ABSTRACT
Whether we talk of tipping points, ruptures or paradigm shifts, it is becoming increasingly clear that humans are at a geological and cultural threshold as the earth shifts from its stable Holocene period to an unstable one, some entitle the Anthropocene. Symptoms of this threshold appear in consulting rooms and therapeutic groups. This chapter focuses on the psychological work involved in addressing these collective symptoms such as eco-anxiety, disorientation, terror, despair, helplessness and rage.
To address the cultural pathology of a society seemingly bent on destroying the fundamentals of life support on our plant requires stepping out of the context of the individual pathology. The chapter attends in particular to the workshop Through the Door that CPA has been offering since 2018. It outlines the background of how we have learned to support psychotherapists and other professionals, themselves struggling with incapacity and helplessness. In the second part I share the work around therapeutic practices, which although familiar to psychotherapists, is especially fit for the challenges of this uncertain time.
