Climate Emotions and Climate Action
We know that climate change is impacting mental health, but less is known about how taking climate action interacts with mental health and wellbeing.
About the study and why it is important
A wide range of group-based approaches has been developed to support people with their climate emotions, and these are often delivered by mental health and wellbeing professionals in the third sector. Some approaches provide explicitly ‘action-free’ spaces, whilst others promote taking action* to contribute towards climate and environment goals.
This study explores the perspectives of professionals regarding the relations between climate emotions and forms of climate/environment action. Do approaches that work with climate emotions support mental health and taking climate and environment action, contributing to net zero and sustainability pathways?
Deb Lane, doctoral student, Global Sustainability InstituteA deeper understanding of the complex interactions between climate action and mental health could inform policy and practice.
Who is being invited to participate, and what is involved?
I am inviting UK-based professionals with experience of designing and/or delivering group-based approaches that work with climate emotions. Participants might be linked to the Climate Minds Coalition, Climate Psychology Alliance or their members, or other relevant networks such as ecopsychology groups.
Participants will be invited to take part in individual interviews with Deb (2025/26), and may also wish to participate in a group workshop in Spring 2027.
The first interview will be a nature-based interview, at a mutually agreed location, and will take between one-two hours. The focus of this interview will be on exploring perspectives around relations between climate action and mental health, drawing on personal and professional experiences. After the first interview, an invitation will be made to deepen this enquiry using visual, embodied and nature-based methods, with an optional reflection space offered two-three months later to capture any further thoughts that have arisen.
Finally, a group workshop will be convened in Spring 2027, to explore the themes arising from individual interviews, and the outputs of an adjacent case study of a climate distress intervention being run by Mind Norfolk and Waveney. The objectives of the workshop will be to provide a supportive reflection space for professionals on the results of the studies, and to think about implications for policy and practice.
Who is conducting the study?
This study is being conducted by Deb Lane, a doctoral student at Anglia Ruskin University. Deb’s interest in understanding relations between people and nature was ignited as a 15-year-old, and this has shaped by her career in sustainable development.
Deb spent 20 years working with climate and environment NGOs, before training as an integrative therapist working with children, adolescents, and their families. Deb is interested in how nature-based, embodied, and visual methods may extend our understandings of climate distress and how to work with it.
For further details on any aspects of this study, please email Deb at [email protected]