Ecopsychology Ecotherapy Bay Area: HOLOS institute

Sanctuary Bistro has a mission of community and compassion.  Out tag line is vegan for the mind, body, spirit the animals and the Earth with a mission of reaching out to our community and donating to non-profits once or twice a month and a monday community night supporting local small businesses.  We were drawn to Holos because of their well-rounded approach to therapy.  it is about connecting you and I to the greater nature and finding our connection to the bigger picture. We hosted a benefit dinner for Holos Institute on July 17, 2016.  We had a great conversation about the world today and finding ways to support healing.  In this topsy turvy world, make sure to take care of you... or support those that may need care. - Jennifer InspirationHolos Institute was born out of our founder Alan Levin's experience helping people recover from addiction. He found that having contact with nature was a great support to their recovery process, and so he envisioned a counseling center dedicated to using Ecopsychology principles and practices in addition to regular talk therapy. Ecopsychology can be defined as the study of the relationship between the human psyche and the greater systems of which we are all a part, including the social and ecological. It is also a form of activism that explores the psychological underpinnings of social violence and environmental degradation on the one hand and social justice and environmental sustainability on the other. A question that an ecopsychologist might pose would be "What is the relationship between the personal traumas that individuals experience and structural racism or overuse of natural resources?"  In its simplest form, ecopsychology could be described as the recognition and honoring of the fundamental interrelatedness of all life.Ecotherapy is the application of Ecopsychology principles in a therapeutic context and can refer to nature-based therapies, wilderness rites of passage, animal-assisted therapies, and other approaches that take a systems perspective in understanding wellbeing. We hold as truth that personal wellbeing and global wellbeing are intimately interwoven and depend on each other to flourish, and so we work to create a world in which this truth is valued at every level of human experience.About Holos InstituteWe are a nonprofit counseling center and Ecopsychology training institute with over twenty-five years of serving the diverse communities of the Bay Area.Our counseling centers are located in the Rockridge district of Oakland and the Inner Richmond district of San Francisco and are staffed by postgraduate intern therapists and licensed therapists who provide counseling services to individuals, couples, youth, families, and groups. We operate on a sliding-scale.Our training institute offers workshops, retreats, conferences, and other public programs to both the general public and those working in the helping professions.Mission, Goals and Accomplishments. Our vision is to integrate the wisdom of an ecologically-based psychology into clinical practices that serve to restore balance to the mind, body, and spirit and generate kindness toward the greater communities in which we live. We strive to stretch the discipline of psychotherapy to include more than an exploration of the personal ‘self’. We seek to contribute to the creation of a society that values the health of all life.How it can help.We offer free eco-grief gatherings in the past have been healing for participants who have needed to process grief and despair over the state of the world. Also, participants in our quarterly one day retreats report a deep sense of connection with themselves, other participants and nature as a result of attending.Getting involvedCounseling ServicesWe have a lovely team of psychotherapists in Oakland and San Francisco that offers high-quality, sliding-scale counseling to support our community. Counselors have Masters or doctoral degrees in Counseling Psychology, are trained and supervised in a variety of therapeutic approaches including Ecopsychology practices, and can help people with a wide range of life challenges.Public ProgramsWe have great workshops, retreats, conferences, and other events! They are suited to anyone interested in exploring topics related to Ecopsychology and most offer CEUs for those in the helping professions.At each Solstice and Equinox, Clinical Director Jan Stein holds a one-day retreat at Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center titled "Nature and Soul", in which participants are guided to explore the mirrors of inner and outer landscapes. This is our most popular event and is not to be missed! The next gathering will be on September 23rd, near the Fall Equinox.In late October, we will hold a four-day nature immersion retreat in Anderson Valley October 23-27.Another recurring workshop is titled "Psyche and Nature: Bringing Nature in Clinical Practice", in conjunction with the Regenerative Design Institute. This workshop is geared to psychotherapists.We have held two Ecopsychology Conferences and expect to hold a third in the next year.  We are also in the planning stages of offering a Certificate Program in Ecopsychology.Our public programs are regularly updated, so please visit our website and subscribe to our mailing list to be notified of upcoming events.Community and compassion are our mission at Sanctuary Bistro. How do you exemplify this?Ecopsychology is, at its heart, the honoring of the interrelatedness of all life. It is the recognition that humans are a part of a nature and that ‘community’ includes our non-human brethren. So it is our work at Holos to facilitate the transition from a human-centered consciousness that breeds feelings of disconnection and oppression to a life-centered consciousness that sustains a healthy world for all. We know the challenge of meeting that ideal is great and we also know that healing and growth are possible in the context of compassionate relationship. With that in mind, we strive to offer compassionate services that serve as wide a population as possible. We hope that we exemplify these values!Tips for living a more compassionate lifestyleIt is said that we defend the things we love, and I know for myself that I would put my life on the line to protect my loved ones from danger, especially those who are the most vulnerable. We can take a moment each day to recognize that our entire planet is vulnerable and needs our protection. We can allow ourselves to fall in love with a wild place, a tree, a park, an animal, etc. and to let that love guide our actions. If we felt our gratitude and love for the privilege of having running water, might we protect our water supply more fiercely? If we allowed ourselves to fall in love with the delicate chemistry of our biosphere, might we reconsider our actions that compromise its integrity and might we fight for climate justice where we can? I think we have exhausted the practice of ‘saving the planet’ or working for peace out of obligation or from a place of dire responsibility, just as we know that we cannot force ourselves to grow and heal psychologically. At the most fundamental level, we must contact – in a felt way - our love for the Earth in order to find ways to heal it, just as we must contact our love for ourselves in order to find ways to heal ourselves.Eco-minded urbanites often lament the ‘concrete jungle’ that entraps us in the small bubble of a human-centered world. While being restricted to city life can have a negative impact on one’s wellbeing and being exposed to natural areas can have a positive impact, it is also possible to find oases within the city in order to connect with nature and find wellbeing. You can go outside and take a moment to intentionally connect - with your senses - with a bird, a tree, a weed, a body of water, fresh air, etc. Slow your breath and give yourself permission to feel the life-force in whatever you are focusing on. Notice the colors, textures, shapes, movements of that thing. Spend some time noticing what about this thing you enjoy . Let yourself remember that you come from the same place and are connected to this thing through a shared biology. Let yourself fall in love with it for a moment and see how that changes your experience. Let your heart open to include as much of your immediate surroundings as you like. Expand that open heartedness out into the world as far as you like. This practice can be done at any point in which you feel disconnected, isolated, anxious, overwhelmed. It's about connecting to your capacity to love and to something greater than yourself. These are essential steps to healing our human relations and to healing our planet.Stay ConnectedWe would love to connect with you through our counseling services and public programs. Please reach out if you are interested in what we offer and we would be happy to talk with you!You can read more about our counseling services, including therapist bios, as well as public programs offerings at our website: www.holosinstitute.net. The site is in the midst of a major update, and so please keep visiting us online to see its expansion.Also, the Bay Area is the epicenter of the Ecopsychology movement, and so we suggest a search engine exploration of "Ecopsychology Ecotherapy Bay Area" that yields a wonderful list of practitioners and events related to this growing field!