Master of Arts in Psychology, Integrative Studies in Ecopsychology

 

Advantages

  • Offers a pathway to study in the focused concentration in Ecopsychology
  • Classes offered in formats for working adults
  • Strong focus on multiculturalism and diversity
  • Strong social justice orientation
  • A capstone Application Project that helps synthesize the learning
  • Balance of experiential and didactic learning
  • Faculty who bring real world experience to the classroom
  • An opportunity to further one’s current career, pursue a new career, or offer an opportunity for personal growth and development

 

General Requirements

The Ecopsychology specialization requires completion of 60 quarter credits inclusive of 24-27 credits of required coursework (dependent on concentration), 24-27 credits in the area of concentration and 9 credits for the Application Project.

To learn about the application prerequisites, please CLICK HERE.

 

Length of Program

Students generally complete the program in two to two and a half years, although this will vary depending on part or full time status.

 

Tuition and Fees

  • Tuition: $662 per credit
  • Required fees: $145 per quarter
  • $6,103 tuition and required fees per quarter, full time (9 credits)
  • $24,412 typical annual tuition and fees

Annual tuition and fees based on 2013-14 rates for four quarters. Antioch University Seattle students typically attend classes all year.

 

Career Opportunities

  • Enhancement of current career
  • Ecopsychology and the exploration of the sacred relationship between humans and nature

Program Summary

Check out the blog created by students in Lisa Reddick’s Psychology of Climate Change class.

Ecopsychology offers an opportunity to participate in one of the greatest challenges of our time — reconnecting individuals to the earth. Through rediscovering humanity’s kinship with all of life and following the teachings of scholars and healers, students in the Ecopsychology specialization learn to lead change in their communities and organizations.

You build an in-depth understanding and practice in the field of ecopsychology that applies to many professions including education, consulting, writing, wilderness-based healing or working in a nonprofit or governmental social change setting. Ecopsychology is nonclinical in nature. You pursue a structured and comprehensive psychology curriculum.

The MA may be completed in two years of full-time study and you earn 60 quarter credits for your master’s degree. Part-time study also is an option. The specialization begins fall term.

 

Curriculum

Ecopsychology combines ongoing guidance from a core faculty adviser, foundation courses and a choice between two further areas of specialization: Ecopsychology and Cultural Transformation OR Research and Design in Ecopsychology. 

ISP Seminar (12 credits)

The ISP Seminar is the consistent thread across six quarters over two years (fall, winter, spring). Two specific areas of study are developed based on your areas of focus; in Developmental Psychology and in Ethics. The ISP Seminar also supports your written work for the program to meet APA standards.

Required Content Areas (12 credits)

These courses form the core of the Integrative Studies in Psychology concentration and fulfill requirements for the degree. They may be selected from classes offered in other Antioch programs with the approval of your adviser and degree committee.

  • Communication Skills
  • Multicultural Perspectives
  • Systemic Perspectives
  • Ways of Knowing

Required Courses (9 credits)

These are the three courses specific to all ecopsychology students and integrate both theory and practice.

  • Applied Ecopsychology
  • Advanced Theory, Practice & Research in Ecopsychology
  • Introduction to Ecopsychology

Areas of Specialization (18 credits)

There are two areas currently offered in ecopsychology. Each area involves three quarters of contiguous study (fall/winter/spring) in both theory (3 classes, 3 credits each) and practice as it relates to your personal interest (3 practica or courses, 3 credits each).

Application Project (9 credits)

The culmination of learning is the student’s Application Project, a formal document of work (research, applied project, nonclinical internship, formal thesis). In all cases, Application Projects incorporate an Introduction, Literature Review, written narrative of the project itself and a Summary and Evaluation.

  • Cultural Application
    • Literature Review
    • Project
  • Research Application
    • Literature Review
    • Research Design
    • Research Execution
    • Summary and Conclusion

Sample Schedule

Year 1

ISP Seminar (6 credits)

  • ISP Seminar 1
  • ISP Seminar 2
  • ISP Seminar 3

Required Content Areas (12 credits)

  • Communication Skills
  • Multicultural Perspectives
  • Systems Thinking
  • Ways of Knowing

Required Courses (9 credits)

  • Advanced Theory, Practice and Research in Ecopsychology
  • Applied Ecopsychology
  • Introduction to Ecopsychology

Year 2

ISP Seminar (6 credits)

  • ISP Seminar 4
  • ISP Seminar 5
  • ISP Seminar 6

Area of Specialization (18 credits)

  • Ecopsychology and Cultural Transformation
    • The focus of this area is to build a body of knowledge and experience in the combined fields of ecopsychology and cultural studies. Each course requires the student to create an experiential practicum that relates specifically to the course content. The practicum could include: participation in a vision quest, shamanic training, internship with a relevant nonprofit organization or the creation of an independent study that expands the course content. The student may opt to design a practicum that spans the full year of coursework.
      • Indigenous Perspectives and Global Psychology
      • Practicum I
      • The Psychology of Climate Change
      • Practicum II
      • Ecopsychology, Activism and Personal Transformation
      • Practicum III

OR

  • Research and Design in Ecopsychology
    • Students who pursue this area of study explore the impact and outcomes of wilderness-based and ecopsychologically focused practices. Students take the same three courses as students in the Ecopsychology and Cultural Transformation concentration. The 9-credit practicum for research students involves independent study of research methodologies and the critique of ecopsychological research.
      • Indigenous Perspectives and Global Psychology
      • Quantitative Research Methods
      • The Psychology of Climate Change
      • Qualitative Research Methods
      • Ecopsychology, Activism and Personal Transformatio
      • Survey and Critique of Ecopsychological Research

Application Project (9 credits)

  • Literature Review
  • Application Project

or

  • Literature Review
  • Research Design
  • Research Execution
  • Summary and Conclusion

Faculty

 

Patricia Hasbach, PhD

Patricia Hasbach, PhD, is a Licensed Professional Counselor and clinical psychotherapist with a private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and a faculty member at Lewis & Clark College and Antioch University Seattle. As a clinician, Dr. Hasbach incorporates ecotherapeutic practices with traditional therapy. She consults extensively with hospitals, schools, businesses, and community activist groups. She recently published "Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species" (MIT Press, 2012, edited with Peter Kahn).  She also co-authored "Rediscovery of the Wild" which will be published by MIT press in spring 2013.

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Lisa Reddick, PhD

Lisa M. Reddick, MA, Antioch Seattle University; PhD, Union Institute and University,; adjunct faculty, specializes in the field of Ecopsychology.  Dr. Reddick was one of the pioneers of ecopsychology in the early 1990’s and taught the first ecopsychology course at AUS in 1994.  She is currently the coordinator for the ecopsychology specialization in the Integrative Studies in Psychology Program at AUS.  She is on the advisory board for the Ecopsychology Journal and was co-editor of a special edition on “Women and Nature.”  Dr. Reddick is also the board president for Rite of Passage Journeys, a non-profit organization that leads wilderness quest programs for youth and adults.  She is currently working on her novel “The Same River” and a non-fiction book about ecopsychology and climate change called “Burning Wonder.”

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