Ecotherapy: Nature Reconnection Workshop by Linda Buzzell

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Mary Hernandez

“Exciting new research is revealing that various nature reconnection practices are powerful medicine for improved mental and physical health—in fact, many now qualify as “evidence-based medicine.” Yet little training has been available for those wanting to include the various ecotherapies in their professional healing practices or personal lives. On the beautiful Ladera campus of Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, nestled between the mountains and the ocean, our intensive weekend will cover the many different applied ecopsychology methods now being practiced in consulting rooms and outdoor spaces around the world. 

We will explore many modalities, including “wild nature within” practices like eco-dreamwork and guided visualization; garden and farm therapies; animal-facilitated therapies; wilderness experiences; environmental justice practices; reconnecting with place and ancestors; ecospirituality, and more. These and other ecotherapy healing methods are now being used in many settings, including schools, nursing homes, therapy offices, prisons, rehabilitation programs, healing practices and hospitals to treat a wide variety of presenting problems including anxiety, depression, addictions, trauma and eco-anxiety. Ecotherapy is definitely not a “one size fits all” modality, so we will learn how to choose the appropriate ecotherapy for each client.  

We will also explore cultural ecotherapies designed to help our clients and communities deal with increasingly challenging environmental and economic conditions through interior and group processing, community building and fostering ecoresilience for transition towards true sustainability. Taking an inclusive, whole-systems view, we will not only understand ecotherapy as a way to merely “use” nature for human benefit but also as an opportunity to practice the ethical imperatives that lead us towards a true circle of reciprocal healing, where we use our unique healing gifts to reciprocate the care that an imperiled Nature so generously shares with us.” (Buzzell, 2016)

Full details and registration are at http://www.pacifica.edu/current-public/item/ecotherapy-nature-reconnection-as-a-powerful-transformational-healing-practice-2