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Ecopsychology and Students
By Ilana Price
The Need For Nature
In an essay by Valerie Harms, she defines ecopsychology as an emerging
field that attempts to integrate psychology and environmentalism,
especially focusing on the relationship that the Earth has with the
behavior of its inhabitants (Harms, 1997). Ecopsychology, a term made
popular by Theodore Roszak's The Voice of Earth: An
Exploration of Ecopsychology, addresses both the suffering of
the Earth by the misbehavior of people and the subsequent suffering of
the people due to the suffering of the Earth (Harms, 1997). She writes,
"Ecopsychology...seeks to understand and heal our relationship with the
Earth. It examines the psychological processes that bond us to the
natural world or that alienate us from it." Ecologists need
psychologists and psychologists need ecologists in order investigate
dysfunctional behavior that leads to environmental problems (Harms,
1997).
Ecopsychologists claim that a physical separation from the natural
world leads to a psychological dysfunction. This disconnection,
alienation or overall dysfunction may lead to ecologically destructive
behavior; individual human suffering such as anxiety, depression, and
anger; or various forms of social and collective suffering such as
racism, sexism, violence, and alienation from society (Scull, 2003).
Ultimately, because we are separating ourselves from nature, we are not
only threatening the well-being of nature, but are threatening our own
well-being as well.
Theodore Roszak has defined eight general principles of ecopsychology
(1992):
"1. The core of the mind is the ecological unconscious. For
ecopsychology, repression of the ecological unconscious is the deepest
root of collusive madness in industrial society. Open access to the
ecological unconscious is the path to sanity.
2. The contents of the ecological unconscious represent, in some
degree, at some level of mentality, the living record of cosmic
evolution, tracing back to distant initial conditions in the history of
time. Contemporary studies in the ordered complexity of nature tell us
that life and mind emerge from this evolutionary tale as culminating
natural systems within the unfolding sequence of physical, biological,
mental, and cultural systems we know as "the universe." Ecopsychology
draws upon these findings of the new cosmology, striving to make them
real to experience.
3. Just as it has been the goal of previous therapies to recover the
repressed contents of the unconscious, so the goal of ecopsychology is
to awaken the inherent sense of environmental reciprocity that lies
within the ecological unconscious. Other therapies seek to heal the
alienation between person and person, person and family, person and
society. Ecopsychology seeks to heal the more fundamental alienation
between the recently created urban psyche and the age-old natural
environment.
4. For ecopsychology as for other therapies, the crucial stage of
development is the life of the child. The ecological unconscious is
regenerated, as if it were a gift, in the newborn's enchanted sense of
the world. Ecopsychology seeks to recover the child's innately
animistic quality of experience in functionally "sane" adults.
5. The ecological ego matures toward a sense of ethical responsibility
to the planet that is as vividly experienced as our ethical
responsibility to other people. It seeks to weave that responsibility
into the fabric of social relations and political decisions.
6. Among the therapeutic projects most important to ecopsychology is
the re-evaluation of certain compulsively "masculine" character traits
that permeate our structures of political power and which drive us to
dominate nature as if it were an alien and rightless realm. In this
regard, ecopsychology draws significantly on the insights of
ecofeminism with a view to demystifying the sexual stereotypes.
7. Whatever contributes to small scale social forms and personal
empowerment nourishes the ecological ego. Whatever strives for
large-scale domination and the suppression of personhood undermines the
ecological ego. Ecopsychology therefore deeply questions the essential
sanity of our gargantuan urban-industrial culture, whether capitalistic
or collectivistic in its organization. But it does so without
necessarily rejecting the technological genius of our species or some
life-enhancing measure of the industrial power we have assembled.
Ecopsychology is postindustrial not anti-industrial in its social
orientation.
8. Ecopsychology holds that there is a synergistic interplay between
planetary and personal well-being. The term "synergy" is chosen
deliberately for its traditional theological connotation, which once
taught that the human and divine are cooperatively linked in the quest
for salvation. The contemporary ecological translation of the term
might be: the needs of the planet are the needs of the person, the
rights of the person are the rights of the planet."
This synergistic relationship between oneself and nature is of the
utmost importance in justifying the existence of the natural areas on
this campus. Ecopsychologists would claim that, just as alienation from
friends, family and society are detrimental to one's psychological well
being, so is alienation from nature. We must discard our urban biases
in accept our ecological unconsciousness if we want to lead a normal
and healthy life.
We are college students. We are put under an inordinate amount of
pressure every day by our parents, our professors, our peers and
ourselves. Not only are we expected to perform to the highest
standards, but we are also expected to be socially functional, be
involved in school activities, plan for our future, and make the
transition into the real world smoothly. We are the leaders of the
future -- the doctors, the lawyers, the stockbrokers, the teachers
– and the pressure to succeed both socially and academically
may be crippling.
Sadly, suicide is the leading killer of college students. Over 1,000
students take their own lives each year, according to the Jed
Foundation. The American Association of Suicidology reports on its Web
site that the suicide rate for 15-to-25-year-olds is 300 percent higher
than it was in the 1950s. Expectations and pressures, combined with the
normal predictors such as depression and drug abuse, contributes to the
ever increasing suicidal tendencies in college students today
(Giegerich, 2003).
It is not surprising that ecopsychologists stress the importance of
connecting with nature. In 1964, after the National Wilderness
Preservation System (NWPS) was created by the Wilderness Act,
psychological benefits of visiting a natural area, measured by an
improvement in the visitor's condition, began to be examined (Duncan,
1998). Discarding our urban biases and retreating to a quiet, tranquil
place is deeply restorative, both for the body and the mind. Deep
breaths of fresh air, listening to the water flow in streams, watching
the birds fly overhead – we find an instant stress reliever.
Our souls are connected to nature, this much is true, but we need the
natural areas themselves in order to reveal what has been hidden by the
hustle and bustle of the modern technological world we live in
(Grimm-Greenblatt). Grimm-Greenblatt, in an environmental studies honor
theses done at Binghamton University, points out that if we can
understand how important nature is to ourselves and to society, we can
better appreciate all forms of life. However, without this
understanding, we are ultimately only destroying our natural resources,
and, because we are part of nature, destroying ourselves as well. The
"self" that is so often analyzed in psychology incorporates not just
the person but the entire environment as well (Grimm-Greenblatt).
We, as students, must, for the good of ourselves and society, learn to
appreciate the role of nature in our lives. The Nature Preserve and
natural areas are invaluable to this, as it provides an outlet for the
students to connect to their ecological unconscious. They are able to
go into the nature preserve to escape the chains of urban academia and
just relax. Many students, myself included, need only to walk through
the nature preserve to regain a balance thrown off by pressures of
being college students.
The Preserve and natural areas are a unique asset for BU students to
enjoy and learn from the natural world. Many students opted to come to
Binghamton University for the nature preserve, knowing that in the
middle of this social, urban setting, there could be a place for them
to retreat when they need to be by themselves, to think, to meditate.
Students use the preserve for many relaxation techniques, such as
hiking, writing and art. Jennifer Ivan, a student a Binghamton
University, wrote a book called "Love Notes: Experiencing the Natural
Areas of Binghamton University" in which she, and other Binghamton
students, explored their connections to nature through poetry and art.
She writes, in a poem written at the Bridge and down the Vernal Pond
Trail, "Our eyes alone are useless." (Ivan, 2000). I feel this is
especially fitting for the subject of ecopsychology, as our connection
to nature must be experienced with all five of our senses to feel
fulfilled as individuals. In order to ensure a successful relationship
with nature, we, as students, must identify will the sights, smells and
sounds of nature.
"Come and see!" she writes in Creek Song. "Abide
with me! I promise you will not be disappointed." (Ivan, 2000).
References
Duncan, Theodore. The Psychological Benefits Of Wilderness. Ecopsychology
On-Line.
Geigerich, Steve. "Colleges reach out to prevent student suicides."
Houston Chronicle. Nov. 28, 2003.
Grimm-Greenblatt, Kerry. What Every Child Needs to Know: The Importance
of Fostering an Environmental Connection in Children. Binghamton, NY:
State University of New York.
Harms, Valerie. Our Planet, Our Selves. Ecopsychology
On-Line.
Ivan, Jennifer. Love Notes: Experienceing the Natural Areas of
Binghamton University. Binghamton, NY: State University of New York at
Binghamton, 2000.
Roszak, Theodore. Ecopsychology: Eight Princicples.
Ecopsychology On-Line.
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