The climate crisis is here and while many of us are deeply distressed, many others are hardly thinking about it. In other words, some people are feeling and others are avoiding. As therapists, how do we work with these different experiences, and how do we manage our own feelings while doing so?
It’s incredibly difficult to talk about stirring material, and what could be more stirring than climate change? Most of us didn’t grow up receiving welcoming reactions to all our thoughts and feelings, and we didn’t learn how to express ourselves directly and constructively. Instead we got good at distracting, shutting down, and disconnecting.
Group psychotherapy is a powerful format for developing new patterns. Group therapists have worked for decades to understand how to help people have and express difficult feelings within their relationships in constructive ways, such that these relationships are deepened and enriched rather than damaged.
In this workshop we will learn the principles of group psychotherapy, using experiential practice, and study how group work can help all of us with the climate crisis. Participants will experience how group can help both distressed people communicate more effectively and resistant people tolerate feelings they don’t want to have.
Date and Time: Sunday, October 16, from 3:00pm-5:00pm (EST)
Meeting presenter and facilitator:
Anna Graybeal, PhD, CGP, SEP is a clinical psychologist in private practice and specializes in group psychotherapy; she also has a background in evolutionary biology and has been a climate activist for many years. Anna has led several short-term psychotherapy groups on climate change, and has conducted trainings for group therapists on climate change for 4 years in Austin and at the annual meeting of the American Group Psychotherapy Association. www.annagraybeal.com