Why am I passionate about this?

Some years ago, my eyes were opened to the severity of our climate crisis and it changed me forever. Since that pivotal time, Iā€™ve turned my therapeutic training and clinical experience toward addressing the existential threat of our time. I recognize how we must unmask our deep psychological biases, many of which unconsciously bring harm to our lives and social structures. I pair this with emotional resiliency practices for these deep and sustained efforts. As a Climate Psychology educator and consultant, I enjoy interdisciplinary strategies where I can contribute transformative methods that help us reclaim dormant human capacities that equip us to usher in a more just and safer world.


I wrote

Book cover of Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change: A Clinician's Guide

What is my book about?

Although the physical devastation from climate change has long been recognized, only recently have the psychological impacts come into focus.ā€¦

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Overstory

Leslie Davenport Why did I love this book?

I fell in love with The Overstory, and perhaps love is the essential fuel in Powerā€™s heart-driven fiction. His entrancing literary journey brings readers into a story of wonder and connectivity with more-than-human life. While the plot moves at an entertaining pace and the characters develop with interest, he gets under the skin as only the best writers can: In subtle and surprising ways, he shifts our perspectives about Earth and our place in it. Powerā€™s narrative took me into the human-inflicted wounds to the natural world where eco-anxiety arises, but also rekindled a bone-deep sense of home that helps me remember how healing is possible.

By Richard Powers,

Why should I read it?

36 authors picked The Overstory as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of-and paean to-the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers's twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours-vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to seeā€¦


Book cover of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet

Leslie Davenport Why did I love this book?

Ray is a colleague and an environmental studies professor at Humboldt State University. After witnessing firsthand the rising emotional distress in her students, she was compelled to respond with empathy and supportive resources. She began to recognize that teaching about climate impacts was not enough, and perhaps it even contributes to the problems if the emotional responses are not addressed in tandem. Written primarily with Gen Z in mind, I find the perspectives and resources are useful for anyone experiencing eco-anxiety, and she incorporates strong and insightful social justice perspectives.

By Sarah Jaquette Ray,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Gen Z's first "existential toolkit" for combating eco-guilt and burnout while advocating for climate justice.

A youth movement is reenergizing global environmental activism. The "climate generation"-late millennials and iGen, or Generation Z-is demanding that policy makers and government leaders take immediate action to address the dire outcomes predicted by climate science. Those inheriting our planet's environmental problems expect to encounter challenges, but they may not have the skills to grapple with the feelings of powerlessness and despair that may arise when they confront this seemingly intractable situation.

Drawing on a decade of experience leading and teaching in college environmental studiesā€¦


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Book cover of Norman Mailer at 100: Conversations, Correlations, Confrontations

Norman Mailer at 100 by Robert J. Begiebing,

Winner of the Robert F. Lucid Award for Mailer Studies.

Celebrating Mailer's centenary and the seventy-fifth publication of The Naked and the Dead, the book illustrates how Mailer remains a provocative presence in American letters.

From the debates of the nation's founders, to the revolutionary traditions of western romanticism,ā€¦

Book cover of Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change

Leslie Davenport Why did I love this book?

Youā€™re probably seeing a theme by now: Addressing eco-anxiety is a much deeper, more complex, and nuanced approach than simply learning how to calm our nervous systems with mindful breathing (although that is a really helpful tool!). I appreciate the clear, grounded voice that Mitchell brings to the conversation, sharing some of the ā€œoriginal instructionsā€ and Indigenous cultural values for being in a harmonious balance with the living world. She was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian Reservation, is an attorney, and promotes heart-based activism. She is perhaps the most articulate writer I have come across in describing the characteristics and impacts of a colonized mindset, with compassionate guidance for shifting to a more Earth-attuned way of life.

By Sherri Mitchell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sacred Instructions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A ā€œprofound and inspiringā€ collection of ancient indigenous wisdom for ā€œanyone wanting the healing of self, society, and of our shared planetā€ (Peter Levine, author of Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma).

A Penobscot Indian draws on the experiences and wisdom of the First Nations to address environmental justice, water protection, generational trauma, and more.

Drawing from ancestral knowledge, as well as her experience as an attorney and activist, Sherri Mitchell addresses some of the most crucial issues of our dayā€”including indigenous land rights, environmental justice, and our collective human survival. Sharing the gifts she has received from the elders ofā€¦


Book cover of All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis

Leslie Davenport Why did I love this book?

One of the most overlooked but essential aspects of addressing climate change effectively is to not only mourn the losses and acknowledge the anxiety, frustration, anger and other climate-induced emotions that are a natural response to what is happening in our world, we must also cultivate our ecological imaginations. Our brains are wired to register threats and negativity 3-5 times more strongly than positive events, so we need to actively seek out the progress being made. This book brings us fifty-eight chapters by powerful change-makers committing their life's work to addressing climate change. These women poets, scientists, journalists, activists, and politicians express creative possibility, and I always feel a boost of energy recognizing how our collective efforts elevate and amplify each otherā€™s work in creating a healthier more just world.

By Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (editor), Katharine K. Wilkinson (editor),

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked All We Can Save as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER ā€¢ Provocative and illuminating essays from women at the forefront of the climate movement who are harnessing truth, courage, and solutions to lead humanity forward.

ā€œA powerful read that fills one with, dare I say . . . hope?ā€ā€”The New York Times
 
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE

There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. While itā€™s clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, theyā€¦


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Book cover of Evil Alice and the Borzoi

Evil Alice and the Borzoi by DK Coutant,

Cleo Cooper is living the dream with ocean-dipping weekends, a good job, good friends, fair boyfriend, and a good dog. But, paradise is shaken when the body of a young woman is dragged onto a university research vessel during a class outing in Hilo Bay.

Cleo is shocked to findā€¦

Book cover of Environmental Melancholia: Psychoanalytic dimensions of engagement

Leslie Davenport Why did I love this book?

Okay, pour yourself a strong cup of coffee and get ready for an insightful dive under the hood of human consciousness with a psychoanalytic flashlight. This is not a quick read, but it is a valuable academic tome written by a woman with a brilliant mind. Lertzman is one of the earliest voices in climate psychology, and she continues to be a force in advancing the recognition of the strong role our emotions play in moving forward effectively with social change. Everyone in the field owes a debt of gratitude for the path she forged. She has personally inspired me, and if you are in this field professionally, or enjoy getting to know the perspectives of social influencers, youā€™ll want to include this in your personal library.

By Renee Lertzman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Environmental Melancholia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this groundbreaking book, Renee Lertzman applies psychoanalytic theory and psychosocial research to the issue of public engagement and public apathy in response to chronic ecological threats. By highlighting unconscious and affective dimensions of contemporary ecological issues, Lertzman deconstructs the idea that there is a gap between what people care about and what is actually carried out in policy and personal practice. In doing so, she presents an innovative way to think about and design engagement practices and policy interventions.

Based on key qualitative fieldwork and in-depth interviews conducted in Green Bay, Wisconsin, each chapter provides a psychosocial, psychoanalytic perspectiveā€¦


Explore my book šŸ˜€

Book cover of Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change: A Clinician's Guide

What is my book about?

Although the physical devastation from climate change has long been recognized, only recently have the psychological impacts come into focus. While this book was written for the mental health field, it is extremely readable and useful to anyone wanting to understand the psychological underpinnings contributing to the current global crisis.

The book offers practical tools for dealing with the many expressions of climate dread, such as eco-anxiety and grief, along with ways to actively engage in the needed changes we can all be part of. The emotional intelligence and resilience strategies support a shift toward more just and regenerative systems rooted in an understanding of the interdependent nature of all life. The materials can be used by individuals, groups, and organizations.

Book cover of The Overstory
Book cover of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet
Book cover of Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change

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Activating Our 12-Stranded DNA by Ruslana Remennikova,

In this vibrant guidebook, sound healer and former corporate scientist Ruslana Remennikova reveals how, through vibration and intention, you can shapeshift DNA from the standard double helix to its 12-stranded, dodecahedral formā€”unlocking your spiritual potential and opening the way for deep healing of the past, the present, and the futureā€¦

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Anatomy of Embodied Education by E. Timothy Burns,

The vast mysterious terrain explored in this book encompasses the embodied human brain, the processes through which humans grow, develop, and learn, and the mystery of consciousness itself. We authors offer this guidebook to assist you in entering and exploring that terrain.

As parents and educators come to understand thisā€¦

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