Integrating an Ecotherapy and Climate-Conscious Approach into Your Mental Health Work

In this class, participants will be able to support eco- and climate-conscious therapy, as we re-vision competencies associated with all therapy approaches including rapport, assessment and multicultural awareness. Familiarity with the process of environmental identity, one's self-concept and a sense of relationship with nature are important tools. Environmental identity intersects with a person's other identities in unique ways and provides a base on which to build eco- and climate therapy interventions. In this experiential online workshop, participants will explore their own environmental identity and beliefs (including sources of well-being and resilience, as well as trauma or injustice), discover ways to adapt their existing therapeutic orientation and skill set to address environmental and climate concerns and identify opportunities to apply these interventions in practice with diverse individuals and groups.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe their personal motivations, guiding ethical principles, and skills and competencies re. providing ecotherapy or climate-focused mental health therapy
2. Hypothesize emotional responses about environmental issues they are likely to encounter, and skills to better dialog with individuals from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds
3. Ddifferentiate between (1) normal feelings of anxiety and despair regarding environmental issues and (2) clinical anxiety, depressive and adjustment disorders
4. Demonstrate how to adapt common therapy approaches to address the environmental concerns of their clients and patients (e.g., using CBT, mindfulness, psychodynamic, existential, and multicultural approaches)

Audience

Beginner to Advanced