The Green Desk: Climate Anxiety with Ecotherapist Michael Apathy; July 14, 2020

This week on Green Desk, Bronwyn talked about climate anxiety with Michael Apathy, a psychotherapist, ecotherapist and activist from Lucid Psychotherapy in Christchurch. The American Psychological Association defines climate anxiety as "a chronic fear of environmental doom". As predictions for the future of our planet grow increasingly dire, this fear manifests itself for many in a range of emotions from grief to anger. Michael talks about how he encourages his clients to deal with these emotions in a productive way, our collective amnesia when it comes to the climate, and how we cope with multiple, overlapping crises.

He started by explaining ecotherapy which, despite having been around for a number of years in the professions of counselling, psychology and psychotherapy, is still not well defined.