Ecopsychology Degree
Master of Arts in Ecopsychology (Low-Residency)
Deepen your understanding of the human-nature relationship and its importance in re-balancing our world for personal, societal and planetary health.Â
Program Overview
Naropa’s Ecopsychology Degree is both highly experiential and academically rigorous. We prepare future ecopsychologists for a shifting environmental landscape where they’ll apply their training, skills, and unique talents to a broad array of employment directions.
This low-residency MFA program combines online courses and residential Intensives with a cohort model that builds a supportive community and long-lasting friendships. Over two years, you’ll engage in contemplative practices and meditation, deep immersion in the natural world, meaningful service-learning, and strong foundations in the field of ecopsychology, which blends transpersonal psychology with ecological principles.
In community with seasoned faculty and like-minded peers, you will learn to repair the bridge that connects humans to the natural world.Â
Contemplative Connection With Nature
Following Naropa’s mission of contemplative education, the Master of Arts in Ecopsychology matches theoretical study with meditative practice. In the ecopsychology graduate program, nature is the added element, creating the opportunity to know oneself through the natural world.
Global Access
The Master of Arts in Ecopsychology program seeks to expand contemplative education through its low-residency, online format. Because the ecological issues facing humanity exist on a global scale, we aim for a geographically diverse student body.
Careers Preparedness
Through the Transpersonal Service Learning course, graduate students will apply their knowledge of transpersonal ecopsychology through community fieldwork. Service-learning placements, at sites from bereavement centers to nonprofits, include teaching art and ecopsychology, assisting teen wilderness rites-of-passage courses, and providing natural disaster relief.
Quick Facts
- The Only Ecopsychology Graduate Program in the United States
- Online Format
- 4 Residential Intensives
- 38 Credit Hours
- 10 Immersive Days in Nature
- 2-year Degree
- Scholarship Opportunities
- Applications Open for August 2025
Program Format
The low-residency Master of Arts in Ecopsychology program is a two-year, 38-credit program that begins with a ten-day residential intensive at the Drala Mountain Center. It then continues with students learning from their own home online during the fall and spring semesters.
Students also attend a five-day intensive course in Boulder each January and begin the second year with a two-week summer intensive that includes a rites of passage wilderness camping trip.
Coursework integrates theory, experiential learning, and contemplative practice in the study of ecopsychology, including ecoresilience strategies. This is not a clinical program and does not lead to licensure. Students complete both written and service-learning projects.Â
Course Spotlight
Ecopsychology Applied in Context
This online course deepens understanding of the field of ecopsychology by seating its concepts in cultural and applied contexts. Application of the ecopsychological principles for addressing contemporary ecological problems and ethics are examined, along with options for effective and compassionate action.
Degree
Requirements
Ecopsychology integrates psychology with ecology in the study of human/nature relationships. At Naropa University, contemplative practice and transpersonal psychology provide a foundation for this integration. The result is a unique contemplative and transpersonal orientation to the field of ecopsychology.
Our Ecopsychology Degree requires a total of 38 credits split and takes two years to complete. The required courses are as follows:Â
Low Residency Ecopsychology Degree Requirements
First year, fall (10 credits)
- PSYE-600 Initiatory Contemplative Ecopsychology Intensive(4)
- PSYE-630E Transpersonal Psychology(3)
- PSYE-640E Ecopsychology(3)
First year, spring (8 credits)
- PSYE-650 Winter Contemplative Ecopsychology Intensive(2)
- PSYE-680E Ecology: Concepts & Applications for Ecopsychology(3)
- PSYE-690E Ecopsychology Applied in Context(3)
First year, summer (6 credits)
- PSYE-700 Ecopsychology Training Intensive(2)
- PSYE-750 Psychology of Wilderness Experience Intensive(4)
Second year, fall (6 credits)
- PSYE-800E Transpersonal Service Learning(3)
- PSYE-850E Master’s Project I(3)
Second year, spring (8 credits)
- PSYE-800E Transpersonal Service Learning(3)
- PSYE-850E Master’s Project I(3)
Why Choose Naropa?
Colorado Intensives
Your in-person intensives will take you to our Boulder Campus and the Drala Mountain Center. Engage in contemplative practice and develop a deeper understanding of the human/nature relationship in a nature-based setting.
Emerging Scholarship
Ecopsychology is an emerging field that is developing in recognition that human health, identity, and sanity are intimately linked to the health of the earth. Naropa University offers the only Graduate Ecopsychology Degree in the US.
Sustainability
Naropa’s commitment to sustainability is a core part of our mission. We promote the individual and collective integration of ecological, economic, and spiritual well-being through institutional and community practices, with our curriculum and through all endeavors we pursue.
How this Program Prepares You
Transpersonal Service Learning
Transpersonal Service Learning is a method of teaching where students learn and develop through active participation in organized service experiences. These experiences take place in their communities and are integrated into the academic curriculum of the Ecopsychology MA program. They are designed to meet the needs of a community, provide structured time for reflection and help foster civic responsibility.
Multidisciplinary & Multicultural Approach
Transpersonal ecopsychologists recognize the essential role of multidisciplinary studies. Practitioners may explore religion, anthropology, ecology, physics, and other fields for a fuller understanding of the human being. Similarly, transpersonal psychology is, at its roots, strongly intercultural. The Ecopsychology program values diversity in its student body and faculty and includes explorations of diversity throughout its courses.
Personal enrichment and transpersonal growth
Students draw upon the opportunities offered by the Ecopsychology program as a vehicle for psychospiritual growth and transformation. The development of community among program students and faculty, the intellectual challenge of the program, and the experiential engagement with contemplative and transpersonal practices all foster transformation.
What You'll Learn
Deep Relationship with Nature
Take your love for nature a step further; learn how nature can heal.
Understanding of the Human/Nature Relationship
Help restore the powerful link between humans and the natural world.
Valuable Nature-Based Skills
Gain wilderness skills you will use for a lifetime.
Self-Knowledge
Learn about yourself through immersive wilderness experiences.