eeai | Latest News

June 9, 2018

Meet our volunteers: Jessica Amberson

This season’s volunteer bio features our Interim Association Secretary and Subscriber Co-ordinator, Jessica Amberson

I’m from Cork (like!) and, although participation in the eeai involves occasional travel to Dublin from the real capital, I am really delighted to be involved. Funny that I had to come to Dublin to find nature and those who love it most!

I discovered ecotherapy and ecopsychology as a result of exploratory research for a potential PhD on green/ blue therapies and the wellbeing effects of nature and non-human animals on people with disabilities. Via David Staunton’s ‘Hedge school’, I found my way to people similarly concerned with and about nature.

Ever so slightly (substitute ‘completely’) dog-obsessed and particularly animated about the abuses dogs, especially greyhounds, can experience in Ireland, I did not need to complete any further research to recognise my current concern for, and longstanding love of, animals.

June 9, 2018

On Eye Contact by Aidan Ring

eeai community submission | This edition’s submission from our wonderful eeai community is a heartfelt piece from our much valued volunteer and interim newsletter co-ordinator, Aidan Ring.

You get onto the bus. You pay the fare and say where you’re going; the bus driver acknowledges this by giving the coin slot a cursory glance and printing you your ticket. He doesn’t look at you but that’s fair enough, you think, as he needs to be watching the road. You thank him and go to find a seat. As you cast your gaze across the bus’s lower floor, you notice that very few of its occupants look up from their phones, newspapers or laps and not one of them looks you in the eye. This is disconcerting; in the entire downstairs floor of a fairly full bus, not one person so far has made eye contact with you.

June 9, 2018

Earthing by Robert Lewis

Research Corner | This edition’s research contribution is offered by Counsellor/Psychotherapist Robert Lewis. Rob is our interim vice-chair at the eeai and a dedicated volunteer who is both our membership co-ordinator and our research and development co-ordinator.

As a member of the eeai, you have most likely fostered a connection with nature, recognizing the benefit of spending time outdoors, and simultaneously nurturing your desire to protect and care for our planet’s natural environments. The Biophilia Hypothesis, Attention Restoration Theory and Stress Reduction Theory all offer reasons why we benefit from time outdoors. However, new research has offered the further explanation that our cathartic response to nature may be due to physical contact with the ground itself. Earthing, also known as grounding, refers to:

“Contact with the Earth’s surface electrons by walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems, some of them patented, that transfer the energy from the ground into the body” (Chevalier, 2012)

June 9, 2018

Summer greetings, Summer Newsletter 2018

Warm, bright and super-sunny summer greetings to you all from your volunteer team at the eeai. Many thanks and a particular welcome to our new members who have completed their applications and are now listed on our practitioners page. It is wonderful to experience the energy of new life at eeai as we grow in strength together. A gentle reminder to those of you who have already expressed interest in joining – that we are ready and waiting to welcome you to eeai. We invite you to learn more about what it is we do and the benefits of becoming a professional member.

March 9, 2018

Announcing our eeai Peer Support Group

Many ecopsychology and ecotherapy practitioners have expressed their need for regular peer support gatherings; indeed this was one of the core reasons for the eeai’s founding.

Given the unique and specific challenges in working with our clients through an ecotherapeutic lens, whether working indoors or outdoors, many practitioners often feel alone in the work.