Martin Jordan | University of Brighton (original) (raw)

Books by Martin Jordan

This paper explores how psychotherapy might begin to facilitate the development of an ecological ... more This paper explores how psychotherapy might begin to facilitate the development of an ecological subjectivity in post modernity. The paper will take a critical look at the concepts of nature and subjectivity, my argument is that we need to start to re-imagine the ecological subject and how an ‘ecopsychotherapy’ might help in facilitating the development of an ecological self. I will explore how the process of ecological communication occurs between mind and nature at the present time in history. We live in an age where the environment can no longer be positioned as a passive backdrop, climate change, species extinction, environmental degradation and potential catastrophe lurk both in the forefront and hinterlands of our consciousness. Nature and subjectivity are not static entities, both are in flux, multiplicities that assemble and disassemble in a process of becoming. The paper will explore how the human and the natural need to be re-imagined in order to understand and develop ecological subjectivities suited to merging and emerging postnatural contexts. I will not explore psychotherapy practice in natural environments in any depth, but instead focus on the subject at the heart of a ecopsychotherapeutic project, the ecological-psychological subject, that ecopsychology aims to foreground in an attempt at reconnection to the natural world as a reciprocal process.

Papers by Martin Jordan

This paper emerges from our experience of delivering a course in ecopsychology to final-year unde... more This paper emerges from our experience of delivering a course in ecopsychology to final-year undergraduate psychology and social science students at the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom. Our course in ecopsychology utilizes an inquiry or problem-based learning (PBL) approach alongside more traditional teaching methods, as we consider there to be a good fit between the subject matter of ecopsychology and the practice of PBL. In what follows we first offer a short account of why we wanted to teach ecopsychology in the
first place, followed by an outline of the specific educational context in which the course is taught. We then describe how we have approached the structure, content, and delivery of the course more specifically, including the rationale and pragmatics of the problembased learning component.

Adams, M., Jordan, M., Wren, J. & Wright, J. 2014. The Grow Project. A report on the well-being b... more Adams, M., Jordan, M., Wren, J. & Wright, J.
2014. The Grow Project. A report on the well-being benefits of nature connection for people with
experience of mental distress.
Brighton, Community University Partnership
Programme, University of Brighton.

This paper explores how psychotherapy might begin to facilitate the development of an ecological ... more This paper explores how psychotherapy might begin to facilitate the development of an ecological subjectivity in post modernity. I will take a critical look at the concepts of nature and subjectivity: my argument is that we need to start to re-imagine the ecological subject and how an "ecopsychotherapy" might help in facilitating the development of an ecological self. I will explore how the process of ecological communication occurs between mind and nature at the present time in history. We live in an age where the environment can no longer be positioned as a passive backdrop; climate change, species extinction, environmental degradation and potential catastrophe lurk both in the forefront and in the hinterlands of our consciousness. Nature and subjectivity are not static entities, both are in flux, multiplicities that assemble and disassemble in a process of becoming. The paper will explore how the human and the natural need to be re-imagined in order to understand and develop ecological subjectivities suited to merging and emerging postnatural contexts. I will not explore psychotherapy practice in natural environments in any depth, but instead focus on the subject at the heart of an ecopsychotherapeutic project: the ecological-psychological subject which ecopsychology aims to foreground in an attempt at reconnection to the natural world as a reciprocal process.

This article explores how our attachment to nature is formed in our early love relationships and... more This article explores how our attachment to nature is formed in
our early love relationships and draws on ideas from psychodynamic theory and contemporary research in developmental psychology to explore the development of the self, the importance of attachment, how “splits” have formed between self and nature as a protection against vulnerability, and potential ways forward indealing with this. The article argues that at the heart of our current ecological crisis are fundamental problems of dependency and vulnerability, resulting for many in an ambivalent attachment tonature. Understanding the complex ways in which humans react to intimacy as a result of early attachment is central to the project of ecopsychology and the ways in which people can help understandand shift the nature of their relationships, both to the planet and with each other. The article concludes by looking at evidence for a securely attached “ecological self”

A growing field of outdoor and adventure therapy practices connects individuals to the healin... more A growing field of
outdoor and adventure
therapy practices
connects individuals
to the healing benefits
of nature. But are we
doing enough inside
the therapy room to
address the impact of
environmental issues on
mental health?

This paper will explore emerging issues in the practice of counselling and psychotherapy in the o... more This paper will explore emerging issues in the practice of counselling and psychotherapy in the outdoors, which the authors encountered when they took their clients outside of the traditional therapy room. The outdoors is defined as natural areas and spaces, such as woods and parks which have
been termed ‘nearby nature’ (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989) and also more remote areas such as mountains and moors which are more isolated from civilisation, what some have termed wilderness (Mcfarlane, 2007). Particular emphasis will be given to the ‘frame’ of psychotherapy and how aspects of this are affected by moving outdoors, in particular contracting in relation to confidentiality and timing. The relationship in
psychotherapy will be explored in relation to issues of mutuality and asymmetry alongside the role of nature in the therapeutic process. Lastly the challenges and therapeutic potential of psychotherapy in nature will be explored.

This paper explores how psychotherapy might begin to facilitate the development of an ecological ... more This paper explores how psychotherapy might begin to facilitate the development of an ecological subjectivity in post modernity. I will take a critical look at the concepts of nature and subjectivity: my argument is that we need to start to re-imagine the ecological subject and how an "ecopsychotherapy" might help in facilitating the development of an ecological self. I will explore how the process of ecological communication occurs between mind and nature at the present time in history. We live in an age where the environment can no longer be positioned as a passive backdrop; climate change, species extinction, environmental degradation and potential catastrophe lurk both in the forefront and in the hinterlands of our consciousness. Nature and subjectivity are not static entities, both are in flux, multiplicities that assemble and disassemble in a process of becoming. The paper will explore how the human and the natural need to be re-imagined in order to understand and develop ecological subjectivities suited to merging and emerging postnatural contexts. I will not explore psychotherapy practice in natural environments in any depth, but instead focus on the subject at the heart of an ecopsychotherapeutic project: the ecological-psychological subject which ecopsychology aims to foreground in an attempt at reconnection to the natural world as a reciprocal process.