A young cousin of mine put this up on Facebook

Thanks to Blair Howell for the following. I thought it might interest you.

While searching for articles, I stumbled across a lovely gem: Therapy Today (2005) "Wild at Heart: Another Side of Ecopsychology". Unfortunately it does not list an author, nor could I find a list of collaborators.

Ecopsychology is my favorite type of psychology. It bridges the gap of who we are innately, and what we have become socially. I find it realistic because the way we live is extremely new. I feel societal expectations are unrealistic to expect a species to adapt so quickly without some of us unable to cope. It also seems apparent to me that the rate of which lifestyle has changed has not allowed a healthy check and balance system to emerge. This excerpt had me laughing:

"Wadley and Martin( n8) have suggested that what we call 'the rise of civilisation' is actually a process of human domestication, facilitated by addiction to opiate-like substances found in grains and milks. 'Civilisation arose because reliable, on-demand availability of dietary opioids to individuals changed their behaviour, reducing aggression, and allowed them to become tolerant of sedentary life in crowded groups, to perform regular work, and to be more easily subjugated by rulers.' This domestication of human culture wrenches it out of communion with wild ecosystems, which are then in turn reshaped to satisfy the needs of domesticated humans. This process has continued with the sequential use of further opioids and opiates, including symbolic 'opiates of the people' like religion and TV."

This is a refreshing view on 'Western Society'. It also rings true within myself as to why I feel out of place at times. In the following excerpt Therapy Today delves into the practicality of holding the aforementioned perspective:


"All this has implications for the practice of therapy. From the point of view of the ecology of mind, our work as therapists is to interrupt purpose-obsessed consciousness and relax into wild mind, so as to facilitate the same process in our clients. Insofar as therapy then has a 'goal', it is to let go of goals and settle down to what is (Freud called it 'free association', roaming the networks of wild mind). If consciousness can abandon its mad, quixotic quest to control reality, a radical lessening of anxiety follows, through a reappraisal of our situation as human beings. We become aware that we experience ourselves as subject to impossible demands; and that these demands are, indeed, impossible -- in other words, they do not really exist. Something which previously seemed hugely important and hugely difficult is now quite unimportant. Our domestication becomes rebalanced with our wildness."