Should I go to therapy for my feelings about climate change?

If you’ve been struggling with your emotions and reactions to the worsening climate crisis, you might be wondering if you should go to therapy to explore your response to climate change.  You might be curious about what this type of therapy entails, and whether it could be helpful for someone like you.

You also might be skeptical about whether you even need therapy to address climate change.  This could look like discounting your feelings and telling yourself that this is something we all face, and so you should be better at handling your emotions around climate change on your own.  Or if you’re like many people who care a lot about the environment, you may see this as a collective, not an individual issue, and wonder if it is appropriate to go to therapy for it.

Take it from a climate change aware therapist, you don’t need to figure out how to handle your climate change emotions on your own – this issue is incredibly overwhelming so it’s understandable to have intense reactions and trouble coping.  And while I also agree that this is a collective issue that needs collective solutions, you can’t be a part of that collective response if you’re paralyzed by your individual response to the crisis, so individual therapy can be a way to get unstuck.

Reasons you might benefit from climate change therapy:

Here are a few signs you could benefit from seeing a climate aware therapist.

You find yourself experiencing mental health symptoms related to your awareness of climate change

Climate change is an enormous issue with present and future impacts, and comes with a lot of uncertainty.  So it is completely understandable that as a person facing these impacts you would experience mental health symptoms.

You might feel anxiety over how you should be preparing yourself and your loved ones, or anxiety over how you should be acting from an activist or political stance to promote better outcomes for our planet. 

Many people also struggle with periods of depression related to their awareness about climate change.  This response makes sense – sometimes it seems hopeless and futile, like it’s already too late to improve the situation.  This hopelessness can lead to the collapsing feeling of depression.

You could also struggle with insomnia related to your awareness of climate change.  Many of us are busy with work, family, and more, and our minds find that the nighttime is the only opportunity for thoughts of climate change to rush in and feel like a problem to solve in the middle of the night.  You might find it challenging to wind down or relax with the looming threat of climate change impacts, which can lead to chronic difficulty with sleeping.

You’ve experienced climate change related trauma

As climate change progresses, more and more people will face climate change related trauma.  Many already have.  As an example, I’ve lived in Houston for 20+ years now, and I’ve seen several devastating hurricanes and flooding storms, deadly heat waves, and the infamous Winter Storm Uri that triggered an electric grid failure.  While hurricanes and heat have always been a reality for Houstonians, research is showing that these weather events are worsening due to climate change.  I’ve been lucky to have never been permanently displaced or lost a loved one out of these disasters, yet the repeated stress of multiple severe storms has taken its toll on me, and left me worried about what’s to come.  (For example, for a period of time after Hurricane Harvey any strong rain storm would make my heart start racing.)

If you have experienced displacement, job loss, loss of loved ones, injury, or illness related to a climate change influenced disaster, you are much more likely to have experienced traumatic effects.  You might have rebuilt your life after the disaster, though the mental and emotional impacts can live on.  These might show up in the form of flashbacks, obsessively preparing for future disasters, overwhelming grief and sadness, and even suicidal thoughts.  (If you are currently experiencing suicidal thoughts please call the 988 hotline for immediate support.)  The “post” of post traumatic stress disorder may never arrive as there is no guarantee that you won’t face future impacts of the climate disaster, which can make it challenging to heal from these experiences.

Many people also experience vicarious trauma from witnessing the effects of climate change on others around them.  If you are a person who spends a lot of time building awareness around social and political issues, you are likely aware of the disproportionate impact that environmental racism and the rise of fascism in response to the climate crisis has on historically marginalized people.  Watching this unfold can create a lot of distress, especially if you have some connection to the groups affected.  This can feel like a form of survivor’s guilt – recognizing that if you had been born into different circumstances, you might have faced a similar fate.

You feel alone, like you’re the only one who really understands how bad it is

Many people who take the time to educate themselves on the urgency of the climate crisis find themselves feeling isolated, and can feel like no one else is as worried or concerned as they are.  According to a 2022 Pew Research Survey, 54% of Americans view climate change as a major threat.  The good news is that if you care about climate change, more than half of your peers agree, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.  The more challenging news is that almost half of your peers don’t view it this way, which is incredibly painful to acknowledge.  When you feel like this is the most urgent issue facing humanity, it can be upsetting and isolating to be around people who aren’t having the same reaction as you.

This feeling of isolation can lead to hopelessness and inaction.  You might struggle to see the point in taking action about climate change if it feels like so many around you don’t care or don’t understand the science and the projections.  You could find yourself not wanting to connect with people for fear that they will not be able to understand the urgency you feel.

You feel paralyzed, like you know you want to act but can’t find a way to 

All of the previous reasons listed can lead to a sense of paralysis and inaction.  You care a lot about the environment, the health and safety of your fellow humans, and the wellbeing and longevity of yourself and your loved ones.  Yet the overwhelm of climate change projections and current climate related disasters have left you feeling like it’s too late, or anything you might do won’t make a difference, or wanting to do something but feeling unsure of where to start.

What does climate change therapy entail?

If you resonated with any of the above topics, you may benefit from seeing a climate aware therapist.  Read on to learn about what climate change therapy typically looks like.  Climate change therapy will vary a bit from therapist to therapist, but I hope to give you a sense of some of what might be covered.  

A systemic approach that doesn’t pathologize your understandable response

Climate aware therapists often take a systemic approach, meaning they recognize that individual therapy is not going to solve climate change.  It might not even solve your own feelings about climate change (which are understandable reactions to the horror of the climate crisis).

Many climate change aware therapists reject the capitalistic approach to therapy that believes counseling should work to tame and suppress your feelings in order to become more productive in society.  Instead we help you to embrace your feelings as valid responses to an overwhelming crisis, while finding ways to move forward towards an ability to participate in collective responses to the climate crisis.

Climate change therapy is designed to help you respond more effectively in the face of climate change, and in line with your personal values.  If you feel that climate change is the most important political issue of our lifetimes, but you’re too overwhelmed to get involved, therapy for climate change distress can help you build more acceptance and ability to be with your feelings so that you can identify the activist or political work that you want to do.

Looking at your own past to untangle any unhelpful beliefs 

We can also take a look at unique factors in your own life and history that may be impacting how you approach responding to climate change.  For example, you may have been raised in an environment that encouraged being the individual savior, or being an emotional caretaker for everyone around you.  If that’s the case, we can help you untangle these perspectives so that you can release yourself from the burden of feeling overly responsible (which ultimately will burn you out or leave you too overwhelmed to act.)

Finding balance between collective, sustainable action, and pursuing a life worth living

Climate change therapy can help you connect with your concern for the environment, and find ways to incorporate this concern in a sustainable way, while also cultivating a fulfilling life worth living.  Stopping the progression of climate change will take collective efforts, and therapists who care about this understand that for you to be around for the long haul of this fight, you have to also take care of yourself and build a meaningful life that is worth fighting for.

If you’re in Texas, I see people in my counseling practice over video and in-person in Houston around climate change distress and concerns.  You can book a call here if you are interested in learning more.  And if you’re outside of Texas, I recommend using the Climate Aware Therapist directory to find a climate aware therapist in your area.

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