Decolonising Ecotherapy

Decoloniality has become a bit of a buzzword of late, as ‘we’ collectively rethink/unthink parts of ‘our’ collective ‘Western’ history and culture and unquestioned ‘enlightened’ assumptions about the universality of Western ideas and thought as well as the practices that emanated from that, including in the psychological sphere. This workshop offers a space to investigate and think through colonialism/Eurocentrism/post-colonialism historically and theoretically, unpacking these many terms. We will discuss issues around these themes (for example collective trauma or cultural appropriation) as well as come at these themes from Buddhist and intersectional angles.

Lucy Ford is interested in psychology and ecopsychology and in exploring the inner dimensions of the global ecological and social crises. She passionately believes in the healing benefits of (re-)connecting with nature and has recently set up Ecotherapy Oxford (www.ecotherapyoxford.co.uk ) with a group of local fellow ecotherapists.