Climate and Political Anxiety Counseling
in Portland, Oregon

Am I crazy for being scared about climate change?

No, you’re not crazy. Man-made climate change, resulting in global warming, is real. Our planet is on fire, and we are quickly losing time to mitigate the damage. Every day we move closer to the possibility of the extinction of nearly all life on Earth.

Meanwhile, it seems like everyone else around you is ignoring this unprecedented emergency. How are you supposed to deal with this, when you feel so alone in it? Is there even a point in trying if no one else is?

These are the types of questions asked by people experiencing climate change-related anxiety. And that anxiety doesn’t come by itself. It’s usually accompanied by grief over what has been, and will be, lost. And it comes with loneliness and hopelessness.

What is climate anxiety counseling?

Your mileage may vary on which specific emotions you’re struggling with the most. What’s important, however, is to learn how to cope with these feelings.

Bringing climate anxiety into the therapy space can feel daunting. Many people have reported over the years that their therapists have struggled to understand the urgency of climate change. They’ve also reported that the goal of therapy has been to simply reduce the symptoms, sometimes by learning to deny or ignore what’s really going on.

I don’t do that with my clients. I know that climate change is real. I read books, listen to podcasts, and stay tuned into environmental news. I’m on this journey alongside you, and I know that the goal of working through anxiety is not always to decide that the threat isn’t real.

How do anxiety and grief help me?

Anxiety exists for a reason. It is a survival mechanism hardwired into our nervous systems, telling us when and how to respond to threats to our lives. If we don’t fear climate change, then how are we ever going to feel motivated to make the massive changes needed to stop it? Your anxiety is a good thing.

The same can be said for grief: You feel it as a way of knowing what you value in this world. Loneliness, too, can motivate you to find community with like-minded individuals.

The danger of these emotions arises when they become overwhelming. They can shut us down by being too powerful, and ultimately move us away from taking positive action.

Using Internal Family Systems, we can learn to make space for all of your feelings, even the overwhelming ones. You can develop positive relationships with the parts of your psyche that generate these feelings. Moreover, you can find balance between your concern for the environment and your own personal needs - something that is generally encouraged in climate activism spaces.

What is political anxiety counseling?

There is, of course, a great overlap between climate anxiety and political anxiety. You may be wondering how to coexist with family, coworkers, neighbors, and strangers who seem hell-bent on destroying any chance of preventing humanity’s self-destruction. Frankly, it’s not an easy question to answer. But you’re certainly not alone in feeling this way.

One benefit I’ve found from IFS is that, as I learn to see how I am made up of many parts (i.e., fear, anger, a desire to make the world better, a need to take care of myself in the present), it becomes easier to see how the people around me are equally complex. I don’t say this to accept the destructive behavior of our neighbors. Rather, navigating our complex world becomes a little easier as we can stay tuned into our own abilities to be compassionate and curious.

If any of this sounds like something you’re interested in exploring within your own psychological system, I might be a good therapist for you.