple, IArien and %urray (->>.8 4,
7>
reco""end fro" their detailed study8 &Forest <chool should be used on a ider
basis as a !ital part of childrens outdoor learning experience'.
I ondered, at the beginning of this article, hether one could "ore usefully ta#e
ones therapy client for a al# in the oods, if connectedness-to-nature
experiences ere already in place for clients and e"otionally positi!e, than stay in
the consulting roo". I thin# this idea should be thoroughly explored, gi!en hat
"y participants ha!e shared in this study. It is not ithout its difficulties of course.
%o!ing the focus on counselling and psychotherapy fro" the dyad or group in a
roo" to natural settings outside a building is a challenge because it changes the
client and therapist expectations about ho to conduct therapy, "o!es the physical
dyna"ic fro" face-to-face contact to side-by-side (as on a al#, or one that is e!en
"ore distant (as in ad!enture therapy,, alters the co""ercial relationship (can one
charge the sa"e fee for a al# in a ood to an hour in a consulting roo"G, and is
sub;ect to physical constraints such as closeness to natural settings, bad eather,
and the clients ease of "obility. 2s a co"pro"ise, one can use guided "editations
(i"aginal as opposed to in vivo experiences, and Tho"eor#T nature-contact
exercises for clients. Hxperience suggests they are useful ays of lin#ing ith
nature, if not 0uite as good as the Treal thingT.
Let if one loo#s aay fro" con!entional psychotherapy "odels to ones that
specifically use nature as a healing "ediu", one can see "any exa"ples here
benefit is gained fro" starting in the oods, rather than the consulting roo", so to
spea#. TCreen careT is a useful phrase that includes a !ariety of nature-approaches to
therapy. <e"pi#, Hine and 5ilcox (->*>, ha!e edited the contributions of *@
researchers, therapists and practitioners dran fro" the 1I<$ 7.. scientific panel
to a &conceptual "odel' of green care. $his re!ies a ide range of therapy and
care approaches to the needs of different client groups fro" practitioners across
"any disciplines in a !ariety of international settings that include agricultural
holdings (Tcare far"sT,, city and school far"s, social and therapeutic horticulture
gardens and allot"ents, and ilderness experiences.
Iutside the do"ain of social and health care, there is an increasing interest in
connecting (or reconnecting, ith nature through gardening, tra!el to "ore natural
places, Tgreen shiftingT to country li!ing and so on. $his see"s to echo the the"e of
this paper that e intuiti!ely #no that e need nature-contact and that it is good
for us. 2s ell as gardens, par#s and holidays, co""unity-supported agriculture
7*
(Relf, ->>., and co""unity land onership through co""unity land trusts (for
exa"ple, Fordhall Far"8 Hollins = Hollins, ->>+N Hegarty, ->>7, are ays to
increase opportunities for "any people to !isit far"s and natural places, hilst the
groing "o!e"ent of care-far"ing (Hassin# = !an Pi;#, ->>@N Pessein, ->>+,
"a#es such access possible for older people, those culturally-disad!antaged, and
"any clients ith special-support needs.
I ha!e used the ter", Tself-healingT in this paper. I thin# that this deser!es especial
further study. If people ha!e inner resources that they can turn to at ti"es of
trouble that arise in freely-a!ailable natural settings, health and social-care
professionals ha!e a cheap and plentiful resource to offer their clients. Instead of
relying on expensi!e phar"acological or other resource-intensi!e treat"ents,
people "ay find confidence in using "ore traditional approaches that they
the"sel!es can access and control. H!en in helping people to recall pre!ious
i"portant nature-experiences, the therapist "ay find his or her or# effortlessly
aug"ented.
References
Aerger, R. = %cBeod, J. (->>.,. Incorporating nature into therapy8 2 fra"eor# for practice. Journal
of +yse)ic ,herapies -@8 7>364.
Aurns, C. 5. (*667,. %aure gui&e& herapy: -rief inegraive sraegies for healh an& .ell 'eing. Ne
Lor#8 Arunner- %a?el.
Pessein, J. (ed.,(->>+,. /ar)ing for healh: 0rocee&ings of he co))uniy of pracice far)ing for
healh, .-6 No!e"ber ->>+, Chent, Aelgiu". %erelbe#e, Aelgiu"8 BRI.
Hassin#, J. = !an Pi;#, %. (->>@,. /ar)ing for healh: 1reen-care far)ing across Europe an& he
Unie& +aes of 2)erica. Aerlin8 <pringer.
Hegarty, J.R. (->>7,. &1o""unity far" onership8 a ay to increase in!ol!e"ent in care-far"ingG' ,
in Pessein8 *:+-*@>.
Hollins, A. = Hollins, 1. (->>+,. ,he figh for /or&hall /ar). Bondon8 Hodder and <toughton.
9ahn, /.H., Jr. (*666,. ,he hu)an relaionship .ih naure: 3evelop)en an& culure. 1a"bridge, %28
%I$ /ress.
9ellert, <.R. = 5ilson, H.I. (eds.,(*66:,. ,he -iophilia hypohesis. 5ashington, P18 Island /ress.
9elly, C.2. (*6@@,. ,he 0sychology of 0ersonal 4onsrucs. Ne Lor#8 Norton.
Binden, <. = Crut, J. (->>-,. ,he healing fiel&s: 5or6ing .ih psychoherapy an& naure o re'uil&
shaere& lives. Bondon8 Frances Bincoln.
%ayer, F.<. = Frant?, 1.%. (->>4,. $he connectedness to nature scale8 2 "easure of indi!iduals
feeling in co""unity ith nature. Journal of Environ)enal 0sychology -48 @>:3@*@.
IArien, H.2. = %urray, R. (->>.,. 2 )arvellous opporuniy for chil&ren o learn: 2 paricipaory
evaluaion of /ores +chool in Englan& an& 5ales. Farnha"8 Forest Research.
Neuberger, 9. (->>+,. &$he correlation effect of horticultural acti!ities 3 the influence of or#ing ith
7-
plants on hu"an experiences', in 1. Callis (ed.,. 1reen care in agriculure: $ealh effecs!
econo)ics an& policies (pp. *@:-*..,# $hessaloni#i, Creece8 Jni!ersity <tudio /ress.
/affard, %. (*6+:,. 7nglorious 5or&s.orhs: 2 su&y of so)e ranscen&enal e8periences in chil&hoo&
an& a&olescence. Bondon8 Hodder = <toughton.
Relf, /.P. (->>.,. &2griculture and health care8 $he care of plants and ani"als for therapy and
rehabilitation in the Jnited <tates', in J. Hassin# = %. !an Pi;# (eds.,. /ar)ing for healh (pp.
:>6-:4:,. Aerlin, Cer"any8 <pringer.
<e"pi#, J., Hine, R. = 5ilcox, P. (eds.,(->*>,. 1reen care: a concepual fra)e.or6! a repor of he
.or6ing group on he healh 'enefis of green care, 49+, 2cion 866! 1reen 4are in
2griculure. Boughborough, Hngland8 1entre for 1hild and Fa"ily Research, Boughborough
Jni!ersity.
$ho"asho, 1. (->>-,. &2dolescents and ecological identity8 2ttending to ild nature', in /.H. 9ahn
Jr. = <.R. 9ellert (eds.,, ->>-. 4hil&ren an& naure: 0sychological! socioculural an&
evoluionary invesigaions (pp. -@6--+7,. 1a"bridge, %28 %I$ /ress.
5ilson, H.I. (*674,. -iophilia: ,he hu)an 'on& .ih oher species. 1a"bridge, %28 Har!ard
Jni!ersity /ress.
Acknowledgements
I a" so grateful to Pr Joan 5oodorth of 2ppalachian <tate Jni!ersity for
introducing "e to ecopsychology, and for her continued collaboration. I also than#
the students and professional colleagues ho too# the ti"e to share their personal
experiences of nature-connectedness.
orrespondence
Pr John Hegarty
<chool of /sychology
9eele Jni!ersity
9eele
<taffordshire
<$@ @AC
0hone: U44 *+7- +:::7.
E)ail: ;.r.hegartyVpsy.#eele.ac.u#
7:
Appendix !" #uestionnaire
Nature-connectedness and self-healing sur!ey
I" interested in ho people feel &connected' ith the natural orld, or &disconnected',
hether people see this connectedness as lin#ed ith health and ellbeing, and hether they
&self-"edicate' in any ay by see#ing natural experiences. If you are happy for "e to use
infor"ation anony"ously in "y research, then please lea!e your co"pleted 0uestionnaires
behind at the end of the session.
%any than#s,
Pr John Hegarty, <enior Becturer in /sychology, 9eele Jni!ersity
(%#-# 'lan6 lines for people o conri'ue heir responses o each :uesion are o)ie& here*
$onnectedness%
*. 5hat resonances if any does the idea of &connectedness ith nature ' ha!e for youG Dplease
share any ords, ideas, phrases, or personal experiencesF
-. 1on!ersely, does the opposite idea 3 of &being disconnected fro" Nature' see" to suggest
ords, phrases or experiences for you personallyG
$&ature-connectedness and healing%
:. Ho far ould you agree, for you personally, ith the folloing8 &Aeing connected ith the
natural orld is a positi!e force for healing'
(1ircle one of the folloing, fro" <trongly 2gree through to <trongly Pisagree',
<2 2 N P <P
4. Po you ha!e any personal experiences that fit in ith the idea of nature and self-healingG If
&Les', it ould be interesting to share any experiences of this #ind that you ha!e hadE..
74
INSIGHTS
Is 'Horticultural Therapy' a myth?
Cherry Tree Nursery
The view from a well-established horticulturally-based charity in the United Kingdom.
Horticulture or community?
Groups of the vulnerable, ecluded, forgotten and needy have, for hundreds of
years, found wor!ing in land-based pro"ects to be beneficial to their mental and
physical wellbeing. #ro"ects have been set up for a wide variety of groups
including prisoners, refugees, the blind, the elderly, those with learning difficulties,
physical disabilities, mental health problems, migrants, the homeless, and those
struggling with addictions. $t has long been assumed that the undoubted benefits of
these pro"ects arose from the value of horticulture as a therapeutic activity, and the
pro"ects came to be referred to as %&orticultural Therapy' pro"ects.
$n recent years, the name %&orticultural Therapy' was felt to be somewhat
demeaning, and %(ocial and Therapeutic &orticulture' was preferred. #eople
running such pro"ects began to define themselves as practitioners of this
profession, and to draw up guidelines and offer specific )ualifications in this form
of horticulture.
Cherry Tree Nursery is a commercial plant nursery producing )uality garden plants
and hardy nursery stoc! on a four and a half acre site in *ournemouth, United
Kingdom. The +,- volunteers, who wor! in all aspects of the nursery, for as long
as they wish and need, have severe and enduring mental illness. .or many of them
the nursery offers a safe haven and a lifeline. $n-house research carried out by the
pro"ect indicates that they benefit from being in a location where they can feel safe,
un"udged and unthreatened. /s! them why they value the pro"ect, and it is the
meaningful occupation, the purpose, the dignity it gives them, and the
companionship of being part of something bigger, that they really value.
&orticulture is rarely specifically referred to. (ince the pro"ect's inception, there
have been a number of volunteers who have returned to open employment as a
0,
Cherry Tree Nursery Is !or"#cul"ural Therapy a $y"h%
result of the therapeutic environment that eists at Cherry Tree Nursery, and many
of them have recovered their mental stability and learned to laugh again.
&orticulture provides the right environment, the ability to feel the wind and the
sun, to listen to the birds, to watch the butterflies. $t provides the opportunity to
wor! together and meet others, and a useful environment to produce something
people want to buy to help !eep the pro"ect going, in fact plant sales cover half the
pro"ects' running costs. &owever, many volunteers are not interested in plants, and
this lac! of interest will not necessarily change. Not everyone will stay, some are
scared of plants, seeing them as something frightening, poisonous, dangerous,
pric!ly, causing rashes or illness, something to be avoided, even dreaded. They
have a lac! of connection, don't li!e, or are afraid of, being outside, of getting their
hands dirty. The pro"ect's great value, and what has helped literally save lives, is
that it provides a community. Cherry Tree Nursery is li!e a village, somewhere
people come together, learn to care for and support each other. To )uote one of the
volunteers 1it wouldn't matter if we made pies, it's the wor!ing together that
counts2.
3hilst only a small number of the volunteers love plants, for the ma"ority, plants
are the means to an end4 friendship, warmth and laughter. $t is )uite possible to
wor! at Cherry Tree Nursery for years without doing any horticultural wor!, and
many volunteers still can't name any of the plants. $n fact, research has indicated
that there are a large number of volunteers who would not attend the pro"ect if it
only offered horticultural wor!.
/s a profession, horticulture is far from therapeutic. The suicide rate is high, as it is
for agriculture, the pressure can be intense, the life is often isolated, and wages are
low. .or the struggling nurseryman or mar!et gardener, the concept of therapeutic
horticulture might seem laughable. .or eample, one of Cherry Tree Nursery's
wholesale providers grows over 5., million plants every year, and employs a total
of 05 staff, all of them from 6astern 6urope, because no *ritish wor!er has applied
for a "ob at his nursery for five years.
/s Cherry Tree Nursery approaches its twentieth anniversary, eperience has led to
the conclusion that the definition of %therapeutic horticulture' is approaching the
issue from the wrong end. 7ather, it is the use of horticulture to provide a
therapeutic community, where people have time for each other and value and
cherish each other.
08
Cherry Tree Nursery Is !or"#cul"ural Therapy a $y"h%
Correspondence
Cherry Tree Nursery
9ff New 7oad 7oundabout
Northbourne
*ournemouth
*&+- :;/
&hone: -+5-5 ,<=,=:
E$a#l: contactus>cherrytreenursery.org.u!
'e(: http4??cherrytreenursery.org.u!?
0:
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