WHAT IN THE WORLD IS ECOPSYCHOLOGY?

Have you ever noticed how much calmer you feel when you’re walking in the bush? Ecopsychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on the relationship between our mental wellbeing and the environments we operate in – with nature playing a starring role. I believe people cannot be at their healthiest unless the systems around them are also healthy. A great example of this is within your own body – you naturally feel better emotionally when you’re giving your body plenty of healthy food and water. It’s the same for our environments - we need to work and play in spaces that encourage us to grow and be at our best.

Although it’s been established in the US and UK for a few decades, ecopsychology is a relatively new approach to mental health in Australia. So how does it differ from conventional psychology? At its heart, ecopsychology operates from the principle that we are one part of the broader ecological system of nature on our planet, and we are not able to exist in a healthy state when our environment is ‘sick’ or being degraded. As opposed to a clinical psychologist, who would ask you questions and listen to you talk, probably sitting on some sort of couch - that’s what we call traditional talking therapies; they’re based on the mind being quite separate from the body. An ecopsychologist will seek to understand your physical health and social life, spiritual beliefs and your environment as much as what you think or feel.

In ecopsychology, looking at nature shows us how we too can flourish when we operate in natural patterns of life, resulting in improved levels of resilience and better wellbeing. For example, an ecopsychologist would recommend that we allocate time to family, self, our community and our environment (such as the garden, for example) before we allocate time to stress-inducing tasks such as work or money. This might sound challenging (and perhaps idealistic) given we are taught from an early age that unless we earn large amounts of money we are not successful, and finding our way out of the maze of mortgage debt, lifestyle issues and even pressure from family to conform to this expectation can be difficult (and fiscally impossible). Ecopsychology gives us the tools and strategies to shift to more sustainable patterns of living, no matter our circumstances.

I think we are all capable of redesigning the way we live, and nature has millions of examples of how abundant, flourishing and fulfilling our lives could be if we can stop running on the treadmill, so-to-speak.  My question to you is this: Is your environment and lifestyle sucking the life out of you, or supporting the life within you? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you.