Ecological Psychology: An intra-related perspective
The problems that people, families, organizations, communities, and the world face today, from
climate disasters, ecological ruptures, social justice conflicts, lack of access to education, rights
to one’s body and decisions about that body, physical and mental health, and economic fairness,
to the despoliation of air, water, and soil, are not new. These interrelated problems stem from
human narratives and their practices – from our psychology.
Overarching ecological principles and processes are studied psychologically because humans are
ecological and function with the very same planetary processes.
Ecology offers an extraordinary understanding of one’s psychology.
The study of ecological psychology necessarily takes us out of a confined “self or I” and into “we”
that resituates us in a shared ecological world in a more relational manner.
Our focus will be in the first process of Energy Exchange. We’ll examine a few ecological and
psychological examples to get a better understanding of how narratives have an efficacy of their
own: they can poison and enliven, destroy and innovate, close down and open up possibilities.
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Brief Overview:
Dr. Pye is a leading voice in developing the field of ecological psychology (ecopsychology) as
pioneered at Viridis Graduate Institute. As an environmental activist and executive director
for international marine non-profits, Dr. Pye worked with numerous NGOs to co-develop the
Eastern Tropical Pacific Biological Seascape Corridor with the Ministers of the Environment
from Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador. Dr. Pye has multiple publications in peerreviewed journals and serves on the Editorial Board for the Ecopsychology Journal. Her
forthcoming textbook Fundamentals of Ecological Psychology is being published by
Routledge.