Health service psychology trainees’ use of ecotherapeutic interventions with clients: The roles of environmental justice beliefs and training experiences.

Abstract

The connections between climate change, the environment, and mental health have been well documented by psychological research. However, the extent to which health service psychologists who work in clinical settings address these issues with clients is not well understood. Health service psychology trainees participated in an exploratory investigation of the predictors of ecotherapeutic intervention use in their clinical work. The significant predictors were trainees' environmental justice beliefs and the degree to which environmentalism issues were discussed in their training programs and supervision. However, social justice attitudes, along with biospheric values and environmental identity, were significant predictors of environmental justice beliefs. Biospheric values and environmental identity were also significant predictors of personal conservation behaviors, but personal behaviors did not predict professional attention to environmental issues. Implications for training are discussed. Public Significance StatementHealth service psychology trainees' use of interventions that focus on environmental issues is predicted by their belief in environmental justice principles and their exposure to these issues in their training programs. Personal conservation behaviors (e.g., recycling, energy reduction) did not predict their inclusion of these issues in their clinical work.