Climate Change and Happiness

Climate Change and Happiness

We give language to what you feel about the climate crisis—and also what you might want to feel, feelings you can grow and cultivate. This supports your resilience and your mental health and wellbeing. We invite other experts to join us in our conversations, and we hope you can join us too.

Episodes

Season 4, Episode 16: On Eco-Friends with Gregory Hill

March 14, 2025 • 33 mins
Thomas and Panu had a warm conversation with a long time friend and colleague of Thomas, environmental science and advocacy expert Gregory Hill. They explored the idea of “eco-friends”—the close personal relationships we have with friends and collaborators that support and inspire us in our environmental values and actions. Greg recounted his life from early connections with the desert lands of Arizona to his discovery of Buddhism ...
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Season 4, Episode 15: Climate Arts and Social Dreaming with Kamila Kuc and Julian Manley

February 28, 2025 • 34 mins
Thomas and Panu connected with Julian Manley and Kamila Kuc who joined in from Scotland and London to explore the intersections of climate change, emotions and the arts. Kamila and Julian described their recent collaboration using the practice of social dreaming, a group process to discuss and find larger meaning, emotional reality, and direction from personal dreams. Hosting social dreaming gatherings is a powerful way to foster c...
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Season 4, Episode 14: On Connectedness to Nature and Community Resilience with Cindy Frantz

February 17, 2025 • 32 mins
Thomas and Panu spoke with noted social and environmental psychology researcher Cindy Franz from Oberlin College. First, they revisited Cindy’s foundational research on people’s connectedness to nature. Then they discussed her new work on how communities adapt to climate change. Cindy noted that “adaptation begins in resilient communities” and saw her work at the local level as hopeful – “real people, attacking real problems in rea...
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Season 4, Episode 13: Coping When Disaster Finds Your Home with Gale Sinatra and Renee Lertzman

January 31, 2025 • 44 mins
Thomas and Panu met with USC climate researcher Gale Sinatra and climate psychologist Renee Lertzman and spoke about how to cope and help with recent Los Angeles wild fires—at the disaster site and from a distance. The need was made real in the context of Gale’s sudden loss of her home to the recent Eaton fire and her unfolding experience as a climate refugee. 
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Season 4, Episode 12: Coping with the LA Fires: Checking In With Local Therapists

January 24, 2025 • 45 mins
Thomas and Panu present a special episode focusing on coping with the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires with on the ground reports from Southern California Ecotherapists Linda Buzzell and Maria Nazarian, and artist and climate activist Maksim Butayev.
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Season 4, Episode 11: On Legacy with Stylianos Syropoulos

January 17, 2025 • 32 mins
Thomas and Panu Pihkala welcomed Stylianos Syropoulos, director of the Intergenerational Decisions and Effective Action (IDEA) Lab at Arizona State University to discuss his research on how people approach their legacy in relation to their environmental values. Stylianos explained that thinking about one’s legacy is an ancient and cross-cultural concern. Legacy can be understood in various ways like the biological legacy of having ...
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Season 4, Episode 10: Wisdom for the New Year

January 3, 2025 • 31 mins
Thomas and Panu had a mindful dialog about the end of the year to new year’s transition. Looking back on 2024, they noted the significance of Panu’s climate emotions wheel for people new to expressing feelings about climate and environmental issues, the challenges of being seen as an expert, and the importance of taking regular breaks to appreciate our efforts and accomplishments (or what Thomas calls a “behavioral sabbath”). Looki...
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Season 4, Episode 9: Climate Psychology Perspectives with Steffi Bednarek

December 20, 2024 • 31 mins
Panu and Thomas met with with Brighton UK climate psychologist Steffi Bednarek, author of Climate, Psychology, and Change. They explored stages of Steffi’s journey into climate psychology, and the importance of Gestalt therapy in her understandings of how our selves entwine with nature and our perceptions of environmental issues and problems. They discussed how concepts like mindfulness and “creative indifference” offer additional ...
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Season 4, Episode 8: The Fall Season and Remembrance Days

December 6, 2024 • 28 mins

In another of their intimate international dialogues, Thomas and Panu discussed the significance of connecting with nature for them during the changing seasons. Panu evolved the Finnish season of Marras, the gray time of the year as Autumn transitions to darker Winter, and when it’s normal for us all to be sensitive to feelings associated with grief. Thomas reflected o...

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Season 4, Episode 7: On Parenting, Elections, and Climate with Anya Kamenetz

November 22, 2024 • 31 mins
Thomas and Panu had a wide ranging exchange with journalist Anya Kamenetz (The Stolen Year, The Golden Hour) on the intersections of climate change, parenting, and mental health – in the context of the recent US elections. They discuss the importance of having open conversations with children about difficult topics that are geared to children and teens’ emotional and intellectual development. Each reflected on how they create a sen...
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Season 4, Episode 6: Surviving Climate Anxiety Book Preview with Thomas Doherty

November 8, 2024 • 31 mins

Thomas and Panu discussed Thomas’ upcoming book Surviving Climate Anxiety: A Guide to Coping, Healing, and Thriving – a comprehensive resource for the general public that includes practical examples and stories drawn from people Thomas has worked with. Thomas shared insights about the book’s five part structure, which is designed to move readers from basic skills for coping with eco and climate stress, through developing environmen...

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Season 4, Episode 5: Climate and Life Journeys with Andrew Bryant

October 25, 2024 • 33 mins
Thomas and Panu had a conversation with Seattle Washington therapist Andrew Bryant about the intersections of climate change and mental health therapy. Andrew reflected on his personal journey, the Climate and Mind website, and his experiences creating a community among therapists to explore climate issues in their lives and practices. Andrew described some of his methods of “professional and compassionate listening” that focus on ...
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Season 4, Episode 4: Ecological Grief in Religious and Spiritual Communities

October 11, 2024 • 32 mins
Thomas and Panu discussed the intersection of spirituality and climate change. Specifically, Panu shared his work on the challenges faced by individuals who experience spiritual crises when their ecological fears or grief aren’t validated in their religious community, and who may feel isolated and unsupported. This may lead to feelings of combined ecological and spiritual grief. Faith leaders are in a key position regarding the val...
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Season 4, Episode 3: On Gen Z Climate Emotions with Filmmakers Tehya Jennett and Maxfield Biggs

September 27, 2024 • 34 mins
In this episode of Climate Change and Happiness hosts Thomas and Panu engaged with filmmakers Tehya Jennett and Maxfield Biggs from Stranded Astronaut Productions. Tehya and Maxfield shared their personal journeys related to climate emotions. They reflected, together with Panu and Thomas, on the impact of food choices on climate awareness and ethics, and the need for intergenerational dialogue. The conversation also highlighted the...
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Season 4, Episode 2: On the Psychological Roots of the Climate Crisis with Sally Weintrobe

September 13, 2024 • 32 mins
Panu and Thomas had a warm chat with UK climate psychology theorist Sally Weintrobe,  author of The Psychological Roots of the Climate Crisis and other books. Sally reflected on her childhood growing up in apartheid era South Africa and insights that led her to climate advocacy after years of providing psychoanalysis.  She, Panu and Thomas spent time grappling with concepts like disavowal, group silencing, “active not caring” and “...
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Season 4, Episode 1: On A Healthy Return from Your Holidays

August 30, 2024 • 33 mins
Thomas and Panu reflected on the often overlooked process of re-entry into life after a holiday or vacation. They considered Thomas’s idea of the “half-life” of restorative experiences. That is, how long the mental benfits of the experience enhance your normal or usual existence, such through increased perspective or calm, and how to extend these positive effects. They also recognized how technology and consumerism have infiltrated...
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Season 3, Episode 26: Listening to Young Researchers

August 16, 2024 • 42 mins
Thomas and Panu spoke with three graduate student researchers from the The Development, Environment, & Wellness Lab at Columbia University Teachers College in New York: Paritosh Joshi, Rian Maxwell-Williams, and Danny DeBonis. All three are deeply engaged in environmental psychology and justice issues. They discussed their personal backgrounds, environmental identities, and the values and goals for their research. Join us for an in...
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Season 3, Episode 25: Being a Therapist in a Time of Climate Breakdown with Judith Anderson & Tree Staunton

August 2, 2024 • 37 mins
Thomas and Panu spoke with Judith Anderson and Tree Staunton, two therapists and co-editors (along with Jenny O’Gorman and Caroline Hickman) of the recent collection Being a Therapist in a Time of Climate Breakdown. The foursome explored their experiences of mental health, research and healing work in the context of climate change and the psychologicals impact of climate distress. Tree and Judith shared their personal journeys towa...
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Season 3, Episode 24: For Teachers: An Existential Tool Kit

July 19, 2024 • 31 mins
This episode is dedicated to teachers and educators of all kinds. Thomas and Panu discussed the new Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators and the emotional, political, personal and pedagogical challenges faced by teachers in the context of climate change.  The conversation delved into the history of the Toolkit project, the lingering impact of COVID-19 on education, and the unacknowledged and inequitable impacts of clim...
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Season 3, Episode 23: On EcoWellness and Psychedelic Therapy with Ryan Reese

July 5, 2024 • 30 mins
Thomas and Panu spoke with Ryan Reese, a psychologist from Bend, Oregon USA about his work developing eco-wellness theory in counseling and his recent integration of psychedelic therapy and outdoor therapy. Ryan shared his personal journey and how experiences with nature and rivers (including fly fishing for Steelhead trout) played a role in his healing and growth. Ryan, Panu and Thomas highlighted the parallels between eco-therapy...
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