Eco-Soma-Arts Certificate

Nothing exists intrinsically; everything is mutually constituted. Reality is composed of networks, assemblages, and meshworked social and natural practices in which humans and other-than-humans are implicated with each other in complicated and ever-changing ways. Eco-feminist Donna Haraway invites us to engage in conscious interspecies relationships or Simpoiesis, that is, an active “making with” with other species. In clinical practice, we focus on the emotional, somatic, mindful, and spiritual relationship with nature to invite compassion, reciprocity, and well-being for humans and other-than-humans.

The centrality of a person or a relationship’s phenomenology in therapy must integrate a human’s experience of somatic processes (breathing, movement, muscular tensions, emotional expressions, etc.), and address the body-mind relationship as a foundational point for healing. It is through our embodiment that we connect with the other-than-human world to co-create sympoietic experiences of attunement that promote well-being, embody who we long to be, and heal the split caused by traumatic events or what can be the trauma of living in a society that promotes disconnection from other humans and the other-than-human world.

Therapeutic art-making is about being able to creatively express ourselves and connect with nature to enhance our well-being and improve our mental health. Art provides a powerful way to access a deeper understanding of the self in relationship, offering a means to reflect on one’s inner world and emotions. Through creative expression, individuals can explore personal insights, connect with others on a meaningful level, and transcend language to foster connection with the other-than-human world.

We always speak from a particular location within power structures. Nobody escapes the class, sexual, gender, spiritual, linguistic, geographical, and racial hierarchies of the “modern/colonial capitalist/patriarchal” world-system. These hierarchies affect our relationships with nature and all non-human beings. What we know is learned and known from a particular standpoint. Knowledge is embodied rather than acquired through a universal, disembodied, rational mind. That embodiment entails the kind and quality of connection we have to the spaces we inhabit, to any other beings who inhabit those spaces, and even to what is missing in the spaces we inhabit. We endeavor to name, deconstruct, and make space for equity in ecotherapy as creating conditions of equity positively impacts our well-being and helps forge the way toward belonging physically, emotionally, and spiritually in community and with the land.

Credits: 2
Offered: Summer

This course examines the relational foundations of ecotherapy from a systems perspective that encompasses our relationships with the other-than-human world and reclaiming our birthright to feel more at home on the earth. The concepts of sympoiesis and sympoiethics, sense of place, nature language, and human rewilding will be explored to reclaim our bodies as home, and the importance of integrating sense and sentience into our therapy practices. It integrates an in-depth study of the role of the body and creative expression as agents of change and of the development of an artistic sensibility for the therapeutic process. Through somatic-based practices– including movement, breathing, and focusing techniques, and expressive art modalities– such as drawing, writing, sound, and dramatic enactments; students will learn the tools and principles of a multi-modal approach to therapy, which can be used for their personal development as well as incorporated into their professional practices. It also offers an introduction to key aspects of environmental justice to be considered in therapy practice.

Credits: 1
Offered: Fall

This course examines the neurobiological underpinnings of “coming back to our senses” to restore body and mind through expressive art therapy. Through this somatically-based approach, both the body’s sensory experience and the mind’s cognitive/language capabilities, we can help clients to access embodied awareness and effectively address experiences that leave individuals stuck in isolation and shame. Informed by IFS and polyvagal theory, this course will work with the self through drawing, painting, sculpting in clay, and engaging in group work through play and rhythmic drumming. It will explore aesthetics, sensory engagement in nature, and group activities through play. It will integrate simple rhythmic, movement-oriented, image-making, and other techniques that will support clients to begin to once again feel safe, calm, and enlivened.

Credits: 1
Offered: Spring

Eco-somatic approaches are grounded in the foundational principle of interdependence, emphasizing the dynamic relationships between Bodies, Lands, and Waters across space and time. This perspective views the human body as a microcosm of the larger ecological systems it inhabits——each movement, breath, and rhythm within us mirroring the larger symphony of the natural world. By cultivating an embodied awareness, we deepen our capacity to “listen” to the Earth as a living body, fostering an intrinsic connection between bodily experiences and natural processes. This course examines the relational continuum between the human and the other-than-human world through an animist perspective with roots in Indigenous knowledge systems. Integrating perspectives on decolonization, somatic practice, ecological awareness, and nature connection, students will explore the interconnected rhythms and cycles of bodies and ecosystems. Together, these elements create a framework for fostering embodied belonging and ecological attunement in a rapidly changing world.

Credits: 1
Offered: Summer

This course explores how to use trauma-informed nature therapy, polyvagal theory, and The Work that Reconnects to address the interpersonal, communal, and ecological impact of trauma. Students will examine their relationship to nature, trauma, and resilience, and how to work with the multisensory multisystem involvement of the body to heal and learn to be safe in and with nature. Engaging with nature allows clients to experience a wide range of whole-brain whole-body experiences, which can promote a unique set of coping skills, including empowerment, strength, and confidence. Other dimensions of trauma, resilience, and their relationship with nature are explored within a decolonizing ecotherapy perspective, addressing issues of access, opportunity, privilege, and oppression.

Credits: 1
Offered: Fall

Drawing from the assumption that the past is alive within us, and thus, much of the pain and chaos in our individual and collective lives began before our birth, this course examines how we can transform inherited burdens and heal difficult intergenerational legacies in lasting ways. Students will learn to safely partner with their healed and wise ancestors to resolve intergenerational issues involving interpersonal issues and larger systemic issues such as Earth disconnection, sexism, colonialism, racism, and other forms of oppression. Topics covered include what did our ancestors do differently, that we can get back in everyday life, the special roles queer folks have played as shamans, priests, and spiritual guides in Indigenous societies, how to integrate and honor ancestral cultural wisdom and address cultural appropriation, relationships with space and sense of place, and human rewilding.

Credits: 1
Offered: Fall and/or Spring

Ritual is both art and discipline, instinctual and learnable. Incorporating creative rituals into a therapeutic journey allows us to address specific issues in expanded ways that can generate a new narrative inclusive of human and other-than-human relationships, and provide inspiration for a new vision of the future. Creative ceremonies and rituals can revitalize traditional religious practices and social customs that may lack sufficient personal relevance as well. In this course, students will learn about how to create rituals to mark transitions in the life cycle and turn transitions into transformations, celebrate life and relationships, honor losses, and be respectful of social location issues. Key topics include why meaningful rituals and ceremonies are needed in our lives, creating sacred spaces, milestones, and rites of passage, rituals as trauma interventions, healing release and celebration, and infusing traditional rituals with new meanings, and elements of preparation for an individual or group ritual, with particular attention to safety for queer and BIPOC participants in group settings.

Credits: 1
May be taken at any point in the certificate.

Examples of Electives:

• Wilderness therapy
• Animal human bond
• Plant human bond
• Creativity and counseling
• Body and Creativity in Therapy
• Introduction to psychedelic assisted therapy