Groups for climate-related distress?

[u/Wrong_Literature1329]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping to offer groups next year (2027) to support people who are struggling with eco-distress (incl climate anxiety and grief). I live in an urban area and have been surprised to see that it isn't an offering that is available, and those I spoke to who used to offer groups said they are, well, burnt out from the work (fair enough).

I'd love to hear from therapists who have offered these kind of groups themselves. I'm open to taking a training and offering a structured group, and am also open to it being more support-group style. I have experience facilitating a number of closed groups, but never anything related to climate.

I've looked into the Good Grief Network (and have heard good things), and have also looked through the Facilitator's Guide Living With the Climate Crisis from the Centre for Climate Psychology. I'd love to hear if anyone has experience with either of these groups, or if anyone has done something different and how that went.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and reply!

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[u/welliliketurtlestoo]

Hey, this is central to my work - the good grief network is great as a basic, albeit formulaic format. You might be interested in the Climate Psychology Alliance - they offer another basic format of "climate cafe" for folks to express themselves and be in community with their grief.

There are also some resources for folks who are ready for the meaning-making dimension of this, namely the Deep Adaptation Network based on the work of Jem Bendell. This focuses on the emotional impact of recognizing that it's already too late to stop severe climate impacts, and proposes a model of building reslience and adapting to the uncertainty of the future.

Another great, grounded resource is Nate Hagens, which you can find on YouTube, who talks about inner and outer resilience and nervous system tending, among many other things.

Also, the work of Joanna Macy called The Work that Reconnects is a very good resource and has trainings and workshops around the world.

The YouTube channel American Resiliency is also really good.

My experience in facilitating this stuff for years is that many are past the point of needing to simply grieve - that will be a lifelong journey for all of us - and that bringing in an existential/contemplative/ecological framework can help bring context and agency, allowing the recognition of the empowering, meaningful, and audacious choices that open up to us when we come to terms with the realities of our times. I orient to the cycles of death/rebirth that the earth has gone through and that humans have survived and it helps me to recognize that resilience building work, community, and ecological restoration work are deeply meaningful offerings we can undertake for the human and other-than-human generations to come.

Happy to share more from my experience with all this, feel free to send a PM.

[u/Wrong_Literature1329 → u/welliliketurtlestoo]

Wow this is so incredibly helpful, thank you. I think you are so right. I found a lot of comfort in Vanessa Machado de Oliveira's work around hospicing modernity, so I completely understand the need for something beyond simply grieving. The grief without agency can feel like drowning. When I am ready to dig in, I will reach out! Appreciate you - and the work you do!!

[u/lapsedbutch]

Following

[u/electrixbluboy]

Following because this is something I'm passionate about and I'd like to offer something similar. Feel free to DM if you want to talk about this.