We are living in a time of ecological crisis. Though we are aware of the environmental crisis we’re in through news headlines and issues in our own neighborhoods, we rarely talk about them. If you are struggling with feelings of anxiety, grief, rage, guilt and/or despair about the climate and ecological crisis, you may be feeling alone with those feelings. These painful feelings are all natural, healthy responses to the reality we face. And they are too big to carry on our own. Without support for processing these emotions, you may be suffering silently, judging yourself for what you do or don’t do, judging others for their apparent lack of care, and/or distracting yourself by focusing on other things.
Therapy for climate distress can help you learn to navigate these difficult emotions in healthy ways so that you can come out of despair and powerlessness and into a deeper sense of connection and purpose. With support, you can learn to acknowledge and accept your painful emotions as important aspects of your love for the world. Using mindfulness to access unconscious patterns, you can recognize and transcend your internal barriers to feeling and moving through the painful emotions. As you do so, you will find it easier to tap into feelings of joy and gratitude too— emotions that are key to helping us find healthier ways to live on our planet.
I offer individual and group therapy for climate-related distress. Individual mindfulness-based therapy can be a great way to help you discover how your unconscious beliefs might be increasing your distress and preventing you from engaging in meaningful action. Groups are also a very powerful way of working with these emotions, since the group container helps us feel less alone and build community. If you are interested in working with me around your climate distress, please send me a message and let me know if you are interested in individual, group therapy or either one. I will start the next group once there are enough people interested.