1. To: Professor Miller
From: Dominick Mortarotti
Date: 6 December 2015
Re: Community Building & Ecotherapy, How Creating Empathy Reduces Mental Health
Concerns
Executive Summary
Across the United States communal bonds are shattering largely due to feelings of
isolation and competition.1 This had created a status quo where empathy has decreased by 40%
since 2006.2 The reduction of empathy trends towards an increase in stress and depression, which
are at nation high levels at American University (AU).3 At AU, 100% of students reported to
dealing with with stress,4 a problem that current campus efforts are unable to sufficiently cope
with.5 It is imperative that AU redress chronic stress and its many ramifications of poor health,
damaged academic performance, and mental wellbeing.6 Community building7 and ecotherapy8
are clinically proven to effectively reduce stress. Thus, my proposal, utilizing mindfulness
speakers, seeks to engage the AU student population in a series of discussions and hikes in order
to change the culture of of isolation. Successful completion of the project creates momentum that
reduces overall stress through establishing community ties and encouraging mindfulness.
Background
The American College Health Association (ACHA) reports that in the last 12 months
91% of AU students felt “overwhelmed”, 89% felt “exhausted”, 72% “very sad”, 71% “very
1
Todd, Andrew, et al. “Anxious andEgocentric:HowSpecific Emotions Influence Perspective Taking.”
2
The Societyfor Personality andSocial Psychology,Changes in DispositionalEmpathy (2011), 187.
3
ACHA, American College HealthAssessment (DC,2015), 13-14.
4
Mortarotti,Dominick.“Mental HealthSurvey.”, See Appendix A.
5
Traci Callandrillo,“Howto TackleStress on AU’s Campus.”
6
Ibid.
7
Brita Roy, et al. “TransformCommunities toReduce Stress andImprove Health” (Culture of Health,2014)
8
ERIC, CounselingandNature: A Greeningof Psychotherapy, 15.

2. Mortarotti 2
lonely”, 65% “overwhelming anxiety”, 56% “hopelessness”, and 42% so depressed that it was
“difficult to function”.9 These negative emotions directly impact academic performance -- 38%
of students reported that stress led to lower grades, disruption in work, or dropping a course, a
7% jump since 2011.10 These numbers depict a terrible and worsening trend.
Dr. Henriques, a mental health expert at James Madison University, states “there is a
mental health crisis today facing America’s college students…this group has greater levels
of stress and psychopathology than [at] any time in the nation’s history.”11 AU reports feelings of
stress that are 20% higher than the national average, indicating a grave campus crisis.12
The ACHA data shows that mental health is worsening with every incoming class.13
Causes are nebulous, but there is a clear trend: a dramatic reduction in empathy amongst students
in higher education. The Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s 30 year (1979 to 2009)
metadata analysis found that college student empathy has decreased 40% since the year 2000.14
Strong social structures allow humans to form identities and maintain emotional
resiliency, processes essential to mental well-being. Studies have shown empathy reduces stress,
and vice versa, stress reduces empathy.15 In the aforementioned metadata analysis students were
increasingly unable to identify with statements such as “I often have tender, concerned feelings
for people less fortunate than me” and “I sometimes try and understand my friends better by
imagining how things look from their perspective.”16 The study delineates a trend. Without
addressing mental health on campus, stress will continue to erode empathy, which will increase
stress, and the issue will spiral in a positive feedback loop.
9
ACHA, American College HealthAssessment (DC,2015), 13-14.
10
ACHA, American College HealthAssessment,5.
11
Gregg Henriques. “The College Student Mental Health Crisis.” (Psychology Today 2015).
12
ACHA, American College HealthAssessment,5.
13
Ibid.
14
The Societyfor Personality andSocial Psychology,Changes in DispositionalEmpathy (2011), 187.
15
Todd, Andrew, et al. “Anxious andEgocentric:HowSpecific Emotions Influence Perspective Taking.”
16
The Societyfor Personality andSocial Psychology,Changes in DispositionalEmpathy (2011), 187.

3. Mortarotti 3
AU suffers from a lack of communal identity, something AU Counseling Center director
Dr. Traci Callandrillo laments.17 A Sense of Community Index survey, taken of 38
undergraduates reached out to via Facebook, substantiates this claim showing that a majority of
AU of students felt that “what they said was not valued”, that their “community needs were not
meet”, that “they were not known by their peers”, and that “the community was not effective at
solving problems.”18 The empathy gap compounds due to the absence of community and a
culture of isolation at AU. Excessive competition for jobs leads to isolation and stress.19
Increasingly competitive, AU’s acceptance rate has decreased 20% since 2009.20 Kelly Davis,
president of several mental health groups, including Project Fully Human, summarizes the issue
well: “[At AU] there is so much pressure to succeed, with little room to express oneself for fear
of judgment.”21 Moreover, “the ability to escape into binge watching shows can seem way less
painful than daily life…it can become a trap or a way to check out.”22 Binge watching shows is
an isolating activity and according to a study conducted by the University of Texas, binge
watching is often an indicator of people having “depression, loneliness and an inability to control
their behavior.”23 Community and isolation are intimately connected -- a strong sense of
community reduces feelings of isolation, and thus stress.24
The stakeholder is the entire undergraduate population of AU (7,083).25 A survey of 81
undergraduate students showed that 100% were “stressed”, 90% were “distracted from work due
to stress”, and 40% were “unfamiliar with any resources to cope with stress”.26 Further,
17
Traci Callandrillo,“Howto TackleStress on AU’s Campus.”
18
Mortarotti,Dominick.“ASense of CommunityIndex: American University.” Survey.SurveyMonkey. 2 November2015.
19
Ibid.
20
Nick Anderson,“American Universityis gettingmore selective” (Washington Post,2015).
21
Kelly Davis, “Why Mental Health Compounds.”
22
Ibid.
23
Ponice Rutsch. “Does Binge-WatchingMake Us Depressed? GoodQuestion (2015).” NPR.AccessedNovember 4,2015.
24
Brita Roy, et al. “TransformCommunities toReduce Stress andImprove Health” (Culture of Health,2014).
25
“Fast Facts.” American University. AccessedOctober 14, 2015.
26
Mortarotti,Dominick.“Mental HealthSurvey.”, See Appendix A.

4. Mortarotti 4
according to an assessment of the happiest college students in the country based on student
retention and graduation rate, AU failed to make the top 50.27
AU students would benefit from more help, but lack proper attention. The University
Counseling Center provides counselors and self-care materials. The center is understaffed, Dr.
Callandrillo expressed that “of course it would be wonderful to have more resources and
additional staff… we can’t see everyone.”28 Students have also found access to the Center
difficult. 29 Davis who as an AU undergraduate, worked with the counseling center tirelessly to
produce speak outs found them “inefficient.” The center only has walk-in appointments available
in one two-hour window every day, and making appointments online is difficult.30 These gross
inefficiencies exacerbate the issues.
Though the counseling center works hard to provide proper care for students, current
therapeutic efforts are not working. The aforementioned ACHA for AU shows that because
mental health issues have increased rapidly, 31 current efforts are insufficient. If no additional
efforts are put forward to close the gap student stress will continue to grow, along with all of its
consequences of overeating, smoking, anxiety disorders, alcohol and/or drug abuse, or
depression.32 AU is suffering from these increasing outcomes.33
Project Description
A strong community is a panacea for stress.34 Therefore, I propose a project that
strengthens communal bonds at AU.35 For this project I will use the most widely accepted
27
Katie Admonson, “50Colleges andUniversity’s with the Happiest Freshmen” (CollegeChoice 2015).
28
Traci Callandrillo,“Howto TackleStress on AU’s Campus.”.
29
Kelly Davis, “Why Mental Health Compounds.”
30
Ibid.
31
ACHA, American College HealthAssessment,5.
32
Ewing, B., Ryan. M.. bZarco. E. (2007). A Campus Wellness program: AcceptingtheChallenge.
33
ACHA, American College HealthAssessment,5.
34
TEDxPerth, dir; “Take a Street Builda Community”TED. October 2013. Web. 2 Oct. 2015.
35
Brita Roy, et al. “TransformingCommunities to Reduce Stress andImprove Health”(Culture ofHealth, 2014).

5. Mortarotti 5
definition of community,36 created by social psychologists McMillan and Chavis: “A feeling that
members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a
shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together.”37
McMillan and Chavis delineate four key components that make a strong community: 1)
membership -- e.g. emotional safety, sacrifices, and investment; 2) influence – especially
promoting a sense of belonging and meaning; 3) integration and fulfillment of needs; and 4)
shared emotional connection -- i.e. common experiences.38 Community building has been shown
to reduce stress considerably. Community organizer Shani Graham in her TEDxPerth talk
describes how she utilized its processes to successfully improve the emotional and psychological
wellbeing of her street.39
Through this project, I will seek to build community through connecting individuals to
the world around them in a process known as ecotherapy. Ecotherapy is defined by
ecopsychologist Michael Cohen as “[identifying] the natural world as a exceptional resource for
learning how to build responsible relationships and it offers sensory activities that let nature
teach its wise and balanced ways.”40 As a practitioner, Cohen has used ecotherapy to reconnect
subjects to the natural world. Participants were able to overcome negative mental habits and deal
with depression, stress, and suicidal tendencies in positive ways, ecotherapy has a history of
success.41 Ecopsychology is based on the premise that 1) nature is fundamentally healing; and 2)
an understanding of the oneness of life will create positive mental health changes.
My project will be centered around three community building events. Each event will
integrate and establish the four components of community creation and the precepts of
36
Spinks, David. “The Psychologyof Communities.”The CommunityManager. AccessedOctober 3,2015.
37
McMillan, David, et al. Sense of Community:A DefinitionandTheory (1986), 9.
38
Ibid, 9-14.
39
TEDxPerth, dir; “Take a Street Builda Community”TED. October 2013. Web. 2 Oct. 2015.
40
ERIC, A Greeningof Psychotherapy, 2.
41
Ibid, 14.

6. Mortarotti 6
ecopsychology in all aspects of design. Events will be held during AU’s spring semester (i.e.
January-May of 2016). Successful events will help grow positive community bonds through
interactions with other students. The key community components of membership through
investing in the AU community, influence in attendees feeling valuable, need fulfillment via free
events that provide attendees with self-care help, and shared emotional connection by
manifesting a positive experience, are all met.
An outline of the three events are as follows:
1. Plant Giveaway: A plant give away is the perfect way to use the power of ecopsychology
towards improving mental health outcomes on campus. I will table in AU’s quad, the
nexus point of campus, during lunch hours (12-1pm) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
of the week of 1/20. I will secure the plants from American Plant, which is located on
River Road near AU’s campus. Overall, I estimate that 30-50 plants will be sufficient.
Yet, if there is an excess of plants demanded, I can always secure more. I will give away
plants that require low light and are therefore able to survive in a dorm room, e.g. pothos,
palm, and peace lily. To entice people to acquire a plant I will also be giving away hot
chocolate. Additionally, I will proselytize for the Minds of AU Facebook group (a
description of the page may be found below the events section) and collecting emails in
order to be able to more effectively communicate with the student population.
2. Tea Talk: Tea Talk will be hosted twice next semester and will be situated in the Battelle-
Tompkins atrium, a building on AU’s campus that has an open space suitable for talks
and has hosted several philosophical tea talks in the past. The first talk will be on
February 18th and the second on April 21st; each talk will take place at 5pm.The talks will
be about ecopsychology and focus on mindfulness. As previously discussed, mindfulness

7. Mortarotti 7
helps combat stress and other mental health issues.42 Speakers will be practitioners and
experts on mindfulness, and secured in the following weeks. Potential candidates include
Zen Buddhists from the Shambhala mediation center. Having two events is important
because it reinforces the notion of mindfulness through consistency. Tea, coffee, and
snacks will be provided. The anticipated attendance is 20 people for each talk, and there
will be a question and answer session at the end.
3. Hike: There will be two hikes next semester, one at Rockcreek Park, March 19th, and the
other at National Falls park, April 16th. Both sites are beautiful and natural, and therefore
uphold ecotherapy’s notion of healing psychological wounds through exploring and
connecting with nature. While on the hike, participants will be encouraged to bring
snacks, water, and proper outerwear. Moreover, we will engage in a guided mediation
outlined in Michael Cohen’s report on ecopsychology.43 The meditation focuses on
sensing the natural world and has had promising results in terms of effectively reducing
stress.44 Transportation will be provided with cars. At this point I have three cars secured
with an overall capacity of 16 people. More cars can be provided if necessary. Thus, the
anticipated attendance will be anywhere from 12-16 people. At the end of the hike all
participants will debrief in order to reflect upon their experience.
Additionally, I will create a Facebook page, Minds of AU, to act as a mechanism to advertise
events. AU has high usage and demand for Facebook pages as referenced by the AU Facebook
pages Free & For Sale,45 Jobs & Internships,46 and Housing47, which are similar student forums
where thousands of students engage in a communal exchange—proving the desire to connect is
42
ERIC, A Greeningof Psychotherapy, 15.
43
Ibid, 12.
Ibid, 13-15.
45
“Free & For Sale.” Facebook. OpenGroups WithinAmerican.Accessed4 November 2015.
46
“Housing.” Facebook.OpenGroups Within American. Accessed4 November 2015.
47
“Housing.” Facebook.OpenGroups Within American. Accessed4 November 2015.

8. Mortarotti 8
already prevalent/exists. I will encourage individuals to like the page through engaging with
them at all events, especially during tabling in event 1. Also, I will also post flyers throughout
campus in order to encourage likes.
Timeline
12/20 Secure tabling permissions for event 1
01/01 Receive necessary funding, create minds of AU Facebook page and other preparations
01/06 Begin promoting for event 1
01/13 Preparations complete for event 1
01/18 Secure space for event 2(a), begin promoting for event 2(a)
01/18 Event 1: Plant Giveaway Day 1
01/20 Event 1: Plant Giveaway Day 2
01/22 Event 1: Plant Giveaway Day 3
02/11 Preparations complete for event 2(a)
02/18 Event 2(a): Tea Talk A
02/19 begin promoting for event 3(a)
03/19 Event 3(a): Rockcreek Hike
03/20 Secure space for event 2(b), promote event 2(b) and 3(b)
04/13 Preparations complete for event 2(b)
04/16 Event 3(b): National Falls Hike
04/21 Event 2(b): Tea Talk B
04/21 Send out end of year survey
Budget

9. Mortarotti 9
Personnel
The personnel requirements for this project consist of an executor, to complete the
project, drivers to provide hike transportation, and mindfulness speakers for the tea talks.
Executor: I, Dominick Mortarotti, will be the executor of the project. I have researched the topics
extensively and spent hundreds of hours learning about mindfulness. I also have two years of
leadership experience and will be able to complete the project with excellence. To build a
network of individuals to engage and join with Minds of AU, an individual must have strong
communication experience. I specialize in building relationships and catalyzing social change.
Drivers: At least three drivers will be necessary for event 3. Suitable drivers are anyone who has
a license and is attending the hike. Thus, drivers will also be participants.
Speakers: Appropriate speakers are those that practice mindfulness and will likely come from the
Shambhala meditation center.
Methods of Evaluation
The project’s success will be determined from several methods of evaluation. Each event
has an event specific method of evaluation and there will be a general end of year survey. This
way I will be able to appropriately asses what worked best in reducing chronic stress. For event

10. Mortarotti 10
1, the first method of evaluation is the number of plants distributed, anything above 90% (or near
total) distribution will be considered successful. For event 2, attendance is the first method of
evaluation. While the desired attendance is 20 individuals for each talk, an attendance of 15 will
also be considered a successful level of turnout. An auxiliary method of evaluation will be the
perceived engagement of the audience. While this method is subjective, an audience that asks
many questions, takes notes, and is generally attentive (e.g. not on their phones or otherwise
distracted) will be considered a positive indicator of success. For event 3, the primary method of
evaluation is event attendance. If the hikes have more than 12 participants each the event will be
considered successful. The secondary method of evaluation will be the reflection at the end of
the hikes. The better the discussion, the more successful the event. While quantifying
conversation is challenging, I will take notes and record individual’s general thoughts on their
experience in order to gauge how the hike affected their level of stress.
Finally, there will be an end of the year survey (April 20th). The surveys will be posted on
the page and sent to those that put their names on the email list. The survey will ask which of the
events individuals participated in. Then ask them to gauge how their personal levels of success
were altered through participation. If any of the events lead to a stronger sense of community or
an increased feeling of overall mindfulness in addition to a decrease in stress, then the project
will be deemed successful.

11. Mortarotti 11
Appendix A

12. Mortarotti 12
Works Cited
Admonson, Katie. “50 Colleges and University’s with the Happiest Freshmen.” CollegeChoice.
Accessed October 14, 2015.
Allen, Karen, et al. Pet Ownership, but Not ACE Inhibitor Therapy, Blunts Home Blood
Pressure Responses to Mental Stress. Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of
Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo. 2001. Print.
American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College
Health Assessment II: Reference Group Executive Summary Fall 2015. Print.
Anderson, Nick. “American University, in Nation’s Capital, Is Getting More Selective.”
Washington Post. October 13, 2015. Accessed October 13, 2015.
“Blue Zones Project.” Healthways. Accessed 4 November 2015.
“Counseling Center.” Homepage. Accessed October 14, 2015.
Davis, Kelly. Interviewed by Dominick Mortarotti. In Person. Surfside. October 8, 2015.
ERIC. Cohen, Michael, Counseling and Nature: A Greening of Psychotherapy. Print.
Ewing, B., Ryan. M.. b Zarco. E. (2007). A Campus Wellness program: Accepting the
Challenge. The Journal of the New York State Nurses Association. 38(I), 13-16.
“Free & For Sale.” Facebook. Open Groups Within American. Accessed 4 November 2015.
Henriques, Gregg. “The College Student Mental Health Crisis.” Psychology Today. Accessed
November 2, 2015.
“Housing.” Facebook. Open Groups Within American. Accessed 4 November 2015.
“Jobs & Internships.” Facebook. Open Groups Within American. Accessed 4 November 2015.
Mortarotti, Dominick. “A Sense of Community Index: American University.” Survey.

13. Mortarotti 13
SurveyMonkey. 2 November 2015.
Mortarotti, Dominick. “Mental Health Survey.” Survey. SurveyMonkey, 7 Oct. 2015
McMillan, David, et al. Sense of Community: A Definition and Theory (Journal of Community
Psychology Vol. 14). New York University. January 1986.
Pew Research Center. How Young People View Their Lives Futures, and Politics A PORTRAIT
OF “GENERATION NEXT”, accessed October 13, 2015. http://www.people-
press.org/files/legacy-pdf/300.pdf
“Physical Exercise Reduces Stress.” Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Accessed
November 4, 2015.
Roy, Brita, et al. “Transforming Communities to Reduce Stress and Improve Health” Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation, Culture of Health, 2014.
Rutsch, Ponice. “Does Binge-Watching Make Us Depressed? Good Question.” NPR. Web. 4 Feb.
2015. Accessed November 4, 2015.
Shani, Graham. “Hi Dominick. How great the TED talk has gone that far! If you email me with
some descriptions of your situation that might be a start, although you will know things
that suit you more than me . . Or we could skype?” Facebook. November 2, 2015.
Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Changes in Dispositional Empathy in College
Students Over Time: A Meta Analysis, accessed October 12, 2015.
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/eob/edobrien_empathyPSPR.pdf
Spinks, David. “The Psychology of Communities – 4 Factors that Create a “Sense of
Community.” The Community Manager. Accessed October 3, 2015.
Take a Street and Build a Community. Perf. Shani Graham. TEDxPerth. 2013. TED. Web. 2 Oct.
2015.

14. Mortarotti 14
Todd, Andrew, et al. “Anxious and Egocentric: How Specific Emotions Influence Perspective
Taking.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol 144, no. 2 (2015).
Work Consulted
“Ecotherapy / Nature Therapy” Goodtherapy. Accessed December 3, 2015.