This week we discuss the tremendous challenge of climate change and the impacts of that challenge on mental health — especially the mental health of young people, who will bear a disproportionate trauma and hardship from our collective inaction. Younger generations are suffering deeply from what feels like an overwhelming challenge, and need support. They are also incredibly resilient and are creating a kind of activism that feels completely different than the climate activism of the 90s and 2000s.

We also talk — among many other things — about climate denial as an observable psychological response and discuss strategies to bring those folks in.

Our Panel

Vinai Norasakkunkit | a professor at Gonzaga whose research focuses on the intersection of cultural psychology and clinical psychology. He studies the psychology of globalization and youth marginalization, as well the cultural shaping of social anxiety and happiness and the cultural shaping of: attitudes towards climate change.

Maggie Gates | a climate justice advocate and educator. She graduated from Gonzaga in 2019 with a degree in Political Science and shortly after co-founded Sunrise Spokane, a youth-led climate activism group. The group’s model is brilliant and will hopefully be transformational for all activism, but feels especially necessary for something as big as climate change.

Our host, as always, is Meg Curtin Rey-Bear, psychotherapist and co-owner of Wellness Therapies Spokane.

Luke tags along on this one as well.

Past Episodes

Let The Sunrise In | A conversation about climate and Sunrise Spokane with Rosie Zhou

Kids, COVID, and “Deep Loneliness” | The first episode in what has become known as our Range of Care series.

Analyze This (Pandemic) | Meg first joined us last November to talk about mental health entering the holidays, and a second year of COVID uncertainty and risk.

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