Uploaded September 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Bonnie Bright PhD discusses Culture Collapse Disorder with Jocelyn Mercado for the Sacred Wisdom Summit in July 2016
About Culture Collapse Disorder
Over time, humans belonging to western cultures have undergone a profound restructuring of the psyche resulting in a traumatic sense of separation. Culture Collapse Disorder relates to a disturbing phenomenon in the natural world, Colony Collapse Disorder, where beehives collapse because the bees become separated from the hive and can no longer navigate home.
Culture Collapse Disorder is a term Bright coined to describe how the wounded relationship between culture and nature has affected our modern mindset, contributing to disorientation, despair, and the collective loss of connection to an archetypal sense of “home.” As ecopsychopathy and excessive consumerism contribute to the increased devastation of the planet, the underlying trauma we experience from the sense of separation propels us toward denial and dissociation. Effectively, those living in the global consumer-oriented culture experience an ecopsychological complex of exile, unable to return to the greater web of life to which we inherently belong.
Bonnie Bright, Ph.D. is the founder of Depth Psychology Alliance, a free online community for everyone interested in Jungian and depth psychologies; and of DepthList.com, a free-to-search database of Jungian and depth psychology-oriented practitioners. She is also the creator and executive editor of Depth Insights, a semi-annual scholarly journal, and regularly produces audio and video interviews on depth psychological topics. She holds M.A. degrees in Psychology from Sonoma State University and in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA, where she also earned her Ph.D.. Bonnie has completed 2-year certifications in Archetypal Pattern Analysis via the Assisi Institute; in Technologies of the Sacred with West African elder Malidoma Somé, and has been extensively involved in Holotropic Breathwork™ and the Enneagram.
Bonnie Bright PhD discusses Culture Collapse Disorder with Jocelyn Mercado for the Sacred Wisdom Summit in July 2016
About Culture Collapse Disorder
Over time, humans belonging to western cultures have undergone a profound restructuring of the psyche resulting in a traumatic sense of separation. Culture Collapse Disorder relates to a disturbing phenomenon in the natural world, Colony Collapse Disorder, where beehives collapse because the bees become separated from the hive and can no longer navigate home.
Culture Collapse Disorder is a term Bright coined to describe how the wounded relationship between culture and nature has affected our modern mindset, contributing to disorientation, despair, and the collective loss of connection to an archetypal sense of “home.” As ecopsychopathy and excessive consumerism contribute to the increased devastation of the planet, the underlying trauma we experience from the sense of separation propels us toward denial and dissociation. Effectively, those living in the global consumer-oriented culture experience an ecopsychological complex of exile, unable to return to the greater web of life to which we inherently belong.
Bonnie Bright, Ph.D. is the founder of Depth Psychology Alliance, a free online community for everyone interested in Jungian and depth psychologies; and of DepthList.com, a free-to-search database of Jungian and depth psychology-oriented practitioners. She is also the creator and executive editor of Depth Insights, a semi-annual scholarly journal, and regularly produces audio and video interviews on depth psychological topics. She holds M.A. degrees in Psychology from Sonoma State University and in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA, where she also earned her Ph.D.. Bonnie has completed 2-year certifications in Archetypal Pattern Analysis via the Assisi Institute; in Technologies of the Sacred with West African elder Malidoma Somé, and has been extensively involved in Holotropic Breathwork™ and the Enneagram.
