Human-to-nature relationship is psychology

[brianneil]

The one discipline that, sad to say, has hitherto remained virtually untouched by any concern for the environment or the human-to-nature relationship is psychology. You will search in vain in the texts and journals of any of the major schools of psychology—clinical, behaviorist, cognitive, physiological, humanistic or transpersonal—for any theory or research concerning the most basic fact of human existence: the fact of our relationship to the natural world of which we are a part.
Any thoughts on whether your relationship with nature is or should be a genuine concern?

[InfiniteNow]

And exactly how is the post above different from this other:

http://hypography.com/forums/environ...sychology.html

[hug]

brianneil and others: Great post. I have a fair amount of experience with a few people in the profession, but I can't speak for the profession itself, nor have I done a huge search specifically for writings on the topic you mention, the "human-to-nature relationship." That said . . . .

The practice of psychology (i.e., psychologist-therapists, counselors, etc.) is, it seems to me, widely varying. Some therapists probably do an excellent or at least reasonably great job of counseling their clients to "go outdoors", "get closer to nature", take a vacation to a beautiful beach, get more exercise, and so forth. So, implicitly, some, or many, or perhaps most, psychologist-therapists apply some degree of understanding the human-nature relationship to their clients' problems.

From a more scientific standpoint, I'd suggest reading some evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, and related stuff. Some or many of these books might not say anything quite as explicit as, "Thus, the relationship between human psychology and nature is . . . . ". But, in a very real sense, the human-nature relationship IS what many of those books are about. If you have not done so already, you might be interested in reading Darwin's books about his voyage on the Beagle, and On The Origin of Species, and The Descent of Man. Even better, listen to them on tape. Or, read (or listen to) primatologist Frans de Waal's book, Our Inner Ape.

I've read and written a bit about related subjects, touching periodically on various aspects of the human-nature relationship in the sense (I think) that you're asking about, including and especially regarding the nature of morality, the relationship between happiness and morality, the relationship between happiness and survival, meaning, and our culture's tendency sometimes to "take advantage" of some of our otherwise healthy and productive natural tendencies that we got from living in natural surroundings. If that type of thing is what you're looking for, let me know, and I'll suggest a couple books and mention my own website.

Although humans are fairly flexible (within limits) and adaptable (also within limits) beings, yes, most of us tend to begin to lose our bearings and become less happy (to varying degrees), or less well, when we remove ourselves from nature in substantial ways for long periods, I believe. I would think that there would be many studies to explore that very dynamic, specifically, but I don't have any to list right now. There are many writings that touch on the issue, or that relate somewhat to the issue. I agree with you that it is a vitally important subject.

I hope this is helpful.