Personal Background:

I grew up in a small rural community in the high plains region of central Kansas. My childhood provided me with the deepest personal appreciation for wide-open spaces, for the ever-present wind blowing across the prairie and for the marvel of nature's ceaseless cycles of quietude and bombast. This small place was my home on earth. Nature wasn't frightful; she was companion, comforter, friend an unending, almost speechless source of wonder and sustenance.

Unfortunately, as I moved to the city and fell deeper into the modern era's focus on control and consumption I could, and still can, feel the longings for a place unobstructed by building and cement, billboards and traffic, celebrity worship and survivor fantasies, devices and deadlines. I have often wondered what my life would be if not for at least the memory of wind, trees, the tall grass, and the open range. Would I have the appreciation for it, had I not had the memory of it? The greater question: as a human race, can we function together and learn to live in harmony with all beings on this planet as we get further and further from the memory of being at home on Earth.

We as social workers have also come to a turning point; a critical apex of self-examination. The looming environmental crisis in which we find our clients and ourselves and the transformation of peoples and societies toward sustainable, just and earth-friendly orientations must inspire us to attempt to discover more refined alternatives to prevailing social work theory and practice that would better correspond to the life-affirming richness of the Earth-Community. We must be willing to think and act differently and to come together to launch a reorientation of our professional ethos. I hope this web site will be a place to begin.

Professional Preparation:

Dr. Besthorn holds a M.S.W. and Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of Kansas and a Master of Divinity from Grace Theological Seminary. He is a former Assistant Professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work at Washburn University Topeka, Kansas. He currently is Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa. Dr. Besthorn has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in social policy and advocacy, spiritually diverse practice, human behavior and the social environment, and social work leadership in a multi-cultural society.

Dr. Besthorn brings experiences in the faith community, higher education, psychotherapy, criminal justice, community advocacy and environmental activism. His writing and research interest are in the application of spirituality, deep ecological and ecofeminist thought to social work theory, practice and curriculum, and the development of transpersonal models of personal and social transformation.

He has conducted training seminars, multi-day workshops and presented many scholarly papers at regional, national and international conferences of social work and environmental design on the interface of spirituality and radical environmental thought to social work education and practice. He has authored published works in numerous national and international professional journals on issues of spiritual awareness, eco-justice and curriculum development.

 

Downloadable selected papers of Dr. Besthorn

“Building Bridges, Crossing Boundaries:
Interdisciplinary Dialogues on Person, Planet and Professional Helping”

International Conference on Ecology and Professional Helping

University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
May 7-9, 2009
More info coming soon.

Conference: Global Social Work Congress-2004
Theme: "Reclaiming Civil Society"
Adelaide, South Australia October 2-5, 2004

Dr. Besthorn's Keynote Address from the First Annual Symposium:
Deepening Earth Consciousness in Social Work-Summer 2001 (Washington, DC)

Is It Time for a Deeper Ecological Approach to Social Work:
What is the Earth Telling Us?