Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species

We need nature for our physical and psychological well-being. Our actions reflectthis when we turn to beloved pets for companionship, vacation in spots of natural splendor, or spendhours working in the garden. Yet we are also a technological species and have been since wefashioned tools out of stone. Thus one of this century's central challenges is to embrace ourkinship with a more-than-human world--"our totemic self"--and integrate that kinship withour scientific culture and technological selves.

This book takes on thatchallenge and proposes a reenvisioned ecopsychology. Contributors consider such topics as the innatetendency for people to bond with local place; a meaningful nature language; the epidemiologicalevidence for the health benefits of nature interaction; the theory and practice of ecotherapy; Gaiatheory; ecovillages; the neuroscience of perceiving natural beauty; and sacred geography. Takentogether, the essays offer a vision for human flourishing and for a more grounded and realisticenvironmental psychology.