Dear Zaria: how do I find climate-conscious mental health care?

How does a person go about signing up for therapy? Let alone finding a climate aware therapist who is taking new clients?

I, first and foremost, feel the urge to congratulate you for making the decision to explore therapy. Therapy, albeit inaccessible for many, is a wonderful tool for helping us better understand ourselves and the way our subconscious programming shows up in our every day lives.

After deciding that you'd like to explore therapy options, the second step is to get clear on what forms of therapy might be most available to you, dependent on things like location, the type of care you seek and whether you may gravitate towards counseling you must pay for or, if this is not an option, sourcing  care that is free to its users.

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Traditional talk therapy, where you sit in a cozy (sometimes cold and unfriendly) office with a soft couch for you to perch on, is not for everyone.

You may decide that this form of discussion and dialogue is not suitable for you—maybe you don't enjoy emoting in this way, or this isn't an effective way of sorting through the thoughts in your brain. Especially for my neurodivergent folks, you may find that something like group or art therapy caters more to your needs.

In this case, you can use an online directory like this one to find what forms of group therapy may be available in your area.

Alternatively, say you're not too keen on engaging in any sort of counseling in person at all, and virtual or teletherapy, offered by services like Betterhelp or specific practitioners, might be ideal. Directories like GoodTherapy allow you to see which therapists offer Telehealth services, for example.

Once you've decided what sort of therapy might appeal to you and your specific needs (and of course getting clear on what those needs are, in general), you'll be able to decide what therapy route is best for you.

Finances will obviously play a part in whatever path you decide to take, but getting clear on these other things I've mentioned is equally as important.

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Deciding what type of therapy (i.e. individual, group, art therapy) you'd like to try, and the method through which you'd like to receive that care (in-person with a counselor 1:1, virtually, with or without others, etc), is half of the battle.

The other half is a bit more fun: finding the right therapist for you.

Thanks to platforms like ClimatePsychology, you can find climate-aware therapists, and the state they practice in, pretty easily and see if they take your insurance, if you plan on paying for their services in this way.

While in the beginning stages of connecting with a potential therapist, it'll be important to mention that climate anxiety, or the impacts of climate change on your life and mental wellbeing, is something you'll want to prioritize when developing your treatment plan.

If your future therapist doesn't clearly state that managing the impacts of climate change is a part of their counseling plan in your initial conversations, this will be important to note, and might pose as an obvious incompatibility.

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There are, thankfully, due to the rise in folks experience climate anxiety everywhere, a host of free resources that have also been made available to us.

Some of them include:

1. All We Can Save Circles; a self-hosted "book club" like circle that provides intimate spaces for groups of people to deal with their climate anxiety.
2. Climate Awakening; listening for folks to share their vulnerable fears and feelings surrounding our changing climate.
3. Eco-Anxious Stories; a collective of stories and resources for managing climate anxiety, among other difficult emotions.

Happy climate-conscious healing.

Warmly,

Zaria