Jung and Ecopsychology

“Without my piece of earth, my life’s work would not have come into being.” (Jung, Word and Image 1979) 

Jung is one of the few psychotherapists who has written extensively about our relationship with Nature. He warned of the consequences of our separation from the nonhuman world, of taking from the earth with no reciprocity and of our consequent loss of soul. He also described how spending time in the natural world can be deeply healing, opening doors to imagination, synchronicity and the numinous, inviting us to take our place once again within the sacred matrix of life.  Along the way there may be many difficult and painful encounters with the shadow of our dominant culture; when this is honoured our ecological crisis can then become an extraordinary portal of modern times.

In this talk I will explore how a Jungian approach can help us towards healing ecocide, healing our destructiveness towards the earth as well as towards ourselves as animals. How do these issues manifest in our practice as psychotherapists?