Eco-Psychology

Question 1

Sigmund Freud

Answer 1

Founder of modern psychology; in Civilization and Its Discontents, he suggested that mental illness might be a sane response to an insane civilization–an idea that helped lay the groundwork for eco-psychology

Question 2

Civilization and Its Discontents

Answer 2

A 1930 book by Freud proposing that societal norms and repression may contribute to psychological distress, hinting at the alienation between humans and their environment

Question 3

Wilhelm Reich

Answer 3

Psychologist who introduced the idea of “character armor”–the emotional and psychological defenses people develop that block authentic emotion and empathy, enabling inhuman actions

Question 4

“Character Armor”

Answer 4

Reich’s term for the psychological barriers that repress emotions and disconnect people from their natural selves and others, contributing to mental illness and societal cruelty

Question 5

Theodore Roszak

Answer 5

Coined the term eco-psychology in The Voice of the Earth (1992); emphasized reconnecting with nature to heal psychological and ecological wounds

Question 6

The Voice of the Earth

Answer 6

Roszak’s foundational eco-psychology text; outlines principles like the ecological unconscious and the importance of recovering environmental reciprocity in the human psyche

Question 7

Paul Shepard

Answer 7

Author of Nature and Madness; argued that modern humans are psychologically stunted due to the loss of traditional rites of passage and our disconnection from nature

Question 8

Nature and Madness

Answer 8

Shepard’s 1982 book exploring how Western society’s estrangement from nature leads to ecological destruction and mental instability

Question 9

Chellis Glendinning

Answer 9

Eco-psychologist and author of My Name is Chellis and I’m in Recovery from Western Civilization; critiques society’s technological dependence and its alienating effects