AACBT CBT@Home – ACT and Climate Change
- Louise Shepherd
This event was recorded live and is now available for on-demand viewing.
Please note that there is an external link included with the presentation owing to copyright issues.
Facing the climate emergency together: how ACT skills can help
Presented by Louise Shepherd
The Sydney ACT Centre
This recording is part of the AACBT CBT@Home webinar series and was recorded at a live Zoom event hosted by AACBT NSW Branch.
This event was recorded live and is available for on-demand viewing.
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This approx. 1h 10 min CBT@Home webinar was recorded in July 2022.
Climate change is arguably the biggest challenge our world currently faces. Gradually people are waking up to this threat and facing some distressing emotions that are increasingly hard to hide from. ACT offers a range of tools to help ourselves and our clients to navigate these complex emotions skilfully.
Alongside the pandemic, people are gradually waking up to the emotional storm the climate crisis brings. Increasingly, clients are looking for advice on how to deal with their complex, distressing emotions.
This interactive session is aimed at honing existing ACT skills to deal with the wide range of eco emotions using a mix of practical tools and experiential exercises. Louise will share some general observations about the impact the climate emergency is having on our mental health and provide an opportunity for attendees to reflect on how their own eco emotions show up at home and work. Developing personal psychological flexibility relating to eco emotions will be discussed as well as steps towards becoming more empowered and skilful in sitting with our clients.
We will discuss the dilemmas a therapist might face, e.g., speaking about the science, making room for different values clients may hold and using personal disclosure wisely.
Key Learning Objectives:
- A better understanding of the context – eco emotions and who is seeking help.
- How to adapt existing ACT skills to work with eco emotions.
- A chance to reflect on dilemmas therapists might face in this work.
Implications / Applications of Learning for Clinical Practice
Attendees will leave with a sense of how existing ACT skills might be adapted to their work with clients who are experiencing distress related to the state of our planet. Given therapists are also facing these challenges it is important to face your own difficult feelings so that they don’t interfere unhelpfully in our clinical work.
References – readings
- Sara Gorman and Jack M. Gorman; Climate Change Denial; Psychology Today
- VIDEO: Britt Wray; How climate change affects your mental health; TED conference
- VIDEO: Renée Lertzman; How to turn climate anxiety into action; TED conference
- Australian Psychological Society; The Climate Change Empowerment Handbook; APS
- Augustinavicius, J. L., Lowe, S. R., Massazza, A., Hayes, K., Denckla, C., White, R. G., Cabán-Alemán, C., Clayton, S., Verdeli, L., Berry, H. (2021) Global climate change and trauma: An International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Briefing Paper. Retrieved via this link.
This is a free event for all AACBT members; bookings are only required for non-members to receive the link.
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This session is designed for those with an intermediate familiarity – attendees will be assumed to have a working knowledge of ACT.