Master of Two Worlds: !Psychology Tools for Agents of Change

Thomas Joseph Doherty Sustainable Self, LLC Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Counseling

The Role of Psychology in Environmental Campaigning and Activism

Washington, D.C. September 23, 2010

Some of my ground rules and assumptions when working with people and groups about “environmental issues” and “sustainability” ...

Staying on task!

•  "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."

• 

•  John Muir (1911/ 1988). My First Summer in the Sierra. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Sierra Club Books

Respecting others’ feelings and beliefs

Minding language & defining terms

Wilderness? Nature? Connecting with the Earth?

What do these mean to the person you are talking to?

Can you be sure?

How do you know?

Recognizing Diverse World Views

Pathways to Environmental identity

• Childhood

• Experience of natural settings

• Affiliation with place

• Affiliation with animals and plants

• Experience of environmental degradation

• Environmental Social Identity

June 2010

Complex Emotional Responses

Psychological Defense Mechanisms

Inhibited Intellectualization Isolation of Affect Reaction Formation

Disavowal/Distorting Idealization Denial Rationalization

Active Acting Out Apathetic Withdrawal

Dysregulated Delusions Psychotic Distortions

Coping Defenses Diagnostic Implications   Flourishing

Absent / Minimal Symptoms

Adjustment Disorders

  Anxiety, Mood or Behavioral  Disorders

Major Psychopathology

High Adaptive Anticipation Affiliation Altruism Humor Suppression

Partisan Reasoning

•  Westen, D. et al. (2006). Neural Bases of Motivated Reasoning: An fMRI Study of Emotional Constraints on Partisan Political Judgment in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 18, 1947–1958"

... And its commodification in the media

Understanding Intentions to Change

Recognizing Stages of Behavior Change

Doppelt, Bob (2008). The power of sustainable thinking. London: Earthscan.

Recognizing the complex path to a “green behavior”

Getting to “Green”

Achieving the behavior

Hitting a barrier

Points of Leverage

Cultivating Personal Sustainability

A tangible sense of sustainability, grounded in personal experience, and felt at a gut level...

Parent Career /

Livelihood

Self Improvement

Partner / Spouse

Community /Citizen

“Right. Where does ‘Being Green’ fit?”

Many Responsibilities in the Modern World = STRESS

Parent

Career/ Livelihood

Self Improvement

Life Partner / Spouse

Citizen

“Being Green”

Integrating sustainability into all facets of life

From Awareness to Action

• Successfully coping with environmental concerns and being empowered to take action can be seen as a process characterized by four elements or recurrent themes:

•  Recognition and Validation

•  Centering and Acceptance

•  Nurturing and Celebration

•  Grounded Action

Recognition and Validation

Centering & Acceptance

Nurturing & Celebration*

*This is most likely to be overlooked

Grounded Action*

*Action comes last in the sequence...

Goal: Self-Transcendent Acceptance and Engagement

Long term resilience hinges on developing an attitude of self-transcendent acceptance and engagement, and a developmentally appropriate system for cultivating that attitude.

-- Thomas Doherty

Goal: Exhibiting Adaptive Defenses

Inhibited Intellectualization Isolation of Affect Reaction Formation

Disavowal/Distorting Idealization Denial Rationalization

Active Acting Out Apathetic Withdrawal

Dysregulated Delusions Psychotic Distortions

Coping Defenses Diagnostic Implications   Flourishing

Absent / Minimal Symptoms

Adjustment Disorders

  Anxiety, Mood or Behavioral  Disorders

Major Psychopathology

High Adaptive Anticipation Affiliation Altruism Humor Suppression

Goal: Working toward the behavior

The Change Agent ...

What me a Hero?

The Final Stage of the Hero’s Journey: Master of Two Worlds

The Challenge:

Balancing the Vision...

The Real World

And...

• Leaning too far into the “Extraordinary World” or vision can be associated with Reductionism & Lack of Insight

• Becoming mired in the status quo and inertia of the “Real World” can be associated with Burnout & Disillusionment

Pitfalls

Being a “Master of Two Worlds”

• Pluralism: Working across visions

• Insight: Awareness of how personal and cultural psychology informs your vision

• Resilience: Maintaining personal and organizational health

• (Re)Visioning: Cultivating a developmentally appropriate and life transcendent vision

Sustaining your vision & motivation

Pluralism

Self-awareness

Resilience

(Re)visioning

Self Reflection Question 1- Pluralism

(a) Identify someone who has a complementary or contradictory vision.

(b) How can you work across visions to create a mutually beneficial goal?

Question 2 - Insight

What are some ways that your personal needs interact with your vision and choice of mission?

Question 3 - Resilience

•  Are you actively working to maintain your personal health and support the health of others?

Question 4 - (Re)Visioning

How do you reconnect with your vision...

Or help others to cultivate a life transcendent vision for themselves?

Remember:

Thank you. Keep in Touch!

Thomas Joseph Doherty, Psy.D.

Portland, Oregon USA

www.selfsustain.com

thomas@selfsustain.com

503-288-1213

Discussion

Optional Slides:

Thinking like a psychologist…

• Not just looking inside the head...

• Seeing the social world:

• A person’s local customs & norms

• And what’s going on outside the person:

• Barriers and incentives to behavior

Working with Emotions

“The heart has reasons that reason cannot know.”

- Blaise Pascal

(+) Emotions Broaden ...

• People induced to feel a positive

emotion listed a greater number of action-urges than people induced to

feel negative or neutral emotions.

(+) Emotions Build:

• Physical Resources – sleep quality, immunity from illnesses and diseases

• Social  – expanded social connections, social support

•  Intellectual – creativity, mindfulness

• Psychological – trait resilience, optimism

Negative Emotions = Narrow Focus ...

• Leaning too far into the “Extraordinary World” or vision can be associated with Reductionism & Lack of Insight

• Becoming mired in the status quo and inertia of the “Real World” can be associated with Burnout & Disillusionment

Balancing the Vision: Pitfalls (detailed)

Reductionism

• Narrowly viewing complex systems or situations through the lens of the vision and missing key details or constituents

Lack of Insight

• Confusion of the vision with personality needs & dynamics (e.g., pride, attachment, and needs for acceptance, esteem or achievement)

Burnout

• Feeling exhausted, ineffectual, and jaded

•  often from over-commitment

•  not maintaining one’s personal health or relationships

•  or lacking a perspective on the “long view” of one’s work

• A lack of inspiration and meaning—often caused by the absence of a truly compelling and life transcendent vision.

Disillusionment:

Being a “Master of Two Worlds”

• Pluralism: Working across visions

• Insight: Awareness of how personal and cultural psychology informs your vision

• Resilience: Maintaining personal and organizational health

• (Re)Visioning: Cultivating a developmentally appropriate and life transcendent vision

Sustaining your vision & motivation

Pluralism

Self-awareness

Resilience

(Re)visioning