Climate Change Drives Transformations in Therapeutic Practices

In the face of the escalating climate crisis, the field of psychology is rapidly evolving to address the emotional impacts on individuals. However, understanding how eco-distress might manifest across different cultures and identities remains a challenge.

Eco-distress, a term mental health professionals use to describe a wide range of emotions people feel about the climate crisis, is gaining recognition. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) acknowledged for the first time that climate change is impacting people's mental health, validating the concerns of more than two-thirds of American adults who reported similar feelings in 2020.

The Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) is at the forefront of this movement. Based in the United Kingdom, the CPA aims to equip mental health professionals with climate-aware practices, helping to ensure that fewer people's eco-distress goes undiagnosed and unaddressed. The CPA provides training to therapists, psychiatrists, and social workers, teaching them how to identify and address the emotional impacts of climate change on their patients.

The CPA is not just about diagnosis and treatment. It argues for more opportunities for connection, mourning, and imagining alternatives collectively to address eco-distress. The organisation is trying to rethink the discipline of psychology entirely, calling on practitioners to include politics in the consulting room.

The CPA is expanding its reach, with many members starting smaller chapters in other countries such as Portugal, Japan, and Denmark. In the United States, while the exact founding year is not readily available, the movement is gaining traction. The CPA offers separate circles for young people and parents looking to help their children manage eco-distress, as well as free counseling for journalists and activists.

Research published earlier this month found that survivors of California's deadliest wildfire-the Camp Fire of 2018-were left with severe trauma that caused their brains to suffer cognitive deficits and altered activity. The CPA's Climate Cafes, group support sessions run by CPA-trained non-clinicians, provide free group support for those struggling with eco-distress.

Tori Tsui, a climate justice activist who grew up in a fishing town in Hong Kong, understands the emotional toll of climate change. Her feelings about climate change were labeled as eco-distress. Participating in the youth climate movement and working towards solutions can alleviate eco-distress.

It's important to note that the CPA warns against over-diagnosing and pathologizing eco-distress, focusing instead on systemic issues. People of color in the U.S. are more likely to be concerned about climate change due to increased exposure and vulnerability to extreme weather events.

As the climate crisis continues to unfold, the work of the Climate Psychology Alliance becomes increasingly crucial. By equipping mental health professionals with the tools to address eco-distress and providing support for those affected, the CPA is helping to build a more resilient and emotionally healthy future.