Climate Mental Health
Incorporate a Trauma-Informed Approach
Climate change impacts, such as more intense wildfires, floods, droughts, and hurricanes, can be life-threatening and result in significant damages, causing trauma and trauma-related mental health reactions for individuals, families, and communities. Violence and chronic stress (e.g., due to poverty) may be particularly susceptible to the effects of climate-change related disasters. Disaster exposure can trigger prior traumatic events and cause compounding distress. Additionally, as detailed in the "climate change effects on mental health" section, anxiety, anger, and hopelessness about future impacts of climate change can also have significant impacts on mental health.
Creating a trauma-informed learning environment in which climate change is addressed directly will reduce the potential for harm and increase the effectiveness of learning. The following strategies build on work by SAMHSA.
Learn to recognize trauma-related reactions and be conscious of potential triggers
Resources:
- Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network can help you to be conscious of triggers and therefore how to avoid triggering and/or retraumatizing youth.
- Global Climate Change and Trauma Fact Sheet by the International Society of Traumatic Stress studies includes some foundational things to know about trauma and steps that need to be taken to address the trauma associated with climate change.
- Environmental and Climate Responsive Crosswalk for Trauma Informed Schools by San Mateo County Office of Education has resources to help integrate a climate and environmental trauma responsive lens.
Create a safe, caring, and welcoming environment
Resources:
- Trauma-Informed Toolkit by Yasmeen Hossain at OSU Extension provides key tips for educators to create safe classroom spaces and integrate trauma-informed practices into lesson plans using a wildfire lesson plan example.
- Creating Safe Spaces: Facilitator's Guide to Trauma-Informed Programming by the Family & Youth Services Bureau includes trauma-informed user friendly checklists that facilitators can use before, during, and after programs.
Build trust through transparency
Resources:
- Building Rapport and Trust with Youth from the national council for mental-wellbeing outlines strategies for building trust.
Identify and reinforce examples of positive peer support
Resources:
- Emotional Resilience Toolkit for Climate Work from the Climate Therapy Alliance includes facilitated discussions and activities designed to build emotional resilience for climate work, categorized by age group.
- Action for the Climate Emergency has started a "Let's Talk about It and Speak Your #Climate Truth" campaign where youth can talk about their climate anxiety and fears or share tips and inspiration with others through social media.
See the Join and Create Community page and the Listen and Validate Feelings page for more resources.
Acknowledge strengths, encourage youth voice and choice
Resources:
- How to Amplify Student Voice: Listen provides strategies for how to engage student voices in discussions.
- The Hazard Education, Awareness, and Resilience Task Force (HEART Force) curriculum engages students in developing, sharing, and implementing their own community resilience projects.
See the Encourage and Take Action page for more resources.
Challenge stereotypes and biases, acknowledge oppression
Resources:
- An Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators has a variety of resources that explore decolonization & reconciliation, antiracism, and intersectionality within the lens of climate change.
See the Climate Mental Health Justice page for more resources.