Paper short abstract:

Eco-Anxiety is a term increasingly used by journalists and activist communities in Europe, however within the psychotherapy space 'eco-anxiety' often reveals itself not to be an anxiety about the environment but about other human relationships. What are we not talking about?

Paper long abstract:

Eco-Anxiety is a term increasingly used by journalists and activist communities in Europe, however as a psychotherapist and ethnographer my research shows that people who self diagnose as experiencing eco-anxiety typically aren't experiencing anxiety about the environment, but that external 'crises' become an opportunity to transfer uncomfortable feelings about human relationships onto the natural world. I will present reflections on the framing of environmental concerns drawing on theoretical assumptions and clinical observations within the practice of Nature Allied Psychotherapy.

Whilst concern about the environment is entirely valid, 'eco-anxiety' often presents a rescuing dynamic in which the environment become a focus away from painful feelings within human relationships with significant others that we don't feel safe to confront.

The concept of eco-anxiety as it manifests in Europe, amongst people not directly impacted by the immediacy of climate change has grown out of response to a breakdown of intimacy within our emotional relationships, increased social fragmentation and increasing isolation within our individualised culture. Young people in particular are facing unprecidented changes in how we (don't) relate to each other as human beings with fewer intimate emotional relationships, leading to the highest rates of mental ill health. Yet this socio-emotional crisis is being under estimated in understanding loss and how it is being processed. What are we not talking about and how is this relevant t improving our relationship with the natural world?