Although many therapists are beginning to understand the importance of the natural world in healing and overall mental health — for example by recommending “time in nature” to help with depression and other mental health challenges — very few also address the connected issues of economic and racial justice. Things such as a lack of access to nature, the high cost of eco-therapeutic offerings, the lack of diversity and cultural competency among practitioners, and the fact that communities of color are disproportionately impacted by climate catastrophes and are far more likely to live in areas with heavy pollution. 

What if therapy were to be able to help us heal not just at the individual level, but also at the collective levels and in the realm of the ecological as well as the social?

Continuing on from our recent conversation with Daniel José Gaztambide Nuñez and Harriet Fraad, this episode takes a deeper dive into a branch of Liberation Psychology: Liberation Ecotherapy — which weaves together reconnecting to nature with community care and with a commitment to social justice and equity.

Phoenix Smith, who coined the term Liberation Ecotherapy, is our guest for this episode. They are an Ecotherapist as well as the Founder of the Alliance for Ecotherapy and Social Justice and EcoSoul Health and Wellness Consulting.

In this conversation, Phoenix shares their framework for healing justice, they describe what a liberation ecotherapy session would look and feel like, and they offer invitations for how we might make therapy more accessible and helpful for the healing of all people and the planet.

Thank you to The Burning Sun for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond.

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