"Humans have long interacted with the nature world, from foraging and hunting for food to more recently, finding solace and peace in a beautiful vista. Our connection to nature runs deep in our DNA, yet our modern world has humans indoors almost 93% of the day. There is growing evidence that being in nature provides a healing elixir for physical and mental ailments. In fact, some physicians are "prescribing nature" for relief of patient's ailments. Ecotherapy, a growing but lesser known construct in mental health, describes the reciprocal relationship humans have with nature and the capacity of that relationship to build strength and provide healing. This book provides an overview of the theoretical constructs of Ecotherapy highlighting historical considerations and recent research within the discipline. Perspectives, examples and reflections are provided through the author's own experience as a former wilderness therapist and current Ecotherapist and counselor educator. Chapters include practical ways to incorporate Ecotherapy with children and adults, within schools settings, in group work and with veteran populations. Descriptions of other Ecotherapy modalities are also included, such as animal-assisted, equine-assisted, horticultural, forest bathing, green exercise and adventure based therapy. There is chapter devoted to designing an Ecotherapy course within a counseling program and finally, a chapter describing ways that a therapist can "become" an Ecotherapist. Case examples, techniques and practical and ethical considerations are provided throughout. To bring the content to life, several contributors offer stories, reflections and experiences with nature are a partner in the therapeutic relationship"--

Using evidence from a broad array of scientific fields (including biology, psychology, and economics), this book provides cutting-edge information about the flexibility of genetic expression that derives from the interplay of genes with environments from

Why the “nature versus nurture” debate persists despite widespread recognition that human traits arise from the interaction of nature and nurture. If everyone now agrees that human traits arise not from nature or nurture but from the interaction of nature and nurture, why does the “nature versus nurture” debate persist? In Beyond Versus, James Tabery argues that the persistence stems from a century-long struggle to understand the interaction of nature and nurture—a struggle to define what the interaction of nature and nurture is, how it should be investigated, and what counts as evidence for it. Tabery examines past episodes in the nature versus nurture debates, offers a contemporary philosophical perspective on them, and considers the future of research on the interaction of nature and nurture. From the eugenics controversy of the 1930s and the race and IQ controversy of the 1970s to the twenty-first-century debate over the causes of depression, Tabery argues, the polarization in these discussions can be attributed to what he calls an “explanatory divide”—a disagreement over how explanation works in science, which in turn has created two very different concepts of interaction. Drawing on recent developments in the philosophy of science, Tabery offers a way to bridge this explanatory divide and these different concepts integratively. Looking to the future, Tabery evaluates the ethical issues that surround genetic testing for genes implicated in interactions of nature and nurture, pointing to what the future does (and does not) hold for a science that continues to make headlines and raise controversy.

Are there certain periods in a child′s development when he or she may be more sensitive to specific environmental influences than at earlier or later times? Are preschool teachers equally nurturant to securely attached versus insecurely attached children? Are girls more sensitive than boys to parental maltreatment? Designed to synthesize what we know about the nature of environmental influences (nurture) upon development, Wachs artfully explores whether development depends upon a sole factor--the rearing environment, genetics, nutrition, or individual characteristics-- or, whether the degree of directional consistency combined with the extent of covariance among these factors may have the most developmental impact. Issues such as how individuals respond differently to stress, medical treatment, parenting styles, teaching approaches and daycare centers are all discussed through careful analysis of research and theories from a variety of fields. Researchers, teachers, and intervention specialists of developmental psychology, family studies, social psychology, education, and nursing will find The Nature of Nurture an inspiration to further examine how environmental systems determine variability in developmental outcomes and what can be done to promote optimal outcomes for individual children. USE IN NEXT AD (2/1/94): "In The Nature of Nurture Wachs does precisely what he intends to do. He lays out clearly and thoroughly what we know and do not know about environmental influences on human development, and he builds on the conceptual and empirical work of others to move research on environmental effects forward in productive and exciting ways. . . . [It] should serve as a bible for future research on the environment and development. As such, it is a must read for developmental psychologists from all specialty areas, to graduate students, and to upper level undergraduates. This is an eminently readable and important book." --Contemporary Psychology "The Nature of Nurture provides a thorough and thoughtful review and analysis of state-of-the-art theory, concepts, and evidence pertaining to the effect of the environment on human development. Especially important is the attention the author pays to the multidimensional nature of the environment, to individual differences among children, and to the need to consider both of these domains of complexity for understanding the development of specific aspects of psychological and behavioral functioning." --Jay Belsky, The Pennsylvania State University "The Nature of Nurture provides extended treatments of issues rarely dealt with in detail, including organism-environment covariance and organism-environment interaction. All in all, this is an excellent choice for those interested in studying complex, dynamic interplay of organism and environment. It deals with a number of critical design and theory issues; and it ends with a hybrid ecological developmental model designed to integrate studies of experience and offers a useful discussion of future trends in an emerging area of developmental studies." --Child Development Abstracts & Bibliography

This engaging text presents the latest scientific findings on gender differences, similarities, and variations--in sexuality, cognitive abilities, occupational preferences, personality, and social behaviors. The impact of nature and nurture on gender is examined from the perspectives of genetics, molecular biology, evolutionary theory, neuroanatomy, sociology, and psychology. The result is a balanced, fair-minded synthesis of diverse points of view. Dr. Lippa's text sympathetically summarizes each side of the nature-nurture debate, and in a witty imagined conversation between a personified "nature" and "nurture," he identifies weaknesses in the arguments offered by both sides. His review defines gender, summarizes research on gender differences, examines the nature of masculinity and femininity, describes theories of gender, and presents a "cascade model," which argues that nature and nurture weave together to form the complex tapestry known as gender. Gender, Nature, and Nurture, Second Edition features: *new research on sex differences in personality, moral thought, coping styles, sexual and antisocial behavior, and psychological adjustment; *the results of a new meta-analysis of sex differences in real-life measures of aggression; *new sections on non-hormonal direct genetic effects on sexual differentiation; hormones and maternal behavior; and on gender, work, and pay; and *expanded accounts of sex differences in children's play and activity levels; social learning theories of gender, and social constructionist views of gender. This lively "primer" is an ideal book for courses on gender studies, the psychology of women, or of men, and gender roles. Its wealth of updated information will stimulate the professional reader, and its accessible style will captivate the student and general reader.

Following his highly praised and bestselling book Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, Matt Ridley has written a brilliant and profound book about the roots of human behavior. Nature via Nurture explores the complex and endlessly intriguing question of what makes us who we are. In February 2001 it was announced that the human genome contains not 100,000 genes, as originally postulated, but only 30,000. This startling revision led some scientists to conclude that there are simply not enough human genes to account for all the different ways people behave: we must be made by nurture, not nature. Yet again biology was to be stretched on the Procrustean bed of the nature-nurture debate. Matt Ridley argues that the emerging truth is far more interesting than this myth. Nurture depends on genes, too, and genes need nurture. Genes not only predetermine the broad structure of the brain, they also absorb formative experiences, react to social cues, and even run memory. They are consequences as well as causes of the will. Published fifty years after the discovery of the double helix of DNA, Nature via Nurture chronicles a revolution in our understanding of genes. Ridley recounts the hundred years' war between the partisans of nature and nurture to explain how this paradoxical creature, the human being, can be simultaneously free-willed and motivated by instinct and culture. Nature via Nurture is an enthralling,up-to-the-minute account of how genes build brains to absorb experience.

Every parent has pondered "nature vs. nurture" questions. How much of my child's personality and behavior is inborn? How much is learned? This important new book written by behavioral scientists who are also mothers has answers. This book offers the best parenting practices to foster resilience by encouraging children's social-emotional development and adaptive stress-regulation strategies. The authors translate scientific research into concrete, actionable tips and recommendations to help promote the emotional wellbeing of both child and parent. Authors Stacey N. Doan and Jessica Borelli offer a science-based framework to help show parents and guardians how biology and parenting work together. Although genetics are significant, DNA is not destiny--the die is not cast at birth. Parenting still matters, deeply. Cutting-edge epigenetics research and other recent scientific insights are explained to show that biology and parenting behavior are integrally intertwined. Increasingly competitive schools, looming threats of climate change, and the Covid-19 pandemic have sent many parents' anxiety spiraling out of control. This affects their kids, creating a recurring cycle of stress and worry. This book is here to help.