ABSTRACT: This is Part 2 of 'Climate Change on the Couch' (Mowat, 2022). It considers how the counselling and psychotherapy profession could be preparing trainees to support clients presenting climate-related issues such as distress or trauma. The paper expands on the theme of framing the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) as a social-justice issue by looking at it through an environmental intersectional lens, whereby our relationship with each other and the environment is seen as an intersectional emergency. Applying an interpretive phenomenological (IPA) approach, six counsellors and psychotherapists concerned about the CEE were interviewed to explore their personal thoughts and feelings, and how the CEE manifests in their clinical work. This paper offers a theoretical underpinning for two domains identified in the interviews: (1) Perception of past, present and future in relation to life on the planet; and (2) Why it is difficult to think and talk about the CEE.
Climate Change on the Couch: How Psychotherapy Can Respond to the Climate and Ecological Emergency – and Why It Should (Part 2)
ABSTRACT: This is Part 2 of 'Climate Change on the Couch' (Mowat, 2022). It considers how the counselling and psychotherapy profession could be preparing trainees to support clients presenting climate-related issues such as distress or trauma. The paper expands on the theme of framing the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) as a social-justice issue by looking at it through an environmental intersectional lens, whereby our relationship with each other and the environment is seen as an intersectional emergency. Applying an interpretive phenomenological (IPA) approach, six counsellors and psychotherapists concerned about the CEE were interviewed to explore their personal thoughts and feelings, and how the CEE manifests in their clinical work. This paper offers a theoretical underpinning for two domains identified in the interviews: (1) Perception of past, present and future in relation to life on the planet; and (2) Why it is difficult to think and talk about the CEE.
Brigitta Mowat
I'm an integrative psychotherapist in private practice. I have been seeing clients for 23 years. I'm currently a joint head of the first year of the Masters Programme at the Minster Center where I teach and offer training supervision. I am deeply engaged with the Climate and Ecological Emergency CEE. In 2022 I published some research which explored how counsellors and psychotherapists think and feel about the CEE and how, or whether, their clients bring their concerns about the CEE. I designed and currently facilitate a training weekend at the Minster Centre for trainee counsellors and psychotherapists on eco-anxiety and environmental trauma. I'm deeply invested in decolonising counselling and psychotherapy training at the Minster Centre. I believe that Western history of colonialism and neo-colonialism, and our collective and unconscious compliancy with capitalism and neoliberalism have created the CEE.
Related resources
Therapeutic perspectives Reading List
The sources on this list relate to therapeutic perspectives. They are not freely accessible online - most require a library subscription, institutional access, or purchase.
Climate justice & decolonising Reading List
The sources on this list relate to climate justice & decolonising. They are not freely accessible online - most require a library subscription, institutional access, or purchase.
Unequal effects of climate change and pre-existing inequalities on the mental health of global populations
ABSTRACT (Open Access, CC BY 4.0): Climate change is already having unequal effects on the mental health of individuals and communities and will increasingly compound pre-existing mental health inequalities globally. Psychiatrists have a vital part to play in improving both awareness and scientific understanding of structural mechanisms that perpetuate these inequalities, and in responding to global calls for action to promote climate justice and resilience, which are central foundations for good mental and physical health. The authors highlight the interconnectedness of inequality, climate and ecological destruction, and adverse mental health outcomes, and propose a model for mental health practice and research that promotes climate justice and resilience.
Explore more resources
Browse the full Research and Resources library, more articles, papers, podcasts, and reading lists.
Join the community
CPA is built collaboratively, by members for members. If this work resonates, come and join us.
