Chapter 10~Holistic Approaches~

Gestalt and ecopsychology

Amber GilewskiTompkins Cortland Community College

Holism• The whole is more than the sum of its parts • Environmental problems best approached by

considering the system in which they are createdReductionism:• Seeing the world as consisting of

separate elements• The modern worldview, which emphasizes

individualism and scientific inquiry, is reductionistic

Gestalt psychology • Gestalt:

– A German word that is roughly defined as form, whole, structure, or meaning

• Gestalt psychology:– Wolfgang Kohler describes learning as perceptual

reorganization• Insight learning:

– A sudden perceptual reorganization – Environmental problems are less a crisis of

technology and more a crisis of insight

Gestalt therapy• Laura and Fritz Pearls

– Defensiveness results from fragmentation of various parts of the psyche

• Awareness brings about an integration of those dissociative parts so that people can experience their full range of feelings without blocking off parts of their consciousness

Mindfulness - Reducing internal chatter and raising awareness of present experience

• Mindful practices in natural settings:– Enhance people’s experience of the present moment – Enhance their felt connection with surrounding

ecosystemsMindfulness practice: VIDEO• Reduces the impact of consumer culture on

overconsumption THE DHAMMA BROTHERS• Reduces materialistic values• Increases ecologically friendly behaviors• Lowers ecological footprint

Empathy• The cognitive and emotional understanding of

another’s perspective• Being identified with nature, people are more

likely to protect it as they would protect themselves

• Laboratory research suggests people increase the strength of their ecological self by increasing empathy

ECOLOGICAL EMPATHY?

Ecopsychology• The study of the synergistic relations between

planetary and personal well-being• Bridges the outer world of the natural

environment with the inner world of the psyche• Posits that animism represents an earlier and

wiser stage of cognitive development that should be cultivated rather than dismissed

Ecopsychology’s contribution to clinical psychology

• Ecotherapy: – Expanding the practice of psychotherapy to places

outside offices and hospitals into gardens and wilderness settings

• Human being are distressed when ecosystems are distressed– Clinical psychologists are urged to take client’s

anxiety about ecological problems seriously, rather than assuming that it is displaced anxiety

“All things in the biosphere have an equal right to live and blossom and to reach their own

individual forms of unfolding and self-realization within the larger Self-realization. This basic intuition is that all organisms and

entities in the ecosphere, as parts of the interrelated whole, are equal in intrinsic worth.”

(Devall & Sessions, 1985, p. 67)

Emotional dimensions of ecopsychology• Emotional affinity results from positive

experiences in wilderness settings, especially in the company friends and close relations

• Emotional connection to nature combined with:– Righteous anger concerning insufficient protection– Guilt over one’s own inadequate efforts

equals people who are more likely to vow to protect the environment

IF A TREE FALLS

The ecopsychology of place• A deep sense of belonging, love, and

perfection in a particular place– Place theory – Some places provide deep meaning

and emotional bonding, accompanied by feelings of stability and security, a sense of mystery and connection, and anger or grief when the place is threatened

– Sacred places – Spiritual experiences in special places often occur in wilderness settings, where people feel a sense of perfection, meaning, and connection with something larger than themselves