Dissertation Title:

Tending Aging Souls Through Connection with the Natural World: A Depth-Ecopsychological Study

Candidate:

Deborah Bridge

Date, Time & Place:

December 19, 2018 at 4:00 pm
Room B, Ladera Lane campus


Abstract

In 2011 the first of the Baby Boomers turned 65, the age defined by the American Psychological Association as the beginning of “old age.” Individuals reaching this age are referred to as senior citizens. Although much attention has been given to the outer, physical aspects of the aging human body, less attention has been given to inner, psychological aspects of increasing life spans. This study explores the connection between the human and natural worlds by turning a depth-ecopsychological lens towards an understanding of the human relationship with the natural world in order to determine how one may move through the final stages of life in a way that is congruous with being a constituent of the natural world. A hermeneutic dialogue between the concept of the medicine wheel, alchemy, and depth psychology, according to work of C. G. Jung, is employed. The medicine wheel, or sacred hoop, defines the space or place in the natural world in which the transformative processes of alchemy and individuation take place. This study reveals how C. G. Jung’s process of individuation, an inner, psychological process of transformation, is reflective of processes of transformation found in the natural world as described by alchemy. This awareness of the process of individuation being metaphorically reflected in the processes of alchemy reorients the idea of nature as being outside of the human individual and brings it within.

Note

*Parking spaces are available at the Ladera Lane Campus;
Therefore, shuttle service is not available*

Thank you for your kind consideration of our campus

Details
  • Program/Track/Year: Depth Psychology with Specialization in Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology, and Ecopsychology, Track P, 2010
  • Chair: Dr. Edward Casey
  • Reader: Dr. Maurice Stevens
  • External Reader: Muriel McMahon, M.A.
  • Keywords: Aging, Alchemy, Death, Ecopsychology, Medicine Wheel, Nature