There is no doubt that we are living in difficult times, and climate change is one of the greatest fears that people all over the world are experiencing. But what to do? You, on your own, may feel hopeless when you think about the planet’s struggles, but there are options other than putting your head in the sand.
Dr Thomas Doherty is an American clinical and environmental psychologist whose book Surviving Climate Anxiety has just been published. After he had lead an engaging CPD session for Welldoing therapists earlier this month, I interviewed him about his book:
As Doherty writes in his book, “We’re experiencing twin emergencies of a magnitude we have never seen. The first are physical harms to life caused by fire, heat, storm, and flooding. The other is a mental health crisis directly resulting from disasters, their indirect ripple effects, and the emotional toll of anxiety, loss, and depression.”
The subhead of Doherty’s book is 'Coping, healing and thriving on a changing planet' and he offers a wide range of activities, thoughts, and stories to help the reader with this existential threat.For example:
- reclaim your over-activated nervous system by managing your thoughts, limiting your news intake, and adding pursuits and pauses that soothe rather than exacerbate your stress.
- Consider your own relationship with the environment around you, and focus on what you connect to in the natural world.
- Use arts, spirituality and creativity as tools for flourishing, rather than seeing yourself as a “climate hostage”.
It is all too easy to feel that there is nothing we can do about climate disasters, but Doherty says no. As he writes in the book, “How you think about about climate change profoundly affects how you feel and act about climate change. A growth mindset assumes that your skills and abilities are not fixed, and there is always more you can learn with time and practice.”
