Talking about climate change and eco-anxiety in psychotherapy: A qualitative analysis of patients’ experiences.

Abstract

Citizens' worries about climate change are often realistic and legitimate. Simultaneously, these worries can also become a source of distress so severe as to impair everyday functioning and prompt someone to seek psychotherapy. These emergent phenomena are often referred to as "climate anxiety" or "climate depression" by the popular culture and by patients themselves. Psychotherapists around the world report seeing more and more patients who report that they are experiencing distress due to climate change. This article documents a study that involved engaging 10 Swedish adults who sought help for climate changerelated emotional distress in in-depth conversations about their psychotherapeutic experience. This was followed by analyzing accounts of psychotherapeutic processes to understand patients' experiences and outcomes. Interviews were examined with interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Therapists' knowledge about climate change and competence in coping with it, validation of climate change-related emotions, and learning to manage these emotions were salient aspects of psychotherapy from the patients' perspective. Connecting psychotherapy to personal values and action orientation, resulting in an enhanced sense of meaning and sense of community, was also considered important. In conclusion, based on participants' experience, we offer practical guidance for practitioners. Clinical Impact StatementQuestions: How do patients who suffer from climate change-related distress experience the psychotherapy process in relation to this issue? What aspects of psychotherapy are experienced as helpful and what aspects are considered unhelpful or detrimental? Findings: Therapists' knowledge about climate change and ability to cope with this knowledge; validation of climate-related emotions; learning to understand and manage emotions; and connecting psychotherapy to meaning, values, and action orientation were experienced as helpful psychotherapy aspects from the patients' perspective. Meaning: Patients may need support in facing the awareness of climate crisis, thus therapists need to educate and confront this issue themselves, as well as understand its complex psychological dynamic. Next Steps: This study opens up avenues for qualitative and quantitative research, including interviewing clients from different backgrounds and stages of awareness of climate issues, conducting single-case analyses of climate themes throughout therapy, and researching the effectiveness of specific interventions and training programs for therapists.

Climate Anxiety: A Research Agenda Inspired by Emotion Research

“…While some scientists argue that climate anxiety represents a healthy, normal response to the threat that climate change poses, and should therefore not be considered a mental disorder (Bhullar et al, 2022; Clayton, 2020; Dodds, 2021), others propose that severe levels of climate anxiety should be considered at least a mental health risk (Cunsolo et al, 2020; Hrabok et al, 2020; Sampaio & Sequeira, 2022). Regardless, climate anxiety could cause considerable distress for which people may seek professional treatment (Budziszewska & Jonsson, 2022). Which interventions are effective in reducing climate anxiety?…”

Eco-emotions and Psychoterratic Syndromes: Reshaping Mental Health Assessment Under Climate Change

“…We are witnessing a "climate chaos," a phase of instability and transformation, which is leading humans into a psychological condition of "systemic insecurity" and a shared feeling of uncertainty [19]. Indeed, difficult emotions arise not only from experiencing the ecological loss itself, but also from living with the awareness of the global scale and complexity of climate change and the harmful social system that contribute to the problem, thus containing ethical dilemmas and deep social criticism of modern society [20,21]. In its essence, climate crisis questions the relationship of humans with nature and the meaning of being human in the Anthropocene [22].…”

“…Therefore, the burden of climate change on future generations is expected to increase progressively over the coming years, despite their negligible contribution to causing such crisis and lack of decision-making power. They are more prone to trauma which, especially in early childhood, adds gravity to the expectation of future chaos [20]. Moreover, they are the weakest part of the population (especially in developing countries) due to fewer personal resources, low income, minimal work experience, and lack of professional authority [38,41].…”

“…First of all, if intervention is needed either for individual or group treatment, it is important to provide a safe space in which the realistic nature and gravity of climate crisis can be acknowledged, the suffering legitimated, and the adaptive nature of emotions recognized (including their cognitive, emotional, relational, and spiritual elements). In this way, distressing and paradoxical emotions and ideas can be felt and thought through, exploring existential themes such as uncertainty, relatedness, spirituality, meaning, agency, and responsibility [20,55]. Loss of hope and meaning and a sense of passivity and resignation are often connected to distress [20].…”

“…In this way, distressing and paradoxical emotions and ideas can be felt and thought through, exploring existential themes such as uncertainty, relatedness, spirituality, meaning, agency, and responsibility [20,55]. Loss of hope and meaning and a sense of passivity and resignation are often connected to distress [20].…”