Counselors and the Climate Crisis: An Opening Conversation
Wednesday October 27th, 11:00 AM EST - 12:30 PM EST
Presenters: Dr. Debbie Sturm and Dr. Judy Daniels
Description: The climate crisis is predicted to have a profound impact on the mental health and well-being of individuals, families and communities, with our most vulnerable neighbors being at an elevated risk. This impact includes depression, anxiety, PTSD and pre-traumatic stress, fear, eco-grief, irritability, anger, violence, and loneliness, as well as disease spread, heatstroke, lung disease, heart disease, suicidal ideation, and premature death. The effects of climate change on community mental health and wellbeing are already taking place globally and locally. Climate change also carries with it a significant social justice impact on our most vulnerable neighbors. As counselors, we have an opportunity to bring our understanding of trauma, vulnerability, and resilience to work with clients and to support climate resilience efforts in our communities. This presentation will provide an opportunity to examine the ways mental health, wellness and climate change interact and how you can use your professional skills to mitigate the impact. We will examine the social justice, existential and humanistic implications through the lens of the ACA Advocacy Competencies and will discuss the work of the ACA Task Force on Climate Crisis and Mental Health.
Objectives:
Participants will be able to understand the mental health impact of the increasing climate crisis with specific local and regional implications.
Participants will be able to describe the social justice impact on vulnerable populations, migration, and community resilience as well as the roles counselors can play.
Participants will explore both existential and humanistic implications for counselors engaging in work related to the climate crisis at all stages of the ACA Advocacy Competencies. Participants will have an understanding of the work conducted by the American Counseling Association's Task Force on the Climate Crisis and Mental Health and reflect upon their own point of advocacy or intervention.
Presenter Bio:
Dr. Sturm is a Professor at James Madison University. Her expertise includes service on ACA’s Climate Crisis Task Force and 2021-2022 Chair of the Human Rights Committee. She received the 2020 SACES Courtland Lee Social Justice Award, and the 2021 Counselors for Social Justice Climate Justice Award. She is a trained member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, “a global network of activists committed to spreading awareness of the climate crisis and working for solutions to the greatest challenge of our time” and a Climate Café leader with the Climate Psychology Alliance. In 2017, Dr. Sturm wrote the first article on climate and mental health to appear in ACA’s Counseling Today. Since then, she has published book chapters, encyclopedia entries and newsletter articles on the impact of climate on mental health. She has produced nearly a dozen (including in-press) peer-reviewed journal articles and delivered 18 conference presentations on climate justice and climate-related issues. She is deeply passionate about expanding this conversation among counselors across the country.
Dr. Judy Daniels is a Professor at the University of Hawaii and has been a counselor educator for over 25 years working in the areas of school, community, and rehabilitation counseling. She is one of the original founding members and a past president of Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ). She currently serves on the Governing Council for the American Counseling Association (ACA) as the Parliamentarian. As a two-term member of the Governing Council, Dr. Daniels has also served as the Co-Chair of the ACA taskforce on Professional Identity and Membership Employment, a member of the ACA Portability task force, a member of the 2018-2019 task force on Portability, the GC liaison to the ACA Human Rights Committee, and a member of the Executive Committee for two years. Dr. Daniels received awards for teaching, research, and community service as well as Fellow status within the American Counseling Association and the Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person. She has published over 50 articles/book chapters; several books; and other scholarly works, training videos and counseling assessment instruments as well as hundreds of presentations.