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Join us for a Climate News Support Circle, supporting ourselves to turn together with care towards a world in crisis. The news about climate change these days can be so big and so scary that it can be difficult to face. The invitation with this group is to read a shared article in advance and then spend some time in a group processing the information and whatever internal feelings and responses arise about it. These sessions will draw upon tools and practices from the Work That Reconnects and also Parts Work* and will be facilitated by Aravinda Ananda and Joanna Mallary. The first session will happen on July 8th from 7-8:15pm ET, with future session dates and times yet to be determined.
*Parts Work is a therapeutic approach based on the idea that all people have different “parts” of their psyches - for example, an inner critic, a worried part, a part that numbs or distracts from intense feelings, a part that wants to work as hard as it can to eliminate injustice or save the world from climate catastrophe, etc. Rather than seeing these feelings as problems to get rid of, Parts Work helps people relate to their parts with curiosity and compassion. It invites us to dialogue with our parts and learn how they are trying to protect us from pain. In the context of activism and the metacrisis, parts work can help people sit with intense emotions like grief, fear, helplessness, guilt or burnout without becoming consumed by them. By approaching them with curiosity, we gain clarity and new perspectives and can engage with climate issues or our daily lives in a more grounded, sustainable way.
About the facilitators:
Aravinda Ananda (she or they) is a social ecologist living and working on Massachusett land. She is passionate about supporting humans to heal their relationship with the web of life and contribute in more life affirming and life-sustaining ways. She has been facilitating the Work That Reconnects since 2011 and deeply appreciates the tools and support this body of work offers for supporting people to face the crises of these times and move forward in empowered action. She recently co-authored the book Coming Together in The Great Turning: Collective Liberation and Work That Reconnects.
Joanna Mallary is a postdoctoral therapist specializing in climate psychology and nature-based therapy. She was trained as a Climate Cafe facilitator by the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America and attended Interhelp’s 6th Earth Leadership Cohort to learn to incorporate Joanna Macy’s teachings into her work. She uses Parts Work and somatic approaches to help people find new ways of experiencing and relating to their emotions about the climate and metacrises.