Ecopsychology & Earth Spirit Wisdom Medicine

I personally believe that our health and well-being is directly correlated to our relationship with nature. In this modern digital age we are increasingly losing this connection, forgetting how important it is to respect the Earth, and to honor the way it supports our us.

Ecopsychology posits that human health and identity are intimately linked to the health of the earth and must include sustainable and mutually enhancing relationships between humans and the nonhuman world. Ecopsychology places human psychology in an ecological context, and is aimed at healing the divisions between mind and nature, humans and earth. The central concern of ecopsychology is the physical, psychological, and spiritual health of both the human and nonhuman world and an understanding of the psychological processes that either bond us to the natural world or alienate us from it.

Earth Spirit Wisdom Medicine – For as long as I can remember I have had a deep spiritual connection with nature. As I got older and heard about “shamanism” I became curious and sought out teachings on it. In most western cultures, the word “shaman” has become commonplace in new age spiritual community, but it has been appropriated and misused. “Shaman” is a specific word used to describe practitioners of earth spirit wisdom medicine by people of Siberia and Tibet. Many have started using the word “animism” instead. Animism is “the attribution of a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena.”

Language is important, and it is also complex. This topic is an ongoing exploration for me to communicate appropriately and respectfully about the tools I’ve learned and the work I do with those tools. So for now, I call my work Earth Spirit Wisdom Medicine (ESWM). Through these practices we bring the wisdom of nature to our consciousness and allow it to guide us towards healing.

In my work I use these practices to support my clients, encouraging them to reconnect with the wisdom inherent in the nature all around us (even in the city). The simplicity of plants and animals, and the ways they relate in the natural elements quickly cuts through the noise of contemporary society and brings us back to our own inner knowing. Reconnecting with nature at a primal level can reboot our system and allow us to remember that we already know about how to heal ourselves.

Read more about the different kinds of Earth Spirit Wisdom practices I use here.