Join us for an evening with Carolyn Schuyler, who will speak about her new book, Everyday Ecotherapy: Nature Connection Practices for Where We Live, Learn, Work, and Play. A conversation with Dorothe Bach will follow. This in-person event will be free and open to the public. We recommend arriving early for the best seating.
About the Book: Everyday Ecotherapy introduces ecotherapy as a path to personal growth and creating community, guiding readers to deepen their bond with nature for well-being and a compassionate, conservation-minded outlook.
Drawing on core ecotherapy values and research, the book illustrates how to reimagine everyday places—schoolyards, campuses, parks, gardens, and neighborhoods—as spaces to support mental health, community, and environmental action. Chapters feature content from real-world practitioners, offer thoughtful reflection prompts, and provide clear instructions for accessible group activities suitable for all ages, integrating nature’s restorative benefits into community life. Step-by-step guidance empowers both new and experienced leaders to facilitate ecotherapy experiences for people of all backgrounds and experience levels.
This is a practical, user-friendly guide for mental health professionals, educators, community builders, and individuals seeking engaging ways to disconnect from digital distractions and reconnect with the living world. With this resource, nature connection becomes a nurturing, creative, collaborative endeavor.
About the Author: Carolyn Schuyler is a University of Virginia Visiting Scholar, a Morven Sustainability Lab Community Scholar, and the founder of Wildrock and Nature Connection Lab, two nonprofit organizations seeking to promote nature-connected communities. Earlier in her career, she worked as a psychotherapist and the founding program director of The Women’s Initiative. Her great joy is working to promote nature equity in collaboration with teachers, mental health professionals, youth service workers, community organizers, and environmental activists. Her goal in writing Everyday Ecotherapy is to make the benefits of ecotherapy available to a broad and diverse audience.
About the Moderator: Dorothe Bach is an associate director at UVA’s Center for Teaching Excellence. Dorothe met Carolyn in 2021, when she searched for a local expert to join her in introducing UVA students to the practice and science of nature connection. In the past four years, their highly experiential seminar Nature Connectedness: Pathways for Health, Hope and Community Action has become a beloved staple in UVA’s Environmental Thought and Practice Program. To carry this work into the community, Dorothe joined Carolyn in founding Nature Connection Lab.
Everyday Ecotherapy will be released on September 21. To order the book, please see below for the New Dominion Bookshop book order form or call the shop at 434-295-2552.
"By now, it is well known that nature offers powerful medicine for our minds, hearts, and souls....Everyday Ecotherapy offers an invitation into a deep, enriching journey through ecotherapy and its inner worlds."
—Kat Maier
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