Weekend Workshop

Master of Two Worlds: Manifesting Personal Sustainability in Your Life and Work

Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California

April 22-24, 2011

Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA

In this Earth Day workshop, Thomas Joseph Doherty, a specialist in ecopsychology, will weave insights from neuroscience, environmental psychology, and mind-body health to present a model of personal sustainability. Thomas will share practices that he uses in his ecopsychology practice to help individuals recognize and validate their emotions about the current environmental situation, develop practices of mindfulness and acceptance, nurture themselves, celebrate their connections to the natural world, and most importantly, to engage in grounded action that manifests their unique sustainability vision and avoids burnout over the long haul.

The title of this workshop is inspired by the final stage of the archetypal hero’s journey: Once a hero has completed his or her trials and adventures, the challenge is to manifest the vision of possibility brought back from the “extraordinary world” into the “real world” of community and society—to be a Master of Two Worlds (M2W). Thomas will show how the M2W model can support agents of change who carry a vision of sustainability and who labor daily to foster their vision in their families, organizations, and communities.

Along the way, Thomas will detail research on the benefits of green spaces for stress reduction and productivity, the diverse ways people understand their connections to the natural world, how to cope with issues like global climate change, and how the M2W perspective corresponds with research on leadership, motivation, and resilience.

For registration details visit: http://webapp.esalen.org/workshops/9302

• CEUs available for psychologists.

• CEUs available for MFTs and LCSWs.

• Reservations Information (Accommodations & Pricing)

PSU Social Sustainability Colloquium

DATE: Friday, April 15th

TIME: 2-4pm

WHERE: Urban Center Building Room 204 (above Seattle’s Best Coffee) Campus Map

NOTE: This discussion will be recorded on video and broadcast to our colleagues in Australia. It will also be available on YouTube and Earthsayers TV for dissemination. To view live, go to www.media.pdx.edu Live Streams and then 204.

VARIETIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL IDENTITY: THOUGHTS ON PSYCHOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

Ecopsychology Journal

The New York Times called Thomas Doherty “the most prominent American advocate of a growing discipline known as ‘ecopsychology’.”

Dr. Thomas Joseph Doherty provides an overview of psychological perspectives on the natural environment and sustainability, including stories of his work in ecopsychology and the development of the Ecopsychology journal.

His talk focuses on moving beyond either-or conceptions of environmental identity toward an appreciation of a diversity of environmental world views, and how this can help us understand vulnerabilities to the psychological impacts of issues like global climate change and inform the design of pragmatic and innovative sustainability initiatives.

Thomas Joseph Doherty, PsyD

Presenter Bio: Thomas Doherty provides consultation on environmental identity and behavior change and specializes in working with people and organizations with ecological values He draws on his training in clinical and health psychology and his background as a wilderness therapist and professional whitewater rafting guide. In addition to his consultation practice in Portland, Thomas trains counselors at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School and is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Ecopsychology. Thomas helped author the American Psychological Association’s Climate Change Task Force Report in 2009 and his paper on the psychological impacts of global climate change will be published in the American Psychologist this June. Thomas has provided talks and workshops for organizations such as the American Psychological Association, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Natural Step USA, New Season’s Markets, the Bioneers, the Association of Oregon Recyclers, and the Oregon Counseling Association.

In addition to mentions in the NY Times, Thomas’s work has also been featured in the Oregonian, New Hampshire Public Radio, the Detroit Metro Times, Sustainability: The Journal of Record, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, the Monitor on Psychology, and in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

In this low-cost Couples Workshop, Dr. Thomas Joseph Doherty will discuss the added pleasures and stresses that “green” issues bring to modern relationships. He’ll provide tips on how to talk about eco-values and lifestyle choices with your significant other, ways to accept and work with differences, and how to recognize when differing environmental agendas can become relationship deal-breakers. Along with an informative lecture, there will be time for personal reflection, couples discussions, and large group sharing.

This event is open to all kinds of couples and is not a therapy group.

Couples Workshop

Date: April 2nd, 2011
Time: 1 PM – 4:30 PM
Cost: $20 per person / $40 per couple
$25 / $50 after March 25th

Location:
3727 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
Second Floor Conference Room
Google Map

To register see our website:
http://bit.ly/eXI7NI

For more information: Call 503.288.1213
or email clientcare@selfsustain.com

Previous Related Press:

• FEB 2010 :: Green Counselors • New Hampshire Public Radio
  

Thomas Doherty talked with Virginia Prescott from New Hampshire Public Radio’s Word Of Mouth as part of their “Next Green Thing” series about helping couples resolve their environmental disagreements.

See article and interview below as published originally HERE.

• JAN 2010 :: Thomas Doherty on the Tim Conway Jr. Show • KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles

Thomas Doherty talked with Los Angeles radio personality Tim Conway, Jr. from KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles about increased environmental awareness in couples. Tim shared his humorous take on “green fights” in modern marriages.

• JAN 2010 :: Preserving the Planet, Straining the Relationship: Therapists Report Increase in Green Disputes

Thomas Doherty was interviewed in The New York Times about ecological concerns as they affect family and relationships.

See article below as published originally HERE.

Group releases sustainable branding study

by Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon
Wednesday, March 2, 2011, 5:30pm PST

A coalition of business folks calling themselves the Sustainable Branding Collaborative released the results of a survey Thursday that aims to shed some light on how sustainable companies should approach branding and marketing in an age when consumers are wary of greenwashing.

The survey was conducted last November among a targeted group of sustainability-minded professionals and garnered 291 responses.

Not surprisingly, the group found that respondents were bullish on the prospect of sustainable business — even in the face of changing political leadership and a struggling economy. Eighty-three percent of those surveyed said the movement is still gaining steam and will play a bigger or much bigger role in the U.S. economy over next five years.

“I was wondering if people were losing the faith,” said Rich Bruer, veteran marketer and point person for the Sustainable Branding Collaborative. “That was overwhelmingly not the case.”

The survey also uncovered that the majority of respondents would prefer a company that doesn’t make any efforts — or claims — in the area of sustainability to a company that makes sustainability claims but falls short of delivering.

“People are sick and tired of greenwashing,” Bruer said.

The survey was conducted in partnership with market researcher Michael Midghall and is available for download from the collaborative’s website.

Bruer said the Sustainable Branding Collaborative is in “early beta,” having been formed last year. He expects the group will pursue clients seeking help with sustainable branding. The release of the survey marks the group’s formal launch.

The collaborative includes: Bruer; Midghall; Eric Brody of Shift Advantage; consultant Yvonne Chang; Thomas Joseph Doherty of Sustainable Self; Genevieve Marcherio of Red Lemon Creative; Michael Tevlin of Tevlin Strategic Communication; and Justin Yuen of FMYI.

“I’ve built an agency, I’ve done it that way,” said Bruer who co-founded high-tech public relations and marketing firm McClennahan Bruer Communications in 1993. “This is kind of straddling that line between (a group of solo practitioners) and a formal agency.”

Ecopsychology: Discovering the connection between sustainability and mental health with Thomas Doherty

Thomas Doherty holds two visions of the globe at an Antioch New England speaking event in December. (Photo by Hanna Wheeler)

What’s the connection between mental health and sustainability? That’s one of the many questions that the growing field of ecopsychology explores.

Ecopsychology has gained recognition thanks to the work of psychologist Thomas Doherty of Portland, Oregon. He’s the founder and editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal Ecopsychology, the first peer-reviewed journal to focus on the connections between environmental issues and mental health.

He served as a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) Climate Change Task Force, which brought focus to the relationship between psychology and global climate change. He’s also the associate coordinator of Ecopsychology Studies at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School in Portland. Through his private practice, Sustainable Self, he offers counseling for individuals, couples and organizations. He also serves as a consultant and organizes workshops across the country on topics of ecopsychology.

But what is ecopsychology? Doherty said ecopsychology “situates psychology in a natural environmental context.” The term was coined by author and scholar Theodore Roszak, the man behind the term “counter-culture.” In the early years, ecopsychology did have a counter-culture quality, but a growing number of professionals, writers and researchers are bringing it into the mainstream.

Doherty grew up in Buffalo, New York. He received his BA from Columbia University and his doctorate in clinical psychology from Antioch University New England. It was his experience as a river guide in the Grand Canyon and his work as a wilderness therapy leader that opened his eyes to our multifaceted connections to nature.

“I was observing people’s identify-formation in an outdoor setting,” he said. “So when I was exposed to the idea of [ecopsychology], it made intuitive sense to me.”

During counseling sessions, Doherty invites people to talk the sustainability of their lifestyles and emotions. “I’ll talk about sustainability and health interchangeably. [Sustainability] doesn’t just mean carbon footprint but how you think about your life,” he said.

He also builds dialogue through the journal Ecopsychology, which, according to its description, “examines the psychological, spiritual, and therapeutic aspects of human-nature relationships, concern about environmental issues, and responsibility for protecting natural places and other species.”

“There haven’t traditionally been a lot of venues for this kind of work,” said Doherty. “Part of our job is to be rigorous in terms of the scholarship and research, and to bring these ideas under empirical scrutiny,” he said.

The journal also examines ecopsychology research and policy implications. “It brings this work to the floor,” said Doherty. “Rather than being separate silos with researchers in the labs and policy makers in the government.”

The journal’s audience includes academic writers, students, mental health professionals and other interested readers. At the same time, Doherty said the journal works to “avoid being so jargonized that it isn’t relevant.”

The journal is an example of Doherty’s inter-disciplinary approach, which he says is sometimes difficult. “It’s the nature of the western academic tradition,” he said. “We have a whole academic system built on specialization. It’s based on separate departments.”

The reason for this, Doherty says, is our “reductionist approach” to thinking. “Science does a great job of taking the world apart but doesn’t do a great job of putting it back together again,” he said.

Doherty also helps build common ground for people outside of academic circles. “It tires me to see this ongoing battle for hearts and minds by industry groups and environmental groups. It’s forcing people to choose sides,” he said.

“People aren’t going to agree, but how do we figure out a way for them to collaborate? The only way forward is to have more of a dialogue,” said Doherty.

Central to his work is studying environmental identity, which Doherty describes as “the way people think of themselves in relation to the natural world.” Doherty says it’s a misconception that people either have an environmental identity or they don’t. “How do we get past these simplistic dichotomies?” he asked.

In the end, everyone has some sort of environmental identity. “I don’t know anyone in my life who was against nature or pro-extinction,” said Doherty.

Doherty brought this way of thinking to the APA task force, which last year released a 230-page report titled “Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change.”

“My hope is people will accept that there are psychological impacts from climate change,” said Doherty. “Having it written up in journals will allow students and teachers to teach that.”

Doherty says that the APA report legitimizes bringing the emotional realm into the climate change debate. Before, psychologists would have rejected these ideas as a serious topic of debate. “That won’t happen now. It prevents that feeling that connection to nature is just not validated,” said Doherty.

“At the core, that’s what ecopsychology was all about. The paradox is it’s taken all this environmental degradation to turn that around,” he said.

Some recent projects

• Helping to advise the Green Sports Alliance, which was formed to improve the sustainability profile of major league sports teams and to use their community leverage to influence their fan base.
• Couples environmental issues talks (“It’s not about picking sides. It creates a forum for people to talk about that and improve acceptance of each other.” –Thomas Doherty)
• Working with Carol Saunders to develop a conservation psychology training at Antioch University New England
• Helping to develop a masters program for ecopsychology at Lewis & Clark

What he’s been reading lately

• The Politics of the Earth by John S. Dryzek
• Why We Disagree About Climate Change by Mike Hulme
• Global Warming’s Six Americas by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication

Thomas Doherty will be presenting two talks at Antioch University New England on Friday, December 3rd and Monday, December 6th.

Environmental Studies Colloquium Series: Thomas Doherty “Master of Two Worlds”

Psychology Tools for Conservation Professionals

Date: Friday, 12/3/10
Time: 11:30-12:45
Place: Dance Studio

Clinical psychologist and Antioch alumni Thomas Doherty will introduce the model of personal sustainability he uses with his clients and describe research and practices for promoting diverse environmental identities, personally meaningful conservation behaviors, and resilience in the face of environmental catastrophe. He will describe the complex pathways to environmentally significant behavior and ways to work with positive and negative emotions to foster motivation, creativity, and equanimity, and to avoid push back.

The Master of Two Worlds metaphor, drawn from the archetypal Hero’s Journey, provides a useful model for agents of change who carry a vision of sustainability and labor to foster their vision in their families, organizations, and communities.

This event is free and open to the public

For more information, please contact:
Alesia Maltz
603-283-2329
amaltz@antioch.edu

campus map

Psychology and Global Climate Change

Date: Monday, 12/6/10
Time: 11:45-12:45
Place: Community Room

Antioch University New England alumnus Thomas Doherty will share his experiences serving on the recent American Psychological Association Task Force on Global Climate Change and report from his recent manuscript on the psychological impacts of climate change. He will describe how the recognition of psychological impacts can validate individuals’ emotional reactions to climate change and inform effective mitigation and adaptation efforts.

The New York Times prominently featured Doherty in a January 2010 article, calling him “the most prominent American advocate of a growing discipline known as ecopsychology.” Please join us for this informative and timely presentation.

For more information, please contact:

Abigail Abrash Walton
603.283.2344
aabrash@antioch.edu

campus map

When:
DEC 2 2010 – 8:00pm to 10:00pm

Where:

The Starving Artist

The Sustainable Self with EcoPsychologist Thomas Doherty

Leader:

Rowland Russell

OVERVIEW:

Engage with scientists, researchers, and other expert practitioners on a diverse array of scientific and technical topics the 4th Thursday of each month at the Starving Artist.  Meet great minds in an informal and playful setting.  Each Science Soiree starts with a warm-up act (music, theater, spoken word, film), leading into topical conversation or an engaging presentation by a special guest.

Ecopsychologist Thomas Doherty, PhD work in Sustainable Self explores the relationship between mental health, the natural environment, and sustainable lifestyles. He draws on his past experiences, including helping urban dwellers to foster their connections with nature and integrating literary themes into his counseling work through the use of poetry and movies.