Climate Psychology

We are living within a poly-crisis of extractivism, extremities, collapse, and climate catastrophe. There is no reasonable way to deny that our current course is untenable, but this, unfortunately, does not mean denial is absent.

Many people are deeply involved in the fight to shift away from our current course and toward a way of living in the world that would help ensure a livable future. And yet so many remain on the sidelines, caught in an apathy that is not the absence of caring but, according to Joanna Macy, a “refusal or inability to suffer,” an overwhelm that comes when we cannot bring ourselves to recognize the truth of our grief and fear.

Even those of us who are in the fight in some way - as activists, advocates, and policy makers, as scientists, journalists, and teachers, as young people and their parents, as aunties, uncles, and elders, and as everyday engaged global citizens - can frequently find ourselves in the deep freeze of numbness and avoidance, though we may also spend a good deal of time in the hyperarousal of anxiety and anger.

To put it simply, as humans we have a really hard time with change and precarity, and we are going through massive change and precarity. Strong and painful feelings naturally arise. These feelings, though seemingly threatening, are actually necessary and beneficial, because they can guide us toward right action, the work we need to do to repair what we can and shift what we must. But we often need help learning how to be with these feelings - to help each other cry and mourn, to help each other continue to find joy and fortitude, to help each other rest rather than burn out. That’s where therapy focused on climate psychology can help.

My approach to climate psychology is very similar to my trauma approach, because I understand our global predicament as trauma and loss on a massive scale. As an EMDR therapist, I am also interested in how our own experiences and adaptations impact how we show up in response to the climate crisis, what keeps us stuck and what liberates us to respond from our full capacities. I am committed to providing rigorous, empathetic, and transformative care to clients impacted by trauma stemming from their work or life experiences related to climate change and climate catastrophe (ie, climate professionals facing harassment or despair, people who have suffered climate related traumatic loss, and the students and adults of all ages who want to be involved in the climate movement but are feeling daunted by overwhelm, grief, or anxiety).

If you live in Connecticut or Maryland and are interested in working on these issues in therapy, please schedule a free consultation session.