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.
Manifesting Personal Sustainability in Your Life and Work
Weekend of April 22-24, 2011
Sunset at Esalen
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.
Once home to a Native American tribe known as the Essalen, Esalen is situated on 27 acres of spectacular Big Sur coastline with the Santa Lucia Mountains rising sharply behind. The Esalen Institute was founded in 1962 as an alternative educational center devoted to the exploration of what Aldous Huxley called the “human potential,” the world of unrealized human capacities that lies beyond the imagination.
Esalen soon became known for its blend of East/West philosophies, its experiential/didactic workshops, the steady influx of philosophers, psychologists, artists, and religious thinkers, and its breathtaking grounds blessed with natural hot springs.
Visit the Esalen website: http://www.esalen.org for more details about this special location.
Thursday September 23 – Friday September 24
Washington, D.C.
Friends of the Earth & Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR)
Strategy Session The Role of Psychology in Environmental Campaigning and Activism Speaker: Master of Two Worlds: Psychology Tools for Agents of Change
Saturday September 25 – Sunday September 26
Portland, OR
Foundations of Ecopsychology Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Counseling
Thursday November 18
12:oo pm-1:13 pm Online- Webinar
The International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP)
Webinar Speaker: Master of Two Worlds: Negotiating the emotional terrain in your sustainability work
Thomas Doherty teamed up with Explore Green to present Sustainable Self at Sundance over Labor Day Weekend.
Thomas led the group through a weekend experience that combined education on ecopsychology and mind-body health with nature-based stress management, eco-therapy and deep self-reflection.
Participants added to their restoration by enjoying massage and wellness treatments at the Sundance Spa, horseback riding, and fine dining at the Tree Room restaurant. A highlight of the weekend was a Sundance screening of the new documentary Play Again and discussion with producer and workshop participant Meg Merrill.
The Ecopsychology Studies cohort at Lewis & Clark Graduate School enjoyed a great team building and nature immersion experience at our annual summer Wilderness Therapy Intensive class. Following a morning of orientation and lecture at the Lewis and Clark Campus in Portland, the group spent the rest of the week camping at nearby Battleground Lake State Park in Southwestern, Washington. Course activities included group outdoor living, a sequence of adventure challenges, hands-on lessons about ecotherapy and the restorative benefits of natural settings, fireside counseling training groups, and a solo experience. A highlight of our week was a thrilling trip down the wild & scenic White Salmon River led by the expert guides of the Wet Planet rafting company. The raft trip culminated in a running of Husum Falls, an optional challenge taken on by the group. Husum Falls is one of the highest commercially run white water “drops” in North America.
Thomas Doherty is featured in a film called PLAY AGAIN, a documentary that investigates the consequences of a childhood removed from nature, from Portland documentary film makers Ground Productions. PLAY AGAIN enjoyed a SOLD OUT premiere screening at the Bagdad Theater on Monday, May 15th, 2010. PLAY AGAIN will have its world premiere at FICMA, The International Environmental Film Festival in Barcelona, Spain, the first week of June.
ABOUT PLAY AGAIN
Still from Play Again
One generation from now most people in the U.S. will have spent more time in the virtual world than in nature. New media technologies have improved our lives in countless ways. Information now appears with a click. Overseas friends are part of our daily lives. And even grandma loves Wii.
But what are we missing when we are behind screens? And how does this impact our children’s well being, our society and the very future of our planet?
At a time when children play more behind screens than outside, PLAY AGAIN explores the changing balance between the virtual and natural worlds. Is our connection to nature disappearing down the digital rabbit hole?
This documentary follows six teenagers who, like the “average American child,” spend five to fifteen hours a day behind screens. PLAY AGAIN unplugs these teens and takes them on their first wilderness adventure – no electricity, no cell phone coverage, no virtual reality.
Through the voices of children and leading experts like Richard Louv, Juliet Schor, Bill McKibben, Susan Linn, Diane Levin, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Charles Jordan, Gary Small and David Suzuki, PLAY AGAIN looks at how the imbalance between the virtual and natural worlds impacts our children’s well being, our society and the very future of our planet.
Ground Productions is now getting ready to release PLAY AGAIN, a documentary that investigates the consequences of a childhood removed from nature.
PLAY AGAIN offers solutions and encourages action for a sustainable future.
R.Bruer Company, a sustainable branding firm, has includedThomas Doherty as a member of their Sustainable Branding Collaborative — an integrated teamof experts in branding, sustainability, organizational development, marketing research, communications and design.
As founder Rich Bruer notes, the Sustainable Branding Collaborative tears down the walls between operational management, branding, marketing, organizational development and sustainability practices. This unique multi-discipline approach brings sustainable brands to life through:
Thomas Doherty and Patricia Hasbach will be offering a one day training session on Ecotherapy at Lewis & Clark on April 16, 2010
Ecotherapy expands the scope of counseling beyond family and community systems to recognize the important role that one’s relationship with the natural world can play in health, emotions and identity across the lifespan. Ecotherapy also provides ways for counselors and healthcare providers to utilize nature contacts and connections to promote physical and mental health.
This one-day experiential workshop provides an orientation to the historical background and theoretical approaches associated with ecotherapy. We will also survey psychological research regarding human-nature relationships and conservation behaviors that point to the efficacy of ecotherapy interventions. Participants will learn applications of ecotherapy in counseling & healthcare settings and opportunities for integrating ecotherapy practices into their personal and professional lives.
Patricia Hasbach, Ph.D.
Patricia Hasbach, Ph.D. & Thomas Doherty, Psy.D. developed the Ecotherapy course at Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Counseling & Education. In addition to using ecopsychological methods in their own therapy and consulting practices, Thomas coordinates Lewis & Clark’s graduate Ecopsychology Studies Program, and is Editor-in-Chief of the international Ecopsychology journal; Patricia is writing and co-editing two books for MIT Press related to Ecopsychology and the rediscovery of the wild.
Emerging Trends in Ecotherapy
Friday, April 16th, 2010, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Room 101, South Campus Conference Center
Lewis & Clark
Fee for 6 CEUs:
$125 if postmarked or faxed before March 26; $140 after March 26
Lewis & Clark alumni receive a 10% discount. Lewis & Clark student fee is $40.
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.
Green Counselors
It used to be that couples fought about who cooks dinner and taking out the trash. With a rise in environmental awareness, add eco-disputes to the list of grievances.
Therapists around the country are reporting rises in domestic spats over everything from recycling to longer showers. been helping couples resolve their environmental disagreements.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Find Us
acebook