ECO-PSYCHOLOGY AND CHILDREN

 Q. Why do you emphasize the term eco-psychology so much? Is this more of your emphasis on placing children in nature?

A. Eco-psychology is a powerful term for this generation because of our appreciation for ecology in reference to planetary biomes. However, the term eco-psychology coined about a decade ago reaches deeper, into the inner terrains of children, to include psychological, physiological and even spiritual realities. The term “Deep Ecology”, offers a complementary reference to the power of nature’s energetic blueprints—to psychology that reaches deep into the hearts, minds and souls of children.

Eco-psychology bespeaks heart to heart relationships with children. Our urgent and immediate task as a society is to seek the means to free pent-up natural forces. As we begin to see the child through the eyes of the heart, we will replace current schooling regimes with organic, LIFE-affirming systems. Restorative powers inherent in the human family, will reveal astonishing generative potentials, enabling future generations to flourish.

The following example affirms the powerful life-promoting, healing power of nature’s substrata. When an enlightened society appreciate that this applies to children equally with forests, the places our children learn will be vitally alive centers of eco-psychology – that include nature’s playscapes.

In 1986 60,000 people in the Soviet Union were evacuated from the area surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant after a catastrophic explosion released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere. Prior to this the society had leveled thousands of acres of forest to install farms, roads and buildings.  Yet, less than three decades later a team of scientists has discovered there a remarkable rebirth, a primeval forest teaming with life.  Wildlife including wolves, moose, bears, beavers and bison are thriving in the self-restoring ecosystem. Nature, freed from mankind’s controlling, leveling, destructive tendencies, has restored a profusion of living potential in realms of breathtaking beauty.