There is a critical need for climate stress services for young people, experts say, but many therapists aren’t trained to provide this specific type of support.
But many therapists and counselors aren’t trained to provide students with this specific type of support, in part because of a lack of research about climate stress as a distinct phenomenon. Still, several universities across the United States are beginning to fill this gap: Some are starting to offer climate stress therapy for students in the form of pilot programs, while others are discussing what might be possible through existing campus counseling services.
Psychologists say there’s also an existing imbalance in who seeks these resources, with individuals who outwardly express high levels of climate distress often coming from privileged backgrounds. While communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change, Elizabeth Haase, chair of the American Psychiatric Association Committee on Climate Change and Mental Health, explains that a “hierarchy of needs” prevents many of these individuals from addressing their climate distress.
With climate stress counseling, Scorpio said rather than just consoling, it helps to provide coping strategies to assist students in calming their own nervous systems, and to think about the issues from a different perspective. “I compare it to something like pain management. If your hand is accidentally slammed in a door, you’re not only going to do things to bring kind of a peaceful state of mind,” Davenport said. “You want to get your hand out of the door, too. The psychological part is really meant to go hand in hand with climate action.”At Michigan, students in counseling services told Scorpio they struggled to focus on homework and career goals.
When they did meet, Scorpio said the feedback from students was “overwhelmingly positive.” Students valued the sense of community in the group and relished having an intentional space to share their feelings. Some wished the sessions could have lasted longer. “Climate cafés were really just a safe space to … feel what they’re feeling without the judgment of ‘you’re not doing enough,’” Williams said, “because that leads to burnout really fast.”
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