This is a course summary and study guide for the final exam for Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy in Clinical Practice. When you take the final exam you will be asked to affirm that you completed all of the worksheets in the course. Please review all of the information below carefully before taking the final exam for the course.
Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy is a blending of Mindfulness and Ecotherapy.
Mindfulness is most simply defined as “paying attention to the present moment.”
Mindful awareness is the process of being aware of the present moment while shifting from doing mode to being mode.
Mindful acceptance is the art of being able to let go of the things in your life you cannot change.
Radical acceptance is the concept that we must accept the things we cannot change; the realization that we cannot change others, we can only change ourselves.
Observing is one of the skills of mindfulness; the ability to shift from thinking mode to sensing mode by paying attention to the present moment.
Describing is one of the skills of mindfulness; the process of taking energy out of the thinking cycle and placing energy into the sensing cycle by describing the details of a thing to oneself.
The Power of Intention is one of the skills of mindfulness; the process of creating solutions instead of focusing on the problem.
Letting go is one of the skills of mindfulness; the ability to change the things one can while accepting the things one cannot change.
A goal of mindfulness is the recognition of the True Self as who you really are, apart from troublesome thoughts and feelings. This is the the Ideal Self; who you would be if you could live without limits. According to Carl Rogers, the vision of who we perceive ourselves to be at this moment in time is the Perceived Self. In Rogerian therapy, the Ideal Self is the person an individual would like to be; who we would be if we could “get out of our own way.” In Rogerian therapy, problems happen when the Perceived Self and the Ideal Self are in conflict. This Ideal Self in Rogerian therapy is the same as the True Self in Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy. The goal is to move from Perceived Self to True Self.
The Sensory Integration Meditation allows us to bring our minds more in tune with our bodies by focusing only on the information we get from our senses. The sensory integration meditation is a type of mindful meditation that allows us to bring our minds more in tune with our bodies by focusing only on the information we get from our senses.
“Downstairs brain” is the feeling part of the brain, consisting of the limbic system and related structures. The downstairs brain only has three ways it can respond to stimuli: fight, flight, or freeze. When it takes over, you are literally “so scared you can’t think” because resources are being diverted from the thinking part of the brain to engage the fear response. The limbic system is generally responsible for emotions. The upstairs brain is the cerebral cortex; the part of the brain that regulates thinking. It is associated with Rational Mind while downstairs brain is associated with Emotional Mind.
Rational Mind is the logical mind, devoid of emotion. Wise Mind is a balance of rational mind and emotional mind; emotion tempered by reason and reason informed by emotion. Rational Mind is the logical mind, devoid of emotion. Wise Mind is a balance of rational mind and emotional mind; emotion tempered by reason and reason informed by emotion.
Wise Mind is a perfect balance between Emotional Mind and Rational Mind.
Wise Body is a body informed by the skills of mindfulness.
Beginner’s mind is about cultivating a childlike sense of wonder about the world around us, and about ourselves.
According to Carl Jung, an archetype is an inborn symbol, image or concept common to all people and present at birth in the unconscious mind. To Carl Jung, the repository of archetypes called the collective unconscious resides in the unconscious mind and is inborn rather than learned. In Jungian psychoanalysis, the Shadow is the counterpart to the Persona; it consists of all the behaviors and impulses we would prefer to hide from others. The Persona is the face, or personality, or mask, which we present to others.
Individuation is the process of striking a balance between the Shadow and the Persona. The Shadow represents the forces of chaos and darkness within an individual, and the Persona represents the forces of order and light.
Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy recognizes the need to balance Persona and Shadow.
The numinous is an experience that gives one a spiritual sense of connection to the divine, to others, or to self.
Doing Mode is to Being Mode as Thinking Mode is to Sensing Mode. Doing mode is the opposite of being mode; the state of engaging the thinking cycle in an effort to find solutions to a problem or to ruminate over problems or feelings. Likewise, sensing mode is the opposite of thinking mode; moving energy and attention out of the thinking cycle and into the sensing cycle by focusing on what your senses are telling you. Thinking mode is the counterpart of sensing mode; the process of engaging in the ruminating cycles of doing mode.
Catastrophizing is a ruminating cycle in which a person creates negative predictions about the outcome of future events, usually through the process of musturbating. Musturbating often takes the form of phrases like, “I must do this,” or “I must not do this.”
Dwelling on memories of the past, or projections of memory onto the future, is called the mind trap. Your mind has trapped you into ignoring or neglecting your immediate experience, usually because of ruminating or catastrophizing.
Sometimes referred to as “snowballing,” ruminating is the process by which one stressful thought or feeling leads to another and to another until we are overwhelmed.
The act of setting aside assumptions and preconceptions about the motives and actions of others and of self; the ability to be gentle and forgiving is called being non-judgmental .
Happiness is about our relationships to others and ourselves, and not about our relationship to material possessions.
A meme is an idea or a belief that gets passed on from one person to another; an pattern of thought, feeling or behavior. A root meme is a meme that is the source of all other memes in a complex idea or belief. You can change your world by changing your memes.
Crystal Ball Thinking is trying to predict the future or read other people’s thoughts and feelings by making assumptions and judgments about their thoughts, feelings, or intentions. Unless you own a crystal ball, you can’t tell what another person is thinking or feeling. The easiest way to know what a person is thinking or feeling is to simply ask them instead of assuming.
Ecopsychology is the study of the effects of nature on the psychology of humans and other animals. Ecotherapy is the use of the tools and techniques of ecopsychology in a therapeutic way and/or in a therapeutic setting.
Emotional Mind is the state of mind when one is being ruled by one’s emotions.
Radical acceptance means realizing that if our distressing thoughts and feelings are the result of our circumstances, then we will always be victims of our circumstances.
Experiential avoidance is the act of trying to stop stressful thoughts or emotions, thereby making the stressful thoughts and feelings cycle worse.
Fascination is a natural interest in the environment, requiring no effort of concentration
Focusing on one thing at a time is the ability to direct one’s attention to one task at a time or one experience at a time in order to avoid getting overwhelmed with a multitude of tasks.
Grounding is the process, during meditation, of connecting yourself to the earth by imagining roots of energy extending from your trunk and into the ground.
Hebb’s Postulate states that “What fires together, wires together;” i.e., as neurons are activated in new pathways, they tend to connect to each other, strengthening the connection. The more those pathways are used, the stronger the connection becomes. This means that when you have a new thought for the first time, the neurons in your brain reconnect in new pathways.
We cannot change the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of others. We can only change our own thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
A sacred space is a natural space (preferably outdoors) that is set aside for quiet contemplation, meditation, and connecting with nature. From a psychological perspective, setting aside a sacred space allows you to enter that space, step outside of time, and do your own work of contemplating the essence of being.
The “Happy Fisherman” story in Session 4 illustrates the idea that, “Sometimes less is more.” The only things we really need are food, clothing, shelter, and love. Often stress or anxiety comes from the pursuit of material possessions.
Learning a new way of being in the world is an example of a Second Order Change. A Second Order Change means a paradigm shift towards seeing things in a new way.
“The map is not the territory” means that the greatest psychotherapist in the world can never know all the subtle nuances of her patient’s thoughts and feelings. This is because he way we perceive others is not the true way others actually are.
Animal-assisted Therapy (AAT) is therapy facilitated by the presence of a therapy animal. Animal-assisted therapy is an experiential form of therapy in which animal assistants help to facilitate the therapeutic process. Animals have been used in schools, in therapeutic settings, and in nursing homes to help individuals form positive attachments.
Pet owners are less likely to die within 1 year of having a heart attack than those who do not own pets.
Medicare patients with pets (especially dogs) had fewer physician visits than similar patients without pets.
In a 2007 meta-analysis on this relationship, Dyer found that the odds of survival for people who scored highly on spiritual measures were 29% higher than those who scored lower in spiritual involvement.
Since animals cannot rely on words for communication, they are much more sensitive to other means of communication.
A permanent statement is one that assumes that this is the way things have always been, and this is the way they will always be.
Living in the Now is living in the present moment. Living in the Now means focusing on the present moment while leaving Doing Mode and entering into Being Mode.
Centering involves letting go of thoughts about the past or future and bringing thoughts to the present moment by focusing on one thing at a time and living in the now.
Connecting is the act of joining with others, or with the divine, or with nature and ourselves in a loving, respectful and grateful way.
Nature as Metaphor is one of the skills of Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy; the skill of using nature as a metaphor for one’s life journey to living in True Self. Living in True Self is the process of individuation; becoming the person you were born to be. Fairy tales can be an example of Nature as Metaphor.
Nature as Teacher is one of the skills of Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy; the skill of using nature as a teacher. The My Own Animal Legend exercise illustrates the principle of Nature as Teacher.
Nature as Nurture is one of the skills of Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy; the skill of creating a reciprocal nurturing cycle with nature. The Attitude of Gratitude exercise illustrates the principle of Nature as Nurture.
Nature as Healer is one of the skills of Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy; the skill of using nature to facilitate healing.
CONGRATULATIONS! You are now ready to take the final exam. You will have three attempts to pass the final with a score of 80% or higher. When you pass the final, a Certificate of Completion will appear on the course page under “PRINT YOUR CERTIFICATE.”
