Psychoecology and the wilderness effect (Greenway)

Domain XV · Nature, philosophy, social & rites of passage · Robert Greenway · 1963

What it is

"Psychoecology" is the name Greenway and colleagues gave in 1963, at Brandeis University, to the project of joining ecology and psychology; it is one of the precursors of ecopsychology. Greenway later taught psychoecology, transpersonal psychology and "the wilderness experience" at Sonoma State…

Format

• Format of the original programme: a semester-long wilderness course within a two-year curriculum (nature philosophy, psychologies, nature writing, physical preparation); trips of varying length; small groups (his example trip had twelve people of mixed ages and genders, including a father and his…
• Phase 1: Preparation and community formation. Goal: a group that functions as "a very tight-knit cooperative community" before entering wilderness, and physical and practical readiness. Clinician's version: assessment, screening, consent, expectation-setting and an explicit plan for the return,…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• What the psychotherapist does with it. Few psychotherapists lead extended wilderness trips, and doing so needs separate wilderness-leadership and medical training (see the adventure and wilderness guides in this family, 024–029, and the 025 harm account for coercive troubled-teen programmes). The usual roles are: (1) preparing and debriefing a client who joins a wilderness programme, vision fast or long trip…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line). Greenway's figures are uncontrolled programme survey data; a later systematic review and meta-analysis of nature-based interventions (gardening, green exercise, nature-based therapy) found improvements in depressive mood, anxiety and positive and negative affect in…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• your own enthusiasm biasing referral. Working: decisions are made on clear criteria.
• perfectionism or guilt; climate distress. Working: care feels like connection rather than burden.
• impulsive quitting, separations or moves; hypomania. Working: changes are chosen, tested and sustained.
• withdrawal effects; overconfidence; relapse shame. Working: a concrete relapse-prevention plan the client uses.
• group pressure overriding an individual's limits; dominant voices. Working: quieter members speak; decisions are owned.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.