Season 4, Episode 5: Climate and Life Journeys with Andrew Bryant

Climate Change and Happiness

image credit | Ashley Batz

Season 4, Episode 5: Climate and Life Journeys with Andrew Bryant

Thomas and Panu had a conversation with Seattle Washington therapist Andrew Bryant about the intersections of climate change and mental health therapy. Andrew reflected on his personal journey, the Climate and Mind website, and his experiences creating a community among therapists to explore climate issues in their lives and practices. Andrew described some of his methods of “professional and compassionate listening” that focus on creating community and holding space for feelings, especially for people who are isolated or not talking. The discussion also touched on the significance of outdoor therapy and how nature-based rite of passage experience can help individuals to navigate their paths in the face of climate distress.

Links

• Andrew Bryant

• Climate and Mind

• Brooke Jarvis (2023, Oct 21) Climate Change Is Keeping Therapists Up at Night. New York Times

• The Doris Lessing “space fiction” novel referenced in the conversation was Shikastra. Andrew also recommended Lessing’s proto-climate fiction novel The Making of the Representative for Planet 8.

• Our episode on cli-fi and literature with Matthew Schneider-Mayerson.