We are a small group of San Francisco Bay Area psychologists and environmentalists. We invite you to join us in one of the liveliest dialogues on the cultural landscape. The subject of our dialogue is the convergence of psychological insight and environmental concern called 'ecopsychology'.
We see ecopsychology as an effort to strengthen our sympathetic bond with the natural world. One name for that bond - a new one - is 'the ecological unconscious'. But there are other, older names. In ancient days, it was called the anima mundi; many tribal people speak of it as their connections with Mother Earth and Father Sun and all our four-legged relatives. Ecopsychology, far from being something new under the sun, belongs to the original form of environmentalism and the oldest tradition of psychological healing we know. 'Stone Age psychiatry', as it has been called.
On its ecological side, ecopsychology seeks to acquaint the environmental movement with a subtler, more sensitive psychological way of approaching the public it seeks to win over to its cause. This means asking searching questions about the values and motivations that change human behaviour.
Why are so many of us such bad environmental citizens, even when we 'know better'? How do we change our wasteful and destructive behaviour? Has the environmental movement gone as far as it can with scare tactics and guilt trips? Does it risk a serious backlash if it continues to shame and blame a bewildered public?
An environmentally based definition of 'mental health' could play a significant role in our society's search for measures of ecologically enlightened policy. We invite those of you who share that goal to join with us in the search.
For further information contact: Ecopsychology Institute, California State University, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd, Hayward CA 94542, USA.
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