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Ecopsychology

The term ecopsychology emerged in 1989 from a group of researchers at the University of Berkeley, such as Robert Greenway, Elan Shapiro, Alan Kanner, Mary Gomes and Theodore Roszak. In 1992, Roszak released the book “The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology” and in 1995, Gomes and Kanner published “Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind“, the two books responsible for spreading this ecopsychology movement worldwide.

Ecopsychology combines ecology, which studies the environment, with psychology, which studies the human being, functioning as an approach to psychology that seeks to understand psychic connections with the natural world. This is a perspective that helps us to better understand ourselves and the world around us, recognizing that nature is not something separate from human beings, that is, we are not independent beings. In fact, we are part of nature and, together with it, we form a unity.

From this point of view, it is believed that the human being and nature are closely intertwined, existing a relationship of complementarity, and the loss of the link between them produces imbalance and destructiveness to all and their reconnection promotes balance and well-being. be. Therefore, one of the foundations of ecopsychology is the fact that it is possible to change people, reconnecting them with nature, increasing their well-being and helping nature to survive humanity’s excess consumption.

In this sense, much of the work we do with Projeto SimplesMente has an ecopsychology basis. Many of the initiatives we develop precisely combine psychology with the environment, and many of the positive and effective results that we have in our project are precisely because people can withdraw from their cities to an environment where they can breathe and get involved in nature. We have come to realize that ecopsychology is one of the keys to the success of our work.

References

  • Antonov, V. (2012) Eco-Psicologia. Fabbroni Edizioni
  • Kanner, A. D. (1995). Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind. Sierra Club Books