One who can harm can also heal. I did not know this when i was young. Hopelessly surveying environmental destruction caused by humans, I wondered, “Are we a cancer upon the earth?” I was studying to be a medical doctor, but Western medicine did not offer a path of healing that I perceived was necessary. The rapid decline of earth’s living systems is our greatest health threat AND we are the cause of this decline. What does it mean to be a healer in the context of this situation? 

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Paralyzed by ecological shame and frozen in despair, I needed an ecopsychologist! Over many years, I have become the doctor that I needed.

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Wilderness, prison, travel, parenting, years of study, and self-reflection have taught me the true power of being human. One who can harm can also heal, yes. But this transformation is hard-won. Our deepest nature is wild, wholesome, medicinal and basically good, but this deep inner nature is as vulnerable to being hurt, exploited, and compromised as other living system.

Wild wisdom and internally rooted ethics are as endangered as any natural system–and as resilient. This is why I am an environmental activist with an inner focus. The living system I protect and serve is the deep inner nature human beings.

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