Are we too broken-hearted to face the truth about climate change? As therapists and coaches, can we help to heal our collective heartbreak? During lockdown, grieving the demise of our bee population, I opened to the truth about our environmental emergency. Searching for solutions, I read David Attenborough's witness statement outlining the need for collective action within five years, if we are to avert annihilation. My heart weeps for the species we have wiped out, for the farmers driven from their homes by drought or flood, for the toxic seas and the overarching threat of extinction.When survivors of sexual abuse talk about their pain, they use words like numb, broken, frozen. This feels like my experience of eco-anxiety - cut adrift from the wisdom of the body, in limbic distress, trust shattered.
Healing collective heartbreak
Are we too broken-hearted to face the truth about climate change? As therapists and coaches, can we help to heal our collective heartbreak? During lockdown, grieving the demise of our bee population, I opened to the truth about our environmental emergency. Searching for solutions, I read David Attenborough's witness statement outlining the need for collective action within five years, if we are to avert annihilation. My heart weeps for the species we have wiped out, for the farmers driven from their homes by drought or flood, for the toxic seas and the overarching threat of extinction.When survivors of sexual abuse talk about their pain, they use words like numb, broken, frozen. This feels like my experience of eco-anxiety - cut adrift from the wisdom of the body, in limbic distress, trust shattered.
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Therapeutic perspectives Reading List
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Nature connection Reading List
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Climate and ecological emotions Reading List
The sources on this list relate to climate and ecological emotions. They are not freely accessible online - most require a library subscription, institutional access, or purchase.
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