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Ecopsychology

ISSN 1942-9347

2 papers in the library · 15 citations · publishing 2018-2025

Papers

Silent into Nature: Factors Enabling Improvement in a Mindful Walking Retreat in Nature of People with Psychological Symptoms

Ecopsychology April 11, 2018 Rhoda Schuling, Nina van Herpen, Reinier de Nooij et al. 15 citations

Factors that make a mindful walking retreat effective include encountering nature, negotiating obstacles, the walk's duration, and walking in silence. The retreat followed a largely unpaved route along a lowland river and estuary in the Netherlands, where participants made their own choices to find their way. Most participants had a history of depression. Interviews, along with diary and questionnaire data, were analyzed through iterative coding to identify these conducive factors. The findings can help design effective walking retreats and support offering mindful walking retreats as a regular part of mindfulness programs.

Psychedelics Offer Healing and Ecological Remembrance for Marginalized Individuals Failed by U.S. Health Care

Ecopsychology September 29, 2025 Nicole Torres

People from ethnoracially marginalized backgrounds turn to psychedelics such as psilocybin, cannabis, and ayahuasca for psychological healing, cultural reconnection, and as a response to inadequate mainstream health care. Based on 23 interviews and participant-observation in a psychedelic training program, most participants rejected the idea of a 'Psychedelic Renaissance,' instead viewing their experiences as acts of remembering, ancestral reconnection, and spiritual practice. Plant medicines were reported to provide emotional insight, help resolve intergenerational wounds, and foster connection to self and the living world. The study uses the framework of Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) to interpret these experiences within ecopsychological and decolonial contexts.