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Ecopsychology is the study of how the natural world impacts our mental wellbeing. Ecotherapy is the therapeutic application of this knowledge. This 10-hour online and experiential course will introduce you to some of the basic skills, techniques and research in the field of ecotherapy.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

  • Discuss and describe the concept of Ecopsychology
  • Discuss and describe the concept of Ecotherapy
  • Differentiate between Ecopsychology and Ecotherapy
  • Discuss some of the characteristics of the Green Care model
  • Describe a rationale for the use of ecotherapy in therapeutic settings
  • Discuss the history of ecotherapy
  • Discuss the roots of ecotherapy in indigenous shamanism
  • Discuss Nature Deficit Disorder as proposed in the book, Last Child in the Woods by Louv
  • Describe and discuss some types of ecotherapy interventions
  • Describe some of the research into Nature as Nurture
  • Discuss some research in Nature and Child Development
  • Discuss the Eco-Educative Model of Ecotherapy proposed by Pedretti-Burls (2007)
  • Discuss how ecotherapy facilitates mindful states
  • Discuss some health benefits of ecotherapy
  • Discuss ecotherapy for treating addiction
  • Discuss ecotherapy for treating trauma
  • Describe and discuss some ethical issues of ecotherapy
  • Name some colleges that offer ecotherapy programs
  • Discuss some future directions for ecotherapy

This 10-hour online and experiential course contains 5 hours of video instruction and 5 hours of experiential ecotherapy exercises. These five ecotherapy exercises will take you approximately an hour each to complete. These exercises are to be completed in a natural environment near your location.

DOCUMENTS FOR THIS COURSE

The documents below will be needed for this portion of the course. You may wish to download them and print them out prior to beginning.