This paper addresses how and why the human species considers itself separate from ecosystems, and what needs to shift in our thinking so that we can be part of, rather than split off from, the more-than-human world. Four clinical vignettes — including the famous case of Joanna Macy, whose therapist interpreted her outrage over old-growth forest destruction as displaced sexual anxiety — illustrate the interplay between 'eco' and 'psycho' in the clinical context. Drawing on Hawkins and Ryde's Ecological Awareness Cycle, Mowat argues that psychotherapy training urgently needs to incorporate ecosystemic thinking, framing the climate and ecological crisis as a social justice and diversity issue requiring inclusion in UKCP Standards of Education and Training.
How Integrative Psychotherapy Can Address the Anthropocene Crisis
This paper addresses how and why the human species considers itself separate from ecosystems, and what needs to shift in our thinking so that we can be part of, rather than split off from, the more-than-human world. Four clinical vignettes — including the famous case of Joanna Macy, whose therapist interpreted her outrage over old-growth forest destruction as displaced sexual anxiety — illustrate the interplay between 'eco' and 'psycho' in the clinical context. Drawing on Hawkins and Ryde's Ecological Awareness Cycle, Mowat argues that psychotherapy training urgently needs to incorporate ecosystemic thinking, framing the climate and ecological crisis as a social justice and diversity issue requiring inclusion in UKCP Standards of Education and Training.
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Hosting and facilitating a Climate café listening circle (CCLC) training
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