Climate Change and Happiness

image credit | Joanne Francis

Season 4, Episode 13: Coping When Disaster Finds Your Home with Gale Sinatra and Renee Lertzman

Thomas and Panu met with USC climate researcher Gale Sinatra and climate psychologist Renee Lertzman and spoke about how to cope and help with recent Los Angeles wild fires—at the disaster site and from a distance. The need was made real in the context of Gale’s sudden loss of her home to the recent Eaton fire and her unfolding experience as a climate refugee. 

• Gale described in clear terms how climate change is not just an individual disaster but also a community disaster. Experiencing a disaster can exceed our capacity to process in different times and different ways. Understanding what to say and do for victims is crucial for community support.

• Renee observed how the global nature of climate grief affects everyone, not just those directly impacted, and that denialism can manifest in various ways, complicating the response to disasters and people’s ability to orient and take action.  

• Panu noted the challenge of “facing difficult truths” regarding climate breakdown, and dealing with ambivalent feelings disasters arouse in us (such as competing urges to get more information and to avoid troubling feelings, and, to provide help, while feeling inadequate to do so). 

• Thomas described the process of “emotional-orienting” (calibrating your feeling response to the disaster, appreciating the location and needs of the victims and survivors, and being aware of how similar experiences you may have had can be stirred up by the disaster). He also explained the differences between “emotional empathy” and “action empathy” when supporting those affected by disasters and traumatic events.

Gale Sinatra:

• Gale Sinatra Website

• The Golden Hour (interview with Gale): 'You may think you're safe, but you are not' - The climate education scholar whose house burned down

• Science Denial: Why it Happens and what to Do about it

Renee Lertzman:

• Renee Lertman Website

• Project Inside out 

• Environmental Melancholia: Psychoanalytic dimensions of engagement

• Myth of Apathy essay

image credit | Caleb Cook

Season 4, Episode 12: Coping with the LA Fires: Checking In With Local Therapists

Thomas and Panu present a special episode focusing on coping with the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires with on the ground reports from Southern California Ecotherapists Linda Buzzell and Maria Nazarian, and artist and climate activist Maksim Batuyev.

Sound Bites

• "Even as I feel hopeless, I see hope."

• "Dystopia is how I felt."

• "We will get through this as a community."

• "We need to honor our grief."

• "Can you heal in a world where disasters never end?"

• "We are all going to be first responders."

• "There’s a need for eco-resilience training."

• "Creative responses are essential in crises."

• "We need to come together after disasters."

Links

• Maria Nazarian, Beach Therapy

  • Maria is hosting a Climate Cafe on Tuesday, January 28, 2025

• Linda Buzzell

  • Online ecopsychology course at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara

• One805 Nonprofit Support for Disaster First responders Program

• Maksim Butuyev

  • Self-Care + Climate Action, Thanks to Maksim Batuyev

Previous CCH Episodes

• Season 2, Episode 10: Composing During the Climate Crisis with Scott Ordway (Music composed after California’s CZU fire in 2020)

• Season 2, Episode 21: Tools for Couples Relationships in an Era of Climate Change

• Season 3, Episode 15: Radical Joy in the Midst of Environmental Grief with Trebbe Johnson

• Season 3, Episode 13: On the “Waking Up Syndrome” with Linda Buzzell

image credit | Tommaso Curre

Season 4, Episode 11: On Legacy with Stylianos Syropoulos

Thomas and Panu Pihkala welcomed Stylianos Syropoulos, director of the Intergenerational Decisions and Effective Action (IDEA) Lab at Arizona State University to discuss his research on how people approach their legacy in relation to their environmental values. Stylianos explained that thinking about one’s legacy is an ancient and cross-cultural concern. Legacy can be understood in various ways like the biological legacy of having children and grandchildren, the material legacy of the world we leave behind, and values-related legacy of preserving what we care for. All of these are affected – and often threatened – by the events of climate change. Join us for a fascinating conversation, with take-aways that might help you be your own version of “future ancestor.”

Links: 

• Stylianos Syropoulos

• Research examples: 

• Stylianos Syropoulos et al. 2024 Intergenerational concern relates to constructive coping and emotional reactions to climate change via increased legacy concerns and environmental cognitive alternatives

• Andrea Mah, Stylianos Syropoulos & Ezra Markowitz (2024). Caring about one's legacy relates to constructive coping with climate change (pdf version)

• Society for Environmental, Population, and Conservation Psychology (Division 34 of the American Psychological Association)

• Earlier CCH Podcast episodes touching on legacy and having children:

  • Season 1, Episode 8: Climate Change, Children and a Better World with Guest Dr. Jade Sasser

  • Season 1, Episode 9: Finding Meaning in “Generation Dread” with Guest Britt Wray

image credit | Serge Taeymans

Season 4, Episode 10: Wisdom for the New Year 

Thomas and Panu had a mindful dialog about the end of the year to new year’s transition. Looking back on 2024, they noted the significance of Panu’s climate emotions wheel for people new to expressing feelings about climate and environmental issues, the challenges of being seen as an expert, and the importance of taking regular breaks to appreciate our efforts and accomplishments (or what Thomas calls a “behavioral sabbath”). Looking ahead, they shared the embodied activities they each do like cross country skiing as ways to recreate and restore themselves, and taking on new creative past times like training in Butoh theater (for Panu) and drumming (for Thomas). Ultimately, they emphasized the need for seeking joy and gratitude in the face of sorrows of the world, and the importance of giving oneself and others permission to feel happiness.

Links

• Episode Quotes: 

• “Don't just glance at your life, stare at what you got.”

• “Retreat, hell. I’m just attacking in another direction.”

• “We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.” 

• from A Brief for the Defense, by Jack Gilbert 

• CCH Season 3, Episode 5: The Climate Emotions Wheel

Season 4, Episode 9: Climate Psychology Perspectives with Steffi Bednarek

Panu and Thomas met with Brighton UK climate psychologist Steffi Bednarek, author of Climate, Psychology, and Change. They explored stages of Steffi’s journey into climate psychology, and the importance of Gestalt therapy in her understandings of how our selves entwine with nature and our perceptions of environmental issues and problems. They discussed how concepts like mindfulness and “creative indifference” offer additional perspectives on the seemingly hard distinction between hope and hopelessness. Steffi also shared her efforts to create a platform for experiential learning in climate psychology.

Links

• Steffi Bednarek 

• Climate, Psychology, and Change: Reimagining Psychotherapy in an Era of Global Disruption and Climate Anxiety

• Center for Climate Psychology – offers a wide range of workshops, trainings and events that nurture collective wisdom in times of upheaval.

• British Gestalt Journal Volume 31, 2 (2022) - The Climate Change Special

• Podcast: Internal Family Systems Therapy and Climate Change with Steffi Bednarek

In another of their intimate international dialogues, Thomas and Panu discussed the significance of connecting with nature for them during the changing seasons. Panu evolved the Finnish season of Marras, the gray time of the year as Autumn transitions to darker Winter, and when it’s normal for us all to be sensitive to feelings associated with grief. Thomas reflected on holidays of remembrance like Veterans Day (dating to WWI Armistice day), Remembrance Day for Species, and the Day of the Dead that help to mark our losses and celebrate our continuing bonds. Their conversation emphasized that "We create our own light when we need to" – and reminds you of the the value of your community and connections in your own place this season.

image credit | Benjamin Manley

Season 4, Episode 7: On Parenting, Elections, and Climate with Anya Kamenetz

Thomas and Panu had a wide ranging exchange with journalist Anya Kamenetz (The Stolen Year, The Golden Hour) on the intersections of climate change, parenting, and mental health – in the context of the recent US elections. They discuss the importance of having open conversations with children about difficult topics that are geared to children and teens’ emotional and intellectual development. Each reflected on how they create a sense of hope, meaning, and resilience in their own families. Anya also shared some of her personal story growing up on the Gulf Coast of the US, and her journey as a writer, activist and parent. 

Links

• Anya Kamenetz

• The Golden Hour: climate, children, mental health (Substack) 

• Panu Pihkala, (2020). Eco-anxiety and Environmental Education. Sustainability, 12(23), 10149.

• Film referenced in the episode: Roberto Benigni (1997, Director) Life Is Beautiful

Thomas and Panu discussed Thomas’ upcoming book Surviving Climate Anxiety: A Guide to Coping, Healing, and Thriving – a comprehensive resource for the general public that includes practical examples and stories drawn from people Thomas has worked with. Thomas shared insights about the book’s five part structure, which is designed to move readers from basic skills for coping with eco and climate stress, through developing environmental identity, healing from eco-anxiety and despair, finding happiness and flourishing using the arts and spirituality, and taking action on environmental problems. Panu reflected on the importance of addressing the dark and light aspects of climate feelings and having a survivor mission. Surviving Climate Anxiety will be published in 2025 by Little Brown Spark.

image credit | Ashley Batz

Season 4, Episode 5: Climate and Life Journeys with Andrew Bryant

Thomas and Panu had a conversation with Seattle Washington therapist Andrew Bryant about the intersections of climate change and mental health therapy. Andrew reflected on his personal journey, the Climate and Mind website, and his experiences creating a community among therapists to explore climate issues in their lives and practices. Andrew described some of his methods of “professional and compassionate listening” that focus on creating community and holding space for feelings, especially for people who are isolated or not talking. The discussion also touched on the significance of outdoor therapy and how nature-based rite of passage experience can help individuals to navigate their paths in the face of climate distress.

Links

• Andrew Bryant

• Climate and Mind

• Brooke Jarvis (2023, Oct 21) Climate Change Is Keeping Therapists Up at Night. New York Times 

• The Doris Lessing “space fiction” novel referenced in the conversation was Shikastra. Andrew also recommended Lessing’s proto-climate fiction novel The Making of the Representative for Planet 8. 

• Our episode on cli-fi and literature with Matthew Schneider-Mayerson.

image credit | Alaric Duan

Season 4, Episode 4: Ecological Grief in Religious and Spiritual Communities

Thomas and Panu discussed the intersection of spirituality and climate change. Specifically, Panu shared his work on the challenges faced by individuals who experience spiritual crises when their ecological fears or grief aren’t validated in their religious community, and who may feel isolated and unsupported. This may lead to feelings of combined ecological and spiritual grief. Faith leaders are in a key position regarding the validation of such feelings. Coping requires a holistic approach that recognizes the connections between spirituality and environmental values, finding support, and constructive engagement with climate emotions and with climate action in spiritual and religious communities. 

Links

• Panu Pihkala, 2024

• Ecological grief, religious coping, and spiritual crises: Exploring eco-spiritual grief. 

• Engaging with climate grief, guilt, and anger in religious communities

• Bron Taylor, 2009 Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future

• Patricia O'Connell Killen and Mark Silk 2004, Editors, Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone

• Megan Von Bergen and Bethany Mannon, 2020 Talking Climate Faith: Katharine Hayhoe and Christian Rhetoric(s) of Climate Change. 

• Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology: A good resource