Episode #45: People all over the world are experiencing mental health issues in response to climate change, including trauma, anxiety, and grief. Even people without a diagnosable condition can find this topic overwhelming and paralyzing. In this episode, we’re joined by Gen Zer Chloe Rosen, an outdoor educator and dance artist who talks about growing up with climate change awareness and its impact on their mental health. Also with us is Paula Wild, a Millennial Yoga Therapist and Outdoor Educator who describes the impacts of climate change on her life and shares some healing practices that can help us individually and in community be better prepared to address the growing global mental health crisis caused by climate change. Both guests discuss how they are finding ways to cope with and address this issue in their lives and work.
Broadcast: 8/7/22 & 8/8/22
Special thanks to Jeanne Baldzikowski for audio production, Jennifer Young for underwriting outreach, Lisa Herendeen for research, Leslie Nielsen for “In Your Voice” Coordination and Izzy Weisz for marketing. And thanks to acoustic guitarist Adrian Legg for composing, performing, and donating the use of our theme music.
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RESOURCES
Websites
The Work That Reconnects Network — Helping people discover and experience their innate connections with each other and the self-healing powers of the web of life, transforming despair and overwhelm into inspired, collaborative action.
Joanna Macy and Her Work — Learn more about the work and publications of Joanna Macy Ph.D, author, teacher, and scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking and deep ecology. She is a respected voice in the movements of peace, justice and ecology and weaves her scholarship with learnings from six decades of activism.
Climate Mental Health Network — Organization that addresses the mental health consequences of climate change through education, community engagement, and by harnessing the power of media and technology. Their website has an extensive Resource List.
US Climate and Health Alliance — A national network of health and public health organizations and professionals dedicated to addressing the threats of climate change to health. Their mission is to amplify the health voice on a wide range of issues related to climate change and health, and to advance climate solutions that benefit health and equity, at all levels of governance.
Videos
Breathing Through — A practice for cultivating compassion and supporting us in processing challenging thoughts and feelings as they arise. https://vimeo.com/60909610
Podcasts
For the Wild — An inspiring podcast community sharing stories of truth and hope around our planet to help connect and inspire us in challenging times.
Books, Reports & Articles
World as Lover, World as Self, 30th Anniversary Edition — by J. Macy. Foreword by Joan Halifax, Edited by Stephanie Kaza. Parallax Press (2021)
Braiding Sweetgrass — by Robin Wall Kimmerer. About Indigenous ways of tending to the planet that are awe-inspiring. Chloe says, “This book is so important, and breathtakingly beautiful!”
A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation — by Jacoby Ballard, a trans activist, yoga teacher/student, and an important voice in collective healing/liberation.
Spell for Another Day on Earth — Poem by Adrienne Maree Brown who is a writer, activist, and artist. Our guest Chole recommends her blog which includes poems such as this one, essays, and more that she finds inspiring.
Five Tips for Talking With Kids About What’s Going On in the World — By discussing challenging topics with our children, we can help them practice compassion. By Shauna Tominey | May 24, 2022
Climate Change & Youth Mental Health: Psychological Impacts, Resilience Resources and Future Directions — A jointly commissioned report offering seven core strategies that are rooted in empirical research and represent promising approaches for addressing climate anxiety and grief. December, 2021
Climate Change Enters the Therapy Room — A New York Times article about climate change and the powerful psychological impact it is having, not just on the people bearing the brunt of it, but on people following it through news and research. By Ellen Barry / Feb. 6, 2022.
Can We Be Hopeful and Courageous in the Face of Climate Change? — A Greater Good Magazine article about a teenager who draws on the work of Martin Luther King Jr. for inspiration in the fight against climate change. By Liko Smith-Doo| January 17, 2022.
Mental Health and our Changing Climate: Impacts, Inequities, Responses / 2021 Edition — A report issued by American Psychological Association in conjunction with Climate for Health & EcoAmerica that provides the latest information on the multiple effects of climate change on mental health, the structural inequities that lead to some populations bearing greater impacts, and how people think about and respond to climate change and more just society.
More Information
Climate Psychology Alliance Online Handbook — A collection of short 500-word articles defining and discussing aspects of psychology in relation to climate change.
The “Work That Reconnects” Resource List — A compilation of articles, audio, books, poetry, practices, songs and music, training videos and more.
General Counseling
Family Service Agency (FSA) of the Central Coast is a dedicated underwriter of State of Mind. FSA provides resources, support, and counseling services to adults and children. FSA believes in the power and potential of people of all ages and backgrounds to discover their own creative solutions and welcomes people of diverse cultures, genders, sexual orientations, ages, faiths, socio–economic backgrounds. FSA Counseling Offices offer Medi–Cal, Medicare, and low–cost, sliding scale services in both downtown Santa Cruz 831–423–9444 x200 and in Soquel 831–346–6767 x200.
Show Guests
Paula Wild — Offers one-on-one therapeutic work with clients and trainings.
Upcoming October 2022 Training: Roots of Resilience: Yoga & The Work That Reconnects
Email: paula@wildawakewellness.com
Balanced Rock — Show guest Paula Wild works for this Yosemite-based non-profit that has been inspiring health and wellbeing through their programs and classes since 1999. They offer trainings, workshops and retreats that can support mental health around topics of climate change (Solastalgia). They work to inspire health and wellbeing through deep connection to nature and spirit.
Chloe Rosen
Email: chloe.m.rosen@gmail.com
Queer Yoga — Sapphire Yoga Collective – Show guest Chloe Rosen is one of the founding members of Sapphire Yoga Collective that offers weekly donation-based classes to the queer community. She finds it an immense gift to practice among fellow queer folks under the sun. Find out more at @sapphireyogacollective (on Instagram).
Santa Cruz Kids in Nature Program — Show guest Chloe Rosen works for this outdoor-based Nature Club for young children focused on fostering creativity, confidence, communication skills, community, ecological stewardship, curiosity, consent, and social justice ethics. Core curriculums revolve around Social Emotional Learning, Natural History, and Cultural History/Social Justice.
Chloe’s recommendations for health and wellbeing:
Cookie’s Int/Adv Improvisation and Release Class at Motion Pacific (Sundays at 10:30)
This class, among others (Molly’s Tues. contemporary) have been a lifeline for me. Taking the time to check in with my nervous system/ move energy through the body really keeps me going when things get difficult.
Beautiful Chorus — High frequency love music. Since 2012, BEAUTIFUL CHORUS have quietly become one of the most successful independent vocal groups in the world, with more than 600,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Their music is everything — it reminds me how lucky I am to be alive and of this earth.
