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Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing Our Collective Narcissism and Healing Our Planet
Using the lens of ecopsychology, Returning the Self to Nature shows that the pervasive and extreme forms of narcissism we find in many modern societies are fundamentally the result of alienation from the natural world. But it doesn't have to be that way.
Returning the Self to Nature is written for the person who no longer wishes to function in a world that revolves around selfish, disconnected identity models and yearns to step into healthy relationships with one's self, one's community, and our planet.
Seeing the suffering of the planet and that of humans as inseparably linked—the ecological crisis as psychological crisis, and vice versa—opens the door to a mutuality of healing between people and nature. At the heart of both chronic and acute forms of narcissism is a socially constructed false self—an isolated, damaged ego in a delusional cycle of selfishness.
Through unflinching analysis and meditation practices that encourage visualizing and embodying the wild naturalness of being human, the reader will gain skills to begin experiencing a courageous, pluralistic, and ecological self. This book is an invitation to wake up from the dream of the false self and join the movement toward social and planetary healing.
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 27, 2022
21 people are currently reading
2227 people want to read
About the author
Jeanine M. Canty
4 books21 followersJEANINE M. CANTY is a professor in the Transformative Studies Doctoral program at the California Institute for Integral Studies. Formerly the chair of Environmental Studies at Naropa University, she continues to teach at Naropa and at Pacifica Graduate Institute's Ecopsychology certificate program. Her edited volumes are Ecological and Social Healing: Multicultural Women's Voices and Globalism and Localization: Emergent Approaches to Ecological Crises.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 8, 2024
النرجسية الجماعية وغرور الإنسان وحبه في انه يصدق انه فوق آي حاجة ، هي اللي خلته يدمر الطبيعة ومغمض عينه عن إن تدميره للطبيعة معناه تدميره لذاته.
كتاب في علم النفس البيئي ويعتبر دعوة للإنسان بأنه يرجع لأصوله ويبطل يعتبر الطبيعة عدو.
كتاب في علم النفس البيئي ويعتبر دعوة للإنسان بأنه يرجع لأصوله ويبطل يعتبر الطبيعة عدو.
May 27, 2024
Title:
Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing Our Collective Narcissism and Healing Out Planet
Author: Jeanine M. Canty
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: 1.25
Pub Date: November 1, 2022
I received a complimentary eARC from Shambhala Publications, Inc. via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Contemplative • Dry • Academic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Returning the Self to Nature is written for the person who no longer wishes to function in a world that revolves around selfish, disconnected identity models and yearns to step into healthy relationships with one’s self, one’s community, and our planet.
Seeing the suffering of the planet and that of humans as inseparably linked—the ecological crisis as psychological crisis, and vice versa—opens the door to a mutuality of healing between people and nature. At the heart of both chronic and acute forms of narcissism is a socially constructed false self—an isolated, damaged ego in a delusional cycle of selfishness.
💭 T H O U G H T S
With a recent interest in learning more about the benefits of the natural world, ecotherapy, and the concept of reciprocity, I was intrigued by the title Returning the Self to Nature. I thought there would be some practical advice and more evidence on the benefits of nature. Unfortunately, that was not the case and it ended up being a struggle to get through.
Despite what the title foreshadows, narcissism, as opposed to the natural world really is the central focus. The author herself says she isn't an expert on, nor is she qualified to diagnosis, Narcissitic Personality Disorder, yet she uses it in such a broad sense and as the central theme in her writing. I don't think there is a full understanding of the disorder, and she would have been much better off using terms more general terms like self-absorption and self-involvement to describe society's obsession with the self as a contributing factor in ongoing environmental issues.
Beyond the focus on capitalism driving the idea of 'me, me, me', there is little actual substance to the content. Ironically enough, the author focuses a little too much on her own personal experience and biases rather than on research and the experiences of others to back up what she is highlighting.
While the book started out strong, the writing got choppier as it progresses. I became bored as there is a lot of repetition as well. Maybe a little more time in the writing process would have been beneficial.
One aspect I did appreciate were the useful and creative meditation and visualization practices included throughout. The addition of these practices allowed for an extra layer in the reading experience and brought what Canty was trying to put forth into a broader light.
I definitely should have read more about what Returning the Self to Nature is before requesting it. While Canty brings up a lot of valid points and provokes self-reflection and thought, yet the title is deceiving and the writing gets repetitive. I could see this being a valuable resource for University classes on the topic, in my opinion, it isn't for the average reader.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• ecopsychology
• academic reading
Author: Jeanine M. Canty
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: 1.25
Pub Date: November 1, 2022
I received a complimentary eARC from Shambhala Publications, Inc. via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Contemplative • Dry • Academic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Returning the Self to Nature is written for the person who no longer wishes to function in a world that revolves around selfish, disconnected identity models and yearns to step into healthy relationships with one’s self, one’s community, and our planet.
Seeing the suffering of the planet and that of humans as inseparably linked—the ecological crisis as psychological crisis, and vice versa—opens the door to a mutuality of healing between people and nature. At the heart of both chronic and acute forms of narcissism is a socially constructed false self—an isolated, damaged ego in a delusional cycle of selfishness.
💭 T H O U G H T S
With a recent interest in learning more about the benefits of the natural world, ecotherapy, and the concept of reciprocity, I was intrigued by the title Returning the Self to Nature. I thought there would be some practical advice and more evidence on the benefits of nature. Unfortunately, that was not the case and it ended up being a struggle to get through.
Despite what the title foreshadows, narcissism, as opposed to the natural world really is the central focus. The author herself says she isn't an expert on, nor is she qualified to diagnosis, Narcissitic Personality Disorder, yet she uses it in such a broad sense and as the central theme in her writing. I don't think there is a full understanding of the disorder, and she would have been much better off using terms more general terms like self-absorption and self-involvement to describe society's obsession with the self as a contributing factor in ongoing environmental issues.
Beyond the focus on capitalism driving the idea of 'me, me, me', there is little actual substance to the content. Ironically enough, the author focuses a little too much on her own personal experience and biases rather than on research and the experiences of others to back up what she is highlighting.
While the book started out strong, the writing got choppier as it progresses. I became bored as there is a lot of repetition as well. Maybe a little more time in the writing process would have been beneficial.
One aspect I did appreciate were the useful and creative meditation and visualization practices included throughout. The addition of these practices allowed for an extra layer in the reading experience and brought what Canty was trying to put forth into a broader light.
I definitely should have read more about what Returning the Self to Nature is before requesting it. While Canty brings up a lot of valid points and provokes self-reflection and thought, yet the title is deceiving and the writing gets repetitive. I could see this being a valuable resource for University classes on the topic, in my opinion, it isn't for the average reader.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• ecopsychology
• academic reading
January 22, 2023
أعتقد أن النرجسية قد تجاوزت الظاهرة الفردية إلى شيء أوسع وأكثر جماعية. الميم هو اتجاه أو موّجة من التأثير الثقافي. حان الوقت لنسأل: هل تعكس النرجسية في مجتمعنا شيئًا أكبر من مجموع سلوكياتنا الفردية؟ هل أصبحت النرجسية بالفعل ظاهرة جماعية؟ هل النرجسية الجماعية لدينا تعرّض الكوكب للخطر؟ وإذا كان الأمر كذلك ، فلماذا؟ لمتابعة هذه الأسئلة ، نحتاج أولاً إلى إلقاء نظرة فاحصة على ما يقصده علماء النفس بكلمة "النرجسية".
لقد وثق الباحثون أن النرجسية ونسختها الأكثر تطرفًا ، NPD ، آخذة في الارتفاع في الولايات المتحدة. النرجسية هي عندما يُظهر الشخص سلوكًا متمحورًا حول الذات - شعور متضخم بالذات يحد من الاستحقاق للغير. بشكل عام ، ليس بالأمر السيئ أن يكون لديك مستويات منخفضة إلى معتدلة من النرجسية ، لأن هذا يعني أن لدينا نفسًا سليمة.
المنظرون الإكلينيكيون ، مثل الدكتور كريج مالكين ، يتحدثون عن مقياس أو طيف نرجسي حيث يكون وجود القليل جدًا أو الكثير من النرجسية مشكلة ، ومع ذلك فإن التواجد في منتصف النطاق النرجسي يعد أمرًا صحيًا تمامًا. الشكل المتطرف للنرجسية هو تصنيف الصحة العقلية لاضطراب الشخصية النرجسية ، الذي صاغه في عام 1971 مُنظّر التحليل النفسي هاينز كوهوت. بعد تسع سنوات ، تم تضمين NPD في الكتيب الرسمي للاضطرابات النفسية ، الدليل التشخيصي والإحصائي للاضطرابات العقلية (DSM).
بينما يُظهر النرجسيون الأنانية والانشغال بالذات ، فإن الأشخاص الذين يعانون من اضطراب الشخصية النرجسية يأخذون هذا إلى حد أكبر بكثير ، ويظهرون أعراض مرضية بما في ذلك سمات مثل الإحساس الكبير بالذات ، والغطرسة ، والتعاطف المنخفض للغاية مع الآخرين ، والوقاحة ، وفرط الحساسية للنقد (الأنا الهشة) ، والحاجة المستمرة بشكل عام للشعور بخصوصية أكثر من الآخرين. النمط الأساسي هو أن الأشخاص الذين يعانون من NPD يواجهون صعوبة في الحفاظ على العلاقات ، ويعرضون نوعا من التفكير الإشكالي والعواطف والسلوكيات الناتجة ، والتي يمكن أن تتراوح إلى المتطرفة وحتى الخطيرة. ومع ذلك ، يظهر NPD بعدة طرق مختلفة اعتمادًا على الجنس ونوع الشخصية (أي ، انطوائي ومنفتح) ، بالإضافة إلى تأثيرات أخرى. تختلف الأبحاث حول NPD اختلافًا كبيرًا: تزعم بعض الأبحاث أن 1–2% من السكان يعانون من هذا الاضطراب. تدعي أبحاث أخرى أن أكثر من 6 في المائة من السكان يظهرون NPD خلال حياتهم. بالإضافة إلى الغموض الذي يكتنف هذه الإحصائيات ، يتكهن الباحثون بأن معظم الأشخاص الذين يعانون من NPD لا يتم تشخيصهم ، لأنهم غالبًا ما يفتقرون إلى القدرة على رؤية أنهم يعانون من مشكلة وأن العديد من المعالجين وغيرهم من مقدمي الرعاية الصحية العقلية يجدون صعوبة في اكتشاف الاضطراب بشكل صحيح.
.
Jeanine Canty
Returning The Self To Nature
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
لقد وثق الباحثون أن النرجسية ونسختها الأكثر تطرفًا ، NPD ، آخذة في الارتفاع في الولايات المتحدة. النرجسية هي عندما يُظهر الشخص سلوكًا متمحورًا حول الذات - شعور متضخم بالذات يحد من الاستحقاق للغير. بشكل عام ، ليس بالأمر السيئ أن يكون لديك مستويات منخفضة إلى معتدلة من النرجسية ، لأن هذا يعني أن لدينا نفسًا سليمة.
المنظرون الإكلينيكيون ، مثل الدكتور كريج مالكين ، يتحدثون عن مقياس أو طيف نرجسي حيث يكون وجود القليل جدًا أو الكثير من النرجسية مشكلة ، ومع ذلك فإن التواجد في منتصف النطاق النرجسي يعد أمرًا صحيًا تمامًا. الشكل المتطرف للنرجسية هو تصنيف الصحة العقلية لاضطراب الشخصية النرجسية ، الذي صاغه في عام 1971 مُنظّر التحليل النفسي هاينز كوهوت. بعد تسع سنوات ، تم تضمين NPD في الكتيب الرسمي للاضطرابات النفسية ، الدليل التشخيصي والإحصائي للاضطرابات العقلية (DSM).
بينما يُظهر النرجسيون الأنانية والانشغال بالذات ، فإن الأشخاص الذين يعانون من اضطراب الشخصية النرجسية يأخذون هذا إلى حد أكبر بكثير ، ويظهرون أعراض مرضية بما في ذلك سمات مثل الإحساس الكبير بالذات ، والغطرسة ، والتعاطف المنخفض للغاية مع الآخرين ، والوقاحة ، وفرط الحساسية للنقد (الأنا الهشة) ، والحاجة المستمرة بشكل عام للشعور بخصوصية أكثر من الآخرين. النمط الأساسي هو أن الأشخاص الذين يعانون من NPD يواجهون صعوبة في الحفاظ على العلاقات ، ويعرضون نوعا من التفكير الإشكالي والعواطف والسلوكيات الناتجة ، والتي يمكن أن تتراوح إلى المتطرفة وحتى الخطيرة. ومع ذلك ، يظهر NPD بعدة طرق مختلفة اعتمادًا على الجنس ونوع الشخصية (أي ، انطوائي ومنفتح) ، بالإضافة إلى تأثيرات أخرى. تختلف الأبحاث حول NPD اختلافًا كبيرًا: تزعم بعض الأبحاث أن 1–2% من السكان يعانون من هذا الاضطراب. تدعي أبحاث أخرى أن أكثر من 6 في المائة من السكان يظهرون NPD خلال حياتهم. بالإضافة إلى الغموض الذي يكتنف هذه الإحصائيات ، يتكهن الباحثون بأن معظم الأشخاص الذين يعانون من NPD لا يتم تشخيصهم ، لأنهم غالبًا ما يفتقرون إلى القدرة على رؤية أنهم يعانون من مشكلة وأن العديد من المعالجين وغيرهم من مقدمي الرعاية الصحية العقلية يجدون صعوبة في اكتشاف الاضطراب بشكل صحيح.
.
Jeanine Canty
Returning The Self To Nature
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
January 21, 2023
While the books arguments for the connection between individual healing and social justice/ecological sanity are not completely compelling to me, the author gets closer to providing an answer to what that might look like than I've come across before.
January 1, 2023
“The field of ecopsychology makes four major assumptions: the planet is calling for healing; people are calling for healing; these two phenomena intertwine; and the illness is embedded within the history and present of Western civilization.”
Ecopsychology attributes our separation from nature to our collective history (shifting from earth-based to industrial and technological societies) and our individual histories—the lack of healthy bonding with nature, including other people, that we received as children. As human beings living within Earth, it is incredibly important to remember that we are animals. Much of our Western paradigm keeps us alienated from this realization, placing humans in a special category separate from nature. Yet we are animals living among a vast community of living beings. We are animals dependent upon Earth’s resources for food, water, air, and ground; for sunlight and rain; for our sentience—for everything that provides us life. Without Earth, we are nothing—no form, no identity, no footprint.”
The author is an African American, Colorado based professor in the Transformative Studies Doctoral program at the California Institute for Integral Studies and used to be chair of her department at Naropa, which is a university modelled after Buddhist principles, and in my mind’s eye as the place for enlightenment or enlightened learning. I loved this book, and many of the ideas were new to me, but I have been reading many thinkers who agree that narcissism in the culture is one of the solvable problems. For those overwhelmed by the seemingly infinite vastness of the problem, this is a beautiful clarifying vision for something small we can do, and the author gives us ideas. Lets all acknowledge we are suffering from mass narcissism and do something about it, as human beings, together.
So many people think of nature as outside of themselves, so as long as they have a yard to chill in, or actually don’t go outside much at all except to travel through it, they can support policies that protect nature, but aren’t willing to die for them. They can’t connect the fresh air and clean water with them, or are so brainwashed into the capitalist, colonial, religious based systems they can’t see clearly, even if not religious. Going on a hike means exercise. There is so much in the culture that is numbing and it is working.
People are drawing a line in the sand when it comes to environmental things, unwilling to give up anything for fresh, breathable air and clean, drinkable water. I get it, I do, and this is another beautiful way to think about it and explain it to help us awaken from the sleep we have been in. I am not sure what I can give up, and I am not willing to die either. Yet. We just need more people to consider it, consider what we can do in the middle of this conundrum.
From an ecopsychological standpoint, most people within our Western culture are ill because we no longer have the intact relationships with the natural world that our earth-based ancestors did. As a result, we do not have a deep sense of trust in the world or ourselves, so we often have problems developing an authentic sense of self, forming healthy relationships, and discovering our greatest gifts.
Tragic optimism is a term coined by the Holocaust survivor and existential-humanistic psychologist Viktor Frankl, and it embodies our ability to look for meaning during times of immense collective suffering. It is not wishing for something better to manifest without our effort; rather, it is our ability to stay with the suffering in order to learn its lesson. Waking up to the sobering realities of our ecological crisis and the ways in which our individual and collective narcissism have bred this allows us to embark on a search for not only meaning but healing.
In a healthy developmental path, a person may show signs of self-centeredness in early stages of life through young adulthood, yet eventually they mature and behave in ways that consider the welfare of other beings. Our culture, however, exhibits what is called “arrested development,” wherein a large portion of the population does not mature in this way and instead continues to display high levels of selfishness—narcissism. While people may look physically mature, many of the adults in our society are acting like selfish children. Narcissism is becoming an epidemic, and one that threatens not just our mental health and our relationships but Earth itself.
Many Indigenous cultures view a person’s mental illness not as a problem specific to them but rather as a sign that something is amiss within the larger community. Hence mental health is situational—reflective of the history, economics, politics, environmental conditions, and a host of other factors that affect a community.
Consumerism continually bombards us with the need for higher status. These messages hit harder on someone who has less, as they see they are lacking according to the accepted standard. Living in a society that devalues one’s identity based on skin color coupled with a devaluing of one’s identity based on class can create a very fragile ego that seeks special attention.
While each season and moment bring change, there is a constancy and evenness of the sheltering trees, the resident birds, the rolling hills and distant mountains, and the expansive skies that often indicate what conditions are on their way. In these moments, it is easy to find a sense of centeredness, a feeling that everything is as it should be.
While humans are most certainly part of the natural world, it is often more challenging to find this sense of grounded calm in people-dominated spaces. Yet it certainly exists. We are innately constructed to access this sense of centeredness—to be in harmony with one another and ourselves.
While ecopsychology has the word psychology within it, the field critiques traditional psychology for being focused on the individual person rather than being Earth and community centered. Please keep this critique in mind as we engage some of the psychological concepts that follow. Psychology itself may be narcissistic to the extent that it keeps us focused on our smaller selves rather than on the greater good.
Close your eyes. Imagine you have roots that sprout from your feet and burrow deep into the ground below you. Imagine the crown of your head has long branches reaching toward the sky that mirror your roots below. Imagine that you are a beautiful fall tree covered with brilliantly colored leaves. As you visualize the branches of your crown and arms, let each leaf shimmer in the light of the sun. While each leaf is an aspect of you, this is not all of you, just a temporary part of you. Allow these leaves to represent your conditionings. Honoring the uniqueness and beauty of each leaf, begin to shake your arms and gently roll your head. As you do this, see these beautiful leaves fall away. Keep moving until all your leaves have fallen. When your branches are completely bare, come back to your breath and stand firmly in your feet and body—your roots and trunk. Notice what it feels like to be in this moment. When you are ready, slowly open your eyes and come back to your surroundings.
We should not romanticize these traditions’ teachings as portraying everything to be all one and joyful. All beings have various qualities that can invoke fear, anger, joy, delight, and so forth. The stories told by these traditions mirror this multiplicity yet their emphasis is on reciprocation and being in right relationship.
Derrick Jensen writes, “By confronting the problem as courageously as we can and at the same time presenting alternatives, our barriers to clarity, including our false hopes, may crumble to reveal previously unseen possibilities.”
The ecological self develops our understanding that we are connected to nature, building our recognition that we feel compassion and even love for nature. While you may not have heard of the ecological self prior to this, you probably can identify your ecological self. It is the experience you have in a place in nature that brings you peace and joy: sitting on a beach looking out at the horizon, walking along a trail while the fall leaves crunch under your feet, seeing the first sprout from your garden, feeling the warmth of a fire on a very cold day, spotting a passing herd of deer, getting soaked in the first summer rainstorm, hearing birdsong—the possibilities are endless. The ecological self broadens our identity to encompass nature; it sparks caring and an understanding that we are in this life together, rather than separate.
With your eyes still closed, imagine yourself in a beautiful park. It is a warm, sunny day, yet there are very few people around. No one can see you where you are sitting on the grass. You feel at peace, breathing in and out, feeling the warm air around you, hearing the sounds of birds singing, and smelling a freshness that invokes summertime. You have a lingering sense of your various thoughts and identities; they are floating high above you. You don’t really remember them, but you know they are there. Suddenly you smell rain. Next, you hear soft raindrops in the distance, and finally you start to feel very gentle, warm rainfall on your head, arms, and lap. The rain feels really good—you do not mind the wetness; it feels cleansing and comforting. With your eyes still closed, you notice that the lingering thoughts and identities that have been floating high above you are being gently dissolved by the rain. Like a raindrop on a windowpane, each thought and identity gets swollen with water and slowly slides to the ground and is absorbed. Slowly but surely the rainfall dissolves all your thoughts and identities. You feel so free, your body feels so alive, you radiate from the inside out, like a light. And suddenly your body becomes points of light, like a swath of fireflies. Each light also becomes swollen with water and eventually falls to the ground. You dissolve into the earth, feeling the deepest sense of peace you have ever felt.
Ecopsychology attributes our separation from nature to our collective history (shifting from earth-based to industrial and technological societies) and our individual histories—the lack of healthy bonding with nature, including other people, that we received as children. As human beings living within Earth, it is incredibly important to remember that we are animals. Much of our Western paradigm keeps us alienated from this realization, placing humans in a special category separate from nature. Yet we are animals living among a vast community of living beings. We are animals dependent upon Earth’s resources for food, water, air, and ground; for sunlight and rain; for our sentience—for everything that provides us life. Without Earth, we are nothing—no form, no identity, no footprint.”
The author is an African American, Colorado based professor in the Transformative Studies Doctoral program at the California Institute for Integral Studies and used to be chair of her department at Naropa, which is a university modelled after Buddhist principles, and in my mind’s eye as the place for enlightenment or enlightened learning. I loved this book, and many of the ideas were new to me, but I have been reading many thinkers who agree that narcissism in the culture is one of the solvable problems. For those overwhelmed by the seemingly infinite vastness of the problem, this is a beautiful clarifying vision for something small we can do, and the author gives us ideas. Lets all acknowledge we are suffering from mass narcissism and do something about it, as human beings, together.
So many people think of nature as outside of themselves, so as long as they have a yard to chill in, or actually don’t go outside much at all except to travel through it, they can support policies that protect nature, but aren’t willing to die for them. They can’t connect the fresh air and clean water with them, or are so brainwashed into the capitalist, colonial, religious based systems they can’t see clearly, even if not religious. Going on a hike means exercise. There is so much in the culture that is numbing and it is working.
People are drawing a line in the sand when it comes to environmental things, unwilling to give up anything for fresh, breathable air and clean, drinkable water. I get it, I do, and this is another beautiful way to think about it and explain it to help us awaken from the sleep we have been in. I am not sure what I can give up, and I am not willing to die either. Yet. We just need more people to consider it, consider what we can do in the middle of this conundrum.
From an ecopsychological standpoint, most people within our Western culture are ill because we no longer have the intact relationships with the natural world that our earth-based ancestors did. As a result, we do not have a deep sense of trust in the world or ourselves, so we often have problems developing an authentic sense of self, forming healthy relationships, and discovering our greatest gifts.
Tragic optimism is a term coined by the Holocaust survivor and existential-humanistic psychologist Viktor Frankl, and it embodies our ability to look for meaning during times of immense collective suffering. It is not wishing for something better to manifest without our effort; rather, it is our ability to stay with the suffering in order to learn its lesson. Waking up to the sobering realities of our ecological crisis and the ways in which our individual and collective narcissism have bred this allows us to embark on a search for not only meaning but healing.
In a healthy developmental path, a person may show signs of self-centeredness in early stages of life through young adulthood, yet eventually they mature and behave in ways that consider the welfare of other beings. Our culture, however, exhibits what is called “arrested development,” wherein a large portion of the population does not mature in this way and instead continues to display high levels of selfishness—narcissism. While people may look physically mature, many of the adults in our society are acting like selfish children. Narcissism is becoming an epidemic, and one that threatens not just our mental health and our relationships but Earth itself.
Many Indigenous cultures view a person’s mental illness not as a problem specific to them but rather as a sign that something is amiss within the larger community. Hence mental health is situational—reflective of the history, economics, politics, environmental conditions, and a host of other factors that affect a community.
Consumerism continually bombards us with the need for higher status. These messages hit harder on someone who has less, as they see they are lacking according to the accepted standard. Living in a society that devalues one’s identity based on skin color coupled with a devaluing of one’s identity based on class can create a very fragile ego that seeks special attention.
While each season and moment bring change, there is a constancy and evenness of the sheltering trees, the resident birds, the rolling hills and distant mountains, and the expansive skies that often indicate what conditions are on their way. In these moments, it is easy to find a sense of centeredness, a feeling that everything is as it should be.
While humans are most certainly part of the natural world, it is often more challenging to find this sense of grounded calm in people-dominated spaces. Yet it certainly exists. We are innately constructed to access this sense of centeredness—to be in harmony with one another and ourselves.
While ecopsychology has the word psychology within it, the field critiques traditional psychology for being focused on the individual person rather than being Earth and community centered. Please keep this critique in mind as we engage some of the psychological concepts that follow. Psychology itself may be narcissistic to the extent that it keeps us focused on our smaller selves rather than on the greater good.
Close your eyes. Imagine you have roots that sprout from your feet and burrow deep into the ground below you. Imagine the crown of your head has long branches reaching toward the sky that mirror your roots below. Imagine that you are a beautiful fall tree covered with brilliantly colored leaves. As you visualize the branches of your crown and arms, let each leaf shimmer in the light of the sun. While each leaf is an aspect of you, this is not all of you, just a temporary part of you. Allow these leaves to represent your conditionings. Honoring the uniqueness and beauty of each leaf, begin to shake your arms and gently roll your head. As you do this, see these beautiful leaves fall away. Keep moving until all your leaves have fallen. When your branches are completely bare, come back to your breath and stand firmly in your feet and body—your roots and trunk. Notice what it feels like to be in this moment. When you are ready, slowly open your eyes and come back to your surroundings.
We should not romanticize these traditions’ teachings as portraying everything to be all one and joyful. All beings have various qualities that can invoke fear, anger, joy, delight, and so forth. The stories told by these traditions mirror this multiplicity yet their emphasis is on reciprocation and being in right relationship.
Derrick Jensen writes, “By confronting the problem as courageously as we can and at the same time presenting alternatives, our barriers to clarity, including our false hopes, may crumble to reveal previously unseen possibilities.”
The ecological self develops our understanding that we are connected to nature, building our recognition that we feel compassion and even love for nature. While you may not have heard of the ecological self prior to this, you probably can identify your ecological self. It is the experience you have in a place in nature that brings you peace and joy: sitting on a beach looking out at the horizon, walking along a trail while the fall leaves crunch under your feet, seeing the first sprout from your garden, feeling the warmth of a fire on a very cold day, spotting a passing herd of deer, getting soaked in the first summer rainstorm, hearing birdsong—the possibilities are endless. The ecological self broadens our identity to encompass nature; it sparks caring and an understanding that we are in this life together, rather than separate.
With your eyes still closed, imagine yourself in a beautiful park. It is a warm, sunny day, yet there are very few people around. No one can see you where you are sitting on the grass. You feel at peace, breathing in and out, feeling the warm air around you, hearing the sounds of birds singing, and smelling a freshness that invokes summertime. You have a lingering sense of your various thoughts and identities; they are floating high above you. You don’t really remember them, but you know they are there. Suddenly you smell rain. Next, you hear soft raindrops in the distance, and finally you start to feel very gentle, warm rainfall on your head, arms, and lap. The rain feels really good—you do not mind the wetness; it feels cleansing and comforting. With your eyes still closed, you notice that the lingering thoughts and identities that have been floating high above you are being gently dissolved by the rain. Like a raindrop on a windowpane, each thought and identity gets swollen with water and slowly slides to the ground and is absorbed. Slowly but surely the rainfall dissolves all your thoughts and identities. You feel so free, your body feels so alive, you radiate from the inside out, like a light. And suddenly your body becomes points of light, like a swath of fireflies. Each light also becomes swollen with water and eventually falls to the ground. You dissolve into the earth, feeling the deepest sense of peace you have ever felt.
April 7, 2024
I think I give this a 3.5, in part because some of the book requires a bit more of a psychology-specific training than I have. I read and listened to this as part of a really great program at Pacifica Graduate Institute about Ecopsychology. The author, Dr. Jeanine Canty, is one of the instructors of the course, so I had the benefit of pairing the book with her leadership and presence for several weeks. The notion of collective narcissism and how this looks and interacts with ecological healing is pretty profound. Dr. Canty weaves in quite a bit of Buddhist teachings and mindfulness practices in her book too. In some ways it is hard to read because it is so spot on that, and without working through the present moment and what may arise for the reader (she does give you guidance on this), it can feel overwhelming. I like the focus on connection and the consistent rootedness in understanding oppression, colonialism and colonization, capitalism, and racism. I do think some of the exercises could be out of reach for people who live in spaces that are challenging or without a lot of green space, impacted by industry and environmental racism, inner city development, violence, ecocide, etc. The author lives in a beautiful area of Colorado, and I think that privilege needs more acknowledgement.
April 23, 2024
sigh another 4 star read, will this good reading streak ever end?!?!?!? i'm suffering from success!!!!
name me one problem that didn't stem from the industrial revolution, colonialism or capitalism. i'll wait.
and this book articulates just that! how those three fundamentally have a hand in the egocentric individualistic mindset that follow us in western societies around like the plague. and canty does a good job of conceptualising our stray away from nature with great reference to indigenous cultures!
my only critique is that some of the exercises she has you do throughout the book read like they were poorly copy and pasted from a mummy yoga podcast, which didn't really translate well to written form. otherwise, compact, concise and easy to follow along.
name me one problem that didn't stem from the industrial revolution, colonialism or capitalism. i'll wait.
and this book articulates just that! how those three fundamentally have a hand in the egocentric individualistic mindset that follow us in western societies around like the plague. and canty does a good job of conceptualising our stray away from nature with great reference to indigenous cultures!
my only critique is that some of the exercises she has you do throughout the book read like they were poorly copy and pasted from a mummy yoga podcast, which didn't really translate well to written form. otherwise, compact, concise and easy to follow along.
May 28, 2024
DNF 76%
Based on the name of this book, and even the description, I expected examples of how our narcissism is showing up in our interactions with nature, and then how we can fix that. Instead what I got was not quite memoir, but similar in the vein that there is a lot of focus on the author's experience, and while she calls out that is not qualified to diagnosis NPD because she is an ecopsychologist, I felt like I saw a lot more of that biases/broad generalization. I wish that I saw more "eco" involved.
It's repetitive and I don't need to know more about how we are narcissist, I would like more answers on how we heal the planet.
Based on the name of this book, and even the description, I expected examples of how our narcissism is showing up in our interactions with nature, and then how we can fix that. Instead what I got was not quite memoir, but similar in the vein that there is a lot of focus on the author's experience, and while she calls out that is not qualified to diagnosis NPD because she is an ecopsychologist, I felt like I saw a lot more of that biases/broad generalization. I wish that I saw more "eco" involved.
It's repetitive and I don't need to know more about how we are narcissist, I would like more answers on how we heal the planet.
August 2, 2025
The author uses psychiatric definitions of Narcissism and NPD to characterize humanity’s relationship with nature, other life forms, and the Earth as a whole. Dives into “ecopsychology.” Uses this idea of a “collective narcissism” to represent the unhealthy human-Earth relation and discuss the resulting ecological crisis (as a by product of human induced climate change.) Wanna give 8/10 but i have to give a 5/10 because while I agree with the book in whole, some of the arguments weren’t convincing and felt a little sloppy. But ends off with some great strategies for personally handling ecological crises! Last chapter was 9/10 for me.
August 11, 2025
She was on the right track, attributing the problems of both individual and collective narcissism to systems that keep us divided, dissatisfied, and powerless.
Then the work took a spectacular nose dive into pseudoscience bullshit. I skimmed very quickly through the rest, saying "nope!" out loud whenever I saw her promoting the "work" of yet another grifter. Metaphysics and other such woo-woo have no place in any remotely science and evidence-based discussion, period.
Pseudoscience is anti-intellectualism, and anti-intellectualism is a huge contributor to this mess we're in. It has no place in any discussion on how to heal. It has no place in any serious discussion, ever.
Then the work took a spectacular nose dive into pseudoscience bullshit. I skimmed very quickly through the rest, saying "nope!" out loud whenever I saw her promoting the "work" of yet another grifter. Metaphysics and other such woo-woo have no place in any remotely science and evidence-based discussion, period.
Pseudoscience is anti-intellectualism, and anti-intellectualism is a huge contributor to this mess we're in. It has no place in any discussion on how to heal. It has no place in any serious discussion, ever.
December 5, 2022
An extremely insightful read and a very well written and non degrading look into those who suffer from narcissism and the narcissistic tendencies our social structure places on people.
A book which forces the reader to look inward and realize the hard truths about ones shortcomings and over emphasis they may place upon self over others.
This book is one which I enjoy as it makes me think and reminds me to be aware of my tendencies and their effect on the external world; long after reading it. Worth a look in the very least.
Hope you all enjoy.
A book which forces the reader to look inward and realize the hard truths about ones shortcomings and over emphasis they may place upon self over others.
This book is one which I enjoy as it makes me think and reminds me to be aware of my tendencies and their effect on the external world; long after reading it. Worth a look in the very least.
Hope you all enjoy.
August 25, 2025
this book is more than just something to read and think about; it’s an experience. i loved this book and its very intentional, methodical approach to reevaluating our relationship with nature.
canty makes a convincing argument on the connection (or rather disconnection) between narcissism, the natural world, and global warming. i also appreciated the reflections and meditations incorporated into each chapter.
canty makes a convincing argument on the connection (or rather disconnection) between narcissism, the natural world, and global warming. i also appreciated the reflections and meditations incorporated into each chapter.
March 16, 2023
Disappointing—I wanted so much to like this book! The first chapter was fantastic. Beautiful prose, interesting arguments. But as the book went on, the writing was choppier, and some of the arguments lacked support, creating gaps. I think this was a book with a lot of potential that needed more time.
July 3, 2023
This brings up a lot of great points. It is easy to read and follow along. However, the book does expect you to already have a grasp on the environmental problems, the problems of capitalism, and how those two are related to each other.
March 6, 2023
I really wanted to like this book... Helaas
July 2, 2024
I thought this book would be more about the environment and didn’t realize it would make me question if I am a narcissist
August 7, 2024
Everyone should read this in the western world!
June 26, 2025
Could only get through half, isn’t really an easy idea to understand. Parts seem disjointed and more like a personal train of thoughts
Read
October 18, 2022Looks good
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