This material resides on an Indiana State University server and is maintained by Will Barratt.
Please forward any problems and comments to him.
When the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Task
Force on Epidemiology, Campus Ecology and Program Evaluation introduced the
concept of campus ecology (WICHE, 1973) the scope of the concept was
intended to include all levels of student-campus interactions. As noted in Banning
and Kaiser (1974), these levels were defined as the macrodesign level, the
microdesign level and the life space design.
At the macrodesign level, the concern is how to design campus
environments that will fit large numbers of students. The microdesign level is
concerned with the design process focused on groups of particular students within
the larger campus environment. The life space design level is concerned with
individual students and their relationship with the campus environment. In the
1973 WICHE document, it was suggested that the life space design might be a
useful process for counseling centers and mental health services.
The notion that life space design can serve as a model for individual
counseling was clearly presented by Conyne and Rogers (1977) and Conyne
(1985). Despite the early suggestions and the thoughtfulness of Rogers and
Conyne's application, the campus ecology movement has paid more attention to
interventions at the macro and micro level and applications to campus issues,
specific departments, and specific groups (Banning, 1989).
Ecopsychiatry, Ecosystemic Therapy and Ecotherapy
Perhaps the last thing we need in the field of counseling and student
personnel work is a new term. Certainly one of the major criticisms of the
campus ecology movement has been its esoteric language. Despite these
concerns, the concept of ecotherapy may be a useful addition. In the late 1970's
the American Psychiatric Association coined a term to convey the ecological
perspective toward individual intervention called "ecopsychiatry'' (Wilkinson and
O'Conner, 1982). The concept was adopted to describe person-environment
interactions and it indicated environments should be considered as affecting
mental health. The perspective and the assumptions associated with the concept
are in concert with the notion of ecotherapy, but the "psyche'' part of the concept
is still suggestive of a ''mind'' problem rather than a person-environment
interaction problem
Another concept that denotes the ecological perspective in individual
counseling and psychotherapy is the concept of "ecosystemic therapy" (
Stachowiak and Briggs, 1984). Ecosystemic therapy is built on the basic
principles of systems theory and human ecology. While the term ecopsychiatry
may carry a too traditional notion of "psychiatry", and the term ecosystemic
therapy seems even more unnecessarily esoteric, both terms provide the necessary
background for the use of the term ecotherapy.
Ecotherapy reflects the use of the ecological perspective in the process of
individual counseling and psychotherapy. Basic to the understanding of
ecotherapy are the issues of (1) ecosystemic epistemology, (2) ecological
perspective on mental health, (3) ecological diagnosis and the role of symptoms,
(4) expansion of the scope of interventions, and (5) co-participation of client and
therapist.
Ecosystemic Epistemology
Ecosystemic epistemology (Keeny, 1979, 1983) is a paradigm for
individual therapy built on cybernetics, ecology, and systems theory. It shifts the
focus of counseling and psychotherapy from the individual to the ecological
relationship system. This system includes what historically has been called "the
identified patient", symptoms, the therapist, and the surrounding environmental
context or situation. (Keeny, 1979). The patient or client in this perspective is not
labeled with a classification of pathology. It is the entire system (including
therapist) that demands the attention of the intervention. Stachowiak and Briggs's
(1984) approach is also built on a similar epistemolgy. They report that
ecosystemic therapy moves away from interpreting behavior in terms of linear
cause-and-effect sequences to seeing behavior as resulting from a reciprocally
causal system of interaction i.e., "the ecological relationship system."
Ecological Perspective on Mental Health
Ecotherapy rests on the notion that mental health can be assessed through
the concept of person-environment fit. French, Rodgers, and Cobb (1974) state
that adjustment (mental health) can be conceived as the goodness of fit between
the characteristics of the person and the properties of the environment. A similar
perspective is taken by O'Connor (1977) when he notes that mental health is a
congruent exchange between the individual's needs and abilities and the
ecosystem's resources and requirements. Ecotherapy sees mental health or illness
not as a property of an individual, but as a description of the ecological
relationship system. Students, campuses and their interactions must all be
considered in their systemic context. A student's "mental health adjustment" can
only be judged and assisted in reference to the total systemic context of the
campus.
Ecological Diagnosis and Role of Symptoms
Traditional diagnostic work at the individual level does not fit an
ecotherapy conception. The diagnosis itself must focus on the systemic nature of
the person-environment relationship. Smead (1982) suggests that the diagnosis
cannot rest on "client culpability," but must proceed with an "open-ended"
investigation of the disturbances related to the lack of fit between person and
environment. With a diagnostic process that is focused on the ecosystem rather
than on the individual client, the traditional perspective on "symptoms" must also
be reevaluated. Symptoms are viewed as functional for the system in which they
occur (Stachowiak and Briggs, 1984). Symptoms are indicators for an ecology of
relationships (Keeney, 1984). Symptoms are not signals of what needs to be
corrected or alleviated at the individual level, but are seen as natural signals of
change in the ecological system. Keeney (1984) suggests that it may be
pathological to be symptom free in a complex ecosystem.
Expanded Scope of Interventions
Typically, individual counseling and psychotherapy interventions are
focused on bringing about change in the person. This is often viewed as symptom
reduction. The scope of interventions within ecotherapy are expanded from this
rather narrow look. Smead (1982) outlines the scope of interventions by
proposing four options. One option is that neither the client nor the ecosystem
change, but that the intervention strategy is to participate with the client to find an ecosystem that would produce a healthier fit. The therapist would assist in finding the new setting. A second option suggested by Smead is to intervene to place the burden of change on the environment or ecosystem. A traditional medical view of
therapy would not envision this as an intervention strategy, although a public
health perspective would see it at the top of the list of possibilities. A third option is for the client to acquire the necessary attitude and skills to master and change the environment to be more responsive and a better fit for the client. Finally, Smead suggests the more traditional approach. The clients may adjust themselves to the demands of the environment. In other words, the person may choose to change themselves in relationship to the ecosystem rather than changing the system. Whatever option is chosen by the client, individual psychotherapy becomes a way for the imbalance between ecosystem and individual to be addressed.
Therapist and Client as Co-Participants
Campus ecology as a perspective has always underlined the importance of
the participants within the ecology as having a moral and ethical right to
participate in its activities and changes. The same principle holds for ecotherapy.
Therapist and client are co-participants in the ecosystem. Therapists must include
themselves in the client's ecosystem and vice-versa for the client. Beyond this
recognition of sharing in the "ecosystem of interest", Smead (1982) underlines the
need for the client to be an active collaborator in determining the important issues
in the processes of working together.
Summary
Ecotherapy denotes an ecological approach to working with individuals in
counseling and psychotherapy. Ecotherapy builds on the conceptual background
work of ecopsychiatry and ecosystemic therapy. Mental health is viewed as
person-environment congruence and diagnosis and symptoms must be from an
ecosystem rather than individual perspective. Multiple strategies for establishing
congruence can be implemented with the coparticipation of the client.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: ECOTHERAPY
Banning, J.H. & Kaiser, L. (1974). An ecological perspective and model for
campus design. The Personnel and Guidance Journal, 52, 360-365,
Banning, J.H. (1989). Creating a climate for successful student development:
Campus ecology manager role. In U. Delworth and G. Hanson (Eds.). Student
services: A handbook for the profession, 2nd. ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bateson, G. (1971). A systems approach. International Journal of Psychiatry 9,
242-244.
Bowers, K.S. (1973). Situationism in psychology: An analysis and a critique.
Psychological Review, 80, 307-336.
Chin, R. (1961). The utility of systems models and developmental models for
practitioners. In W.G. Bennis, K. D. Benne, & R. Chin (Eds.). The planning of
change: Readings in the applied behavioral sciences. New York:Holt, Rinehart,
and Winston.
Conyne, R. (1985). The counseling ecologist: Helping people and environments.
Counseling and Human Development, 18, 1-12.
Conyne, R. & Rogers, R. (1977). Psychotherapy as ecological problem solving.
Psychotherapy Theory Research and practice, 14(3), 298-305.
Claiborn, C.D. & Lichtenberg, J.W. (1989). Interactional counseling. The
Counseling Psychologist, 17(3) 355-453.
Evans, FC. (1956). Ecosystem as the basic unit in ecology. Science, 123, 1127-
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French, J., Rodgers, W. & Cobb, S. (1974). Adjustment as person-environment
fit. In G. Coelho, D. Hamburg & J. Adams. Coping and Adaptation. New York:
Basic Books.
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O'Connor & B. Lubin (Eds.). Ecological approaches to clinical and community
psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Hurst, J. & McKinley, D. (1988). An ecological diagnostic classification plan.
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Holahan, C.J., Wilcox, B.L., Spearly, J.L.. & Campbell, M.D. (1979). The
ecological perspective in community mental health. Community Mental Health
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Holahan, C.J., & Spearly, J.L. (1980). Coping and ecology: An integrative model for community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology 8(6),
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Jasnoski, M. (1984). The ecosystemic perspective in clinical assessment and
intervention. In W. O'Connor and B. Lubin (Eds.). Ecological approaches to
clinical and community psychology. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Kaplan, S. (1983). A model of person-environment compatibility. Environment
and Behavior 15(3), 311-332.
Keeney, B.P (1979). Ecosystemic epistemology: An alternative paradigm for
diagnosis. Family Process, 18, 117-129.
Keeney, B.P. & Sprenkle, D.H. (1982). Ecosystemic epistemology: Critical
implications for the aesthetics and pragmatics of family therapy. Family Process,
21, 119.
Marston, A. (1979). Behavioral ecology emerges from behavioral modification.
Behavioral Modification, 3(2), 147-161.
O'Connor, W.A. (1977). Ecosystems theory and clinical mental health.
Psychiatric Annals, 7(7), 363-372.
Smead, V. (1982). "I hurt, but I am not sick.": Individual psychotherapy provided
within an ecological/ environmental framework. Psychotherapy: Theory Research
and Practice, 19(3), 307-316.
Stachowiak, J. & Beiggs, S. (1984). Ecosystemic therapy: "A treatment
perspective." In W. O'Connor and B. Lubin (Eds.). Ecological approaches to
clinical and community psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Weinstein, M. & Frankel, M. (1974). Ecological and psychological approaches to
community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology 2, 43-45.
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). (1973) The
ecosystem model: Designing campus environments. Boulder, CO.: WICElE.
Wilkinson, C.B., & O'Connor, W.A. (1982). Human ecology and mental illness.
American Journal of Psychiatry, 139(8), 985-999.
Willems, E.P. (1971). An ecological orientation in psychology. In S. Cohen (Ed.).
Child development: A study of growth processes. Itasca, II.: Peacock.
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Zimmer, J. (1978). Concerning ecology in counseling. Journal of Counseling
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Subscribers to The Campus Ecologist are quite diverse in backgrounds
and the roles they perform on campus. Included in this diversity are students,
faculty from it number of disciplines, administrators representing a variety of
departments, college presidents, physical plant personnel, and university and
private architects. It is often difficult to find a topic that has meaning for
everyone. For example, the article on ecotherapy may be of interest to the
psychology and counseling faculty and practitioner, but campus architects will
not find this topic on the "front burners" of their professional responsibilities on
campus.
"Doors", however, can be of interest to all. Some of the subscribers design
them, some redesign them, most all live in spaces that have them, and all receive
messages from the ones they encounter. Please enjoy the following quotes about
doors. The quotes all come from the book entitled: Doors written by Val Clery in 1978 and published by The Viking Press of New York:
"If windows are the eyes of a house, a door is its mouth. Windows are
passive, doors are active. Through windows we glimpse what is and what
happens, but when we pass through a doorway we encounter and most likely
become involved in what lies beyond.
"Doors remain closed to tell us of our rejection of another's seclusion, doors open to welcome us or to engulf and imprison us. Doors frame our farewell or joyful reunions or tearful reconciliations, doors slam like periods at the end of sentences of anger or frustration or bewilderment, doors beckon us to a haven when the world has become too demanding or wearying or threatening and enclose us in love and warmth and familiarity, guarding us solidly from peril and weather and the unknown. Yet doors admit surprise and delights, fresh air, new friends or long lost lovers, good news, unexpected gifts, the quick kindness of neighbors,..."
"Open doors and gateways are promises. They imply progress, discovery. Instead of rejection they offer us an invitation, if not to enter at least to look ..."
"... doorways never bring us to a stop; they reveal another prospect."
"There are doors reinforced and locked by our fears, superstitions, pride and prejudices, and only we ourselves can unlock and open them."
"Windows are essentially static, to be looked into or out of, but doors need to be walked through. They are there to allow arrival and departure."
"... all doors are seductive ... "
" ... handles, doorknockers ... by manipulation of which the visitor can signal both ... character and mood."
" ... on their hinges swing our fates, through them we go from one passage of our lives to another, retreating, arriving, departing, returning ... "
"There are few of us for whom doors do not have a deep emotional significance. They punctuate our memories."
"There are doors inside us and outside and if we are too fearful to pass through ... we will be prisoners no matter on which side of them we stand."
Bowser, B. & Hunt, R. (1981). Impacts of racsim on white Americans. Beverly
Hills, CA.: Sage Publication.
David, Deborah & Brannon, Robert. (Eds.). (1976). The forty-nine percent
majority: The male sex role. New York: Randon House.
Doyle, J. (1963). The male experience. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown Company.
Eisler, Riane (1987). The chalice and the blade. San Francisco: Harper & Row,
Publishers.
Farrell, W. (1986). Why men are the way they are: The male-female dynamic.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Gray, Elizabeth D. (1982). Patriarchy as a conceptual trap. Wellesley, MA:
Roundtable Press.
Hyde, Janet S. (1985). Half the human experience: The psychology of women, 3rd
Edition. Lexington, MA .: D.C. Health and Company.
Levinson, Daniel (1978). The seasons of a man's life. New York: Ballantine.
Richardson, Laurel & Taylor, Verta (1989) Feminist frontiers II.: Rethinking sex, gender, and society. New York: Random House.
Schaef, Ann W. (1985) Women's reality: An Emerging Female system in a white
male society. San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers.
Terry, R. (1970). For whites only. Grand Rapids, Ml: Eerdmans Publishing Company.
This material resides on an Indiana State University server and is maintained by
Will Barratt.
Please forward any problems and comments to him.