Ecotherapy Resources for Individuals

Ecotherapy is a range of mental health therapy activities that consciously engage with nature. These include using the healing benefits of greenspaces, conducting therapy activities outdoors, like “walk and talk” therapy, and discussing environmental topics and concerns about climate breakdown in therapy settings (also known as climate therapy).

You can think of ecotherapy as a special focus within regular therapy. Many traditional therapy activities and styles are helpful when people are coping with environmental distress or impacts.

Ecotherapy gives people permission to talk about their thoughts, feelings, concerns or hopes about nature and the natural environment and issues like climate change. These are considered just as important or pressing as other areas of a person’s life such as their family or work.

Many traditional therapists can also be helpful when you need support about the dangers of climate or environmental problems. Consult specialized directories from the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America or the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. You can also search for providers who describe themselves as “climate conscious” or who include environmental issues or climate change in the list of issues they address.

Common techniques within eco-and climate therapy include practicing stress management, improving emotional expression, clarifying a person’s risks and resources related to disasters, and tapping into sources of meaning and motivation such as environmental values, family or community protection, and spiritual beliefs. This can be done through talking, mindfulness in the outdoors, and group sharing activities.

Strong feelings of anxiety or grief about environmental disasters or species extinction are normal reactions to the modern world. Most everyone benefits from support and validation; and no diagnosis is needed. Some individuals or groups can have very difficult or hard to control reactions that become serious mental health problems, such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, or depressive disorders. In this case, finding a diagnosis can enable people to get the help they need.

Dr. Thomas Doherty describes some scripts you can use in his book Surviving Climate Anxiety. In summary, whether it’s a current or new therapist, you want to express that:

• You would like their support with the feelings, symptoms and/or discomfort you are experiencing about environmental issues and climate change.

• You don’t need them to be an expert on climate or environmental issues.

• You do need to confirm that they recognize these as real and pressing issues with mental health impacts, and that they are committed to integrating this support into your therapy.

Here are some first steps to get you started:

1. Think of ways to bring restorative experiences of nature into your daily life: from having plants and pets in your home; to strolling through gardens and neighborhood parks; to meeting with friends at outdoor recreation areas.

2. Use journaling or other mindfulness practices for expanding your emotional capacity: your capacity to take in hard truths and dilemmas as well as all the beauty, joy and ethical actions around you.

3. Remember, as Dr. Thomas Doherty says, “the news is outside your door” not drawn from a screen or a news product. Being attentive to the actual “news” outside your door—your place, the land, the season, the plants and animals, the people—grounds your nervous system and helps to create a sense of present moment safety.

Let your “doing” flow from your “being.” That is, find inspiration for action in your "environmental identity” (your life story in relation to nature and other species) as well as in your values, skills, and what you love. This will serve you in the long haul, as conditions change and new threats and opportunities arise. And remember, all over the world most people support protections for nature and government action to fix climate change. You are not alone. You’re part of the majority.