Publication of an article entitled: "Mother Nature is Suffering" by D. Balliou, in issue 10 of the magazine "EPOCHI", which has just been published.

Publication of an article entitled: "Mother Nature is Suffering" by D. Balliou, in issue 10 of the magazine "EPOCHI", which has just been published.

The article entitled: Mother Nature is Suffering - The Eco-Phenomenological Approach to Gestalt Psychotherapy was published in issue 10 of the magazine EPOCHI - Psychotherapy, Phenomenology, Interpretation.

In her article, Ms. Balliou starts from the premise that each region of the earth is subject to different environmental pressures, some to a greater extent than others, but all regions influence each other in the way environmental issues are handled because environmental issues have no national borders. As such, they cannot be separated from social and economic inequalities.  It is therefore obvious that the solution can only be complex.

 

Ms. Balliou explores, through the lens of the Gestalt psychotherapeutic approach, the following questions:

1. What has gone wrong in our relationship with the environment?

2. Why are truths so difficult to uncover?

3. Is it really possible that everything can change "as if by magic" as many believe?

4. Is there any hope that our attitude towards nature will be redefined?

 

Gestalt therapy, as an eco-phenomenological approach, is supported by principles and concepts such as "Organism / Environment", "Contact", "Awareness", "Polarization", "Existential Dialogue" and "Social Responsibility" and these concepts can help raise awareness in therapists, patients, organizations and society in relation to the environmental challenges that exist in this century. The article concludes that by appreciating the reciprocal nature of interrelated phenomena in the field of "organism / environment", embracing the experiential complexity of our connection with the world and sustaining existential uncertainty in a “creative void”, we are contributing to the emergence of a new mentality in our relationship with the environment.