No wonder more people are seeking care from climate-aware therapists. Some go to therapy to figure out whether they should have kids in the age of rapid climate change. Others are dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder from natural disasters or are burned out from advocacy work.
But if the threat is existential, is there value in sorting out how you feel about it? "The very first step is full validation," says Leslie Davenport, a climate-psychology educator and author. Understand that it's not irrational to be full of worry, rage, fear, or guilt when the planet's on fire.
Instead of ignoring them, "take the energy of all those emotions and redirect them into constructive action," says Dr. Lise Van Susteren, a psychiatrist in Washington, D.C., who co-founded the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. You could advocate for change and make changes yourself: reducing your carbon footprint by walking or biking instead of driving, for example.
Here, climate-aware therapists share their most effective coping strategies for going from overwhelmed to empowered.
1. Find your people
This story is from the February 26, 2024 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 26, 2024 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is reimagining the Olympics
When Paris kicks off the Olympic Games on July 26, it will be with athletes floating on an armada of boats down the Seine River, rather than marching in a stadium as it has always been.
TIME 100 HEALTH-TITANS
Last May, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory about the profound consequences of loneliness and isolation-a departure from the type of standard medical conditions his predecessors prioritized.
TIME 100 HEALTH-CATALYSTS
It's been a long time since there was good news about Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative condition that affects more than 8 million people worldwide.
TIME 100 HEALTH-LEADERS
'Catastrophic.' -BASHAR MURAD ON THE HEALTH SITUATION IN GAZA
TIME 100 HEALTH-PIONEERS
In the wake of the pandemic, a new era emerges-marked by fresh discoveries, novel treatments, and global victories over disease. These are the most influential people in health in 2024
A Man in Full, adapted and redacted
TOM WOLFE'S A MAN IN FULL IS A MASSIVE BOOK, IN MORE ways than one. The 742-page social novel about a swaggering Atlanta real estate mogul, which took Wolfe over a decade to write, sold a jaw-dropping 1.4 million hardcover copies after its publication in 1998. The book's themes-money, power, race, masculinity--are just as grand.
The golden age of Ryan Gosling is upon us
IN DEREK CIANFRANCE'S 2010 LOVE-ON-THErocks heartbreaker Blue Valentine, Ryan Gosling plays a husband and father, Dean, who appears to be nothing but an annoyance to his wife, Michelle Williams' Cindy, a harried nurse.
A MARRIAGE OF FOOD AND FICTION
In the kitchen with Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans
Greek Revival
PRIME MINISTER KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS IS DETERMINED TO MAKE GREECE THE COMEBACK STORY OF THE DECADE
HOLDING COURT
AT 20, DEFENDING U.S. OPEN CHAMPION COCO GAUFF IS MOVING INTO A NEW PHASE OF HER CAREER