Show Notes
Podcast
Podcast
Jim Chats with...
Linda Aspey
Episode 013
January 2025
Eco-Anxiety and Emotional Resilience:
Nurturing Wellbeing
in Uncertain, Unsettling Times
Explore how climate psychology
can help us navigate overwhelming times
and build meaningful connections.
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In this episode of Eco Scale Radio, Jim Oliver speaks with Linda Aspey, a leadership coach, psychotherapist, and board member of the Climate Psychology Alliance, about eco-anxiety, climate distress, and the emotional resilience needed to navigate the crises of the 21st century.
Together, they explore how defense mechanisms like denial and disavowal shape our collective response to climate change and practical strategies for nurturing emotional wellbeing.
Linda also shares inspiring ways to reconnect with nature, community, and actionable hope in these uncertain times.
Linda’s ability to shine the light on and give names to many of the experiences we are facing gives people the ability to better navigate the changing landscape we are living in.
Regarding "Hope"
Listeners may notice that Linda does not talk about hope at all (excepting in her reference to Joanna Macy’s work on Active Hope).
For her this is deliberate; whilst her book was called Holding the Hope the “hope” word has very recently come to mean for many people in this field a kind of a passivity, an unrealistic optimism that it will all be fine, and that someone else will save us.
So now her focus is on acceptance, agency, and adaptation, so we can build resilience in ourselves and our communities for challenging times ahead.
On The Shoulders of Giants
Before we recorded this interview, Linda told me that her work stands on the shoulders of many giants, some of whom are referenced below.
She’s been particularly inspired by the psychoanalyst Sally Weintrobe’s work on “neoliberal exceptionalism”, on the caring and uncaring parts of ourselves, and our need to build what Sally calls “Cultures of Care” and highly recommends that people look up her work – her website is below.
Who is Linda Aspey?
Linda Aspey is a leadership coach, facilitator, and registered psychotherapeutic counsellor.
She helps leaders and organizations to build caring, adaptive cultures that are fit for the complex, entangled, and existential challenges of the 21st century.
She’s also a board member of the UK-based Climate Psychology Alliance, leading on their Climate Café Listening Circle facilitator training programs, editor, writer and activist.
Linda’s services include keynotes, talks, and bespoke workshops on climate change, wellbeing, leadership and how understanding the conscious & unconscious processes in our lives can help us to make sense of the world we're in.
She helps you identify why - as people, businesses, and society - we seem entrapped in the current, inadequate ways and processes; and what we can do to unlock ourselves in order to make the kinds of changes that are essential to survive and thrive.
She also co-edited the book “Holding the Hope: reviving psychological & spiritual agency in the face of climate change"
Book Co-Edited by Linda Aspey
Holding the Hope:
Reviving psychological & spiritual agency in the face of climate change
(Author’s description)
Catastrophic climate change and the growing reality of the destruction of Earth’s ecosystem and species extinction hang over us all.
These topics are increasingly coming up in the work of all talking therapy professionals – counsellors, psychotherapists, coaches and psychologists.
They must be able to hold their clients’ and communities’ emotions and responses – fear, anger, denial, grief, helplessness and hopelessness – and manage their own.
The chapters in this thought-provoking, honest, moving and sobering book explore the frameworks, theoretical constructs and ways of working talking therapists have devised to hold hope and build agency in the face of this immensity of complexity, uncertainty and injustice.
Contributors from a range of cultural backgrounds and professional disciplines discuss our inter-relationships with the natural world, indigenous practices and understandings, how to face the reality with our children and young people, how to go on practicing at the edge of despair, and much more.
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“Climate anxiety is a really healthy response to what's going on in our world.
It's our internal mechanism that says,
'Hey, something's wrong.
Look, notice, stop.
Stop living As-If and pretending it's not.
You have to get real here.'
And so it's actually a healthier response than turning away and disavowing.”
– Linda Aspey
Linda Aspey Resources
Links you can use to follow and connect with Linda Aspey.
Linda Aspey's Website - https://www.aspey.com/
LinkedIn Page. - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindaaspey/
Instagram Page - https://www.instagram.com/lindaaspey/
Climate Psychology Alliance (UK) - https://www.climatepsychologyalliance.org/
Climate Psychology Alliance (North America) - https://www.climatepsychology.us/
Psychology for a Safe Climate in Australia - https://www.psychologyforasafeclimate.org/
3 Value Bombs (aka Hidden Gems)
1) Inner Exceptionalism
Inner Exceptionalism is the belief that certain rules, responsibilities, or consequences don’t apply to us as individuals—or even to humanity as a species.
This mindset often manifests as an unconscious assumption of personal or collective immunity, such as thinking, "the rules don’t apply to me", "I am different", "My actions won’t make a difference", or "Climate change won’t affect me."
This perspective can foster overconsumption, exploitation, and environmental harm.
It also creates a psychological barrier to empathy and interconnectedness with the planet.
In the context of the climate crisis, inner exceptionalism fuels inaction by isolating responsibility and denying our shared vulnerability.
However, by balancing this mindset with our "caring side"—the part of us that connects with others and the natural world—we can create a hopeful and actionable framework for change.
This balance encourages us to nurture compassion, embrace shared responsibility, and actively participate in solutions for a sustainable future.
2) The Role of Defense Mechanisms
The Role of Defense Mechanisms in the context of the climate crisis highlights the unconscious psychological strategies we use to protect ourselves from overwhelming emotions and existential threats.
These mechanisms—such as denial, distancing, disavowal, and socially constructed silence—act as "shock absorbers to the truth," shielding us from the full weight of the climate emergency.
While they can provide temporary relief, they also create barriers to meaningful action by keeping reality at bay.
Understanding these defenses is crucial for breaking through inaction.
They explain why people resist addressing climate change, even when they intellectually grasp its severity.
By recognizing and naming these processes, we can begin to move beyond them, fostering emotional resilience and reconnecting with our shared responsibility to act.
This awareness is a vital step toward building the collective courage needed to face the challenges of our time.
3) Climate Anxiety is a Healthy Response
Climate Anxiety as a Healthy Response shifts the narrative from seeing eco-anxiety as a weakness to recognizing it as a powerful signal of connection and awareness.
Rather than being a problem to suppress, climate anxiety is reframed as a natural and healthy reaction to an unhealthy situation—a response that tells us “something is wrong" and needs urgent attention.
This perspective empowers individuals by validating their feelings and framing eco-anxiety as a motivator for action, rather than a source of despair.
It encourages us to embrace our emotional intelligence, connect with others, and take constructive steps forward—turning distress into a call for care, resilience, and meaningful change.
About Biophilia
A growing love and connection with nature and wildlife can significantly improve your mental health. It can help:
reduce stress and anxiety
boost your mood
enhance creativity
improve focus and concentration
foster a sense of wellbeing
promote a greater appreciation for the environment, potentially leading to more environmentally conscious behaviors.
Sponsors
This episode is brought to you by Audible.
Audible: Audible is the leading producer and provider of audiobooks.
Finding the opportunity to read can be a challenge. Many people rely on audiobooks when they don’t have time to read. An audiobook allows you to listen to the latest bestseller, learn a new skill, and gain new insights, while commuting, cooking dinner, or cleaning up the house.
I recommend listening to the following books:
Biophilia (Book Only)
by Edward O. Wilson
The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative
by Florence Williams, Emily Woo Zeller, et al.
World-Ending Fire - The Essential Wendell Berry
by Wendell Berry
Fathoms: The World in the Whale
By Rebecca Giggs
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
by Merlin Sheldrake and Random House Audio
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Tantor Audio
Show Notes - Outline
Introduction
What are the biggest challenges we face today? And how did we get here?
Climate Change is a symptom rather than a cause
Impact of crises on our physical and mental health, globally and locally
Climate Change, Climate Anxiety, and Eco Anxiety
Existential Threats, Distancing, Guilt, Shame, and Denial of Climate Change, Ecological Decline, Destruction, Exploitation, Extraction, Colonialism, Inequality, etc
Living In The “As If” world
Astroturf
Denial – Created by a Toxic System
Merchants of Doubt
Socially Constructed Silence
Disavowal
“As if”
Define Climate Psychology, Climate Anxiety, and Eco Anxiety
What can we do to support ourselves
Yes-And – Living with the Paradoxes and Polarities
Our Caring and Un-Caring Self
Is there a North Star You Recommend?
What can entrepreneurs do to reduce suffering in their workplace or in their community?
Develop a Systems Mindset and the “Footprint of an idea”
The Jevons Paradox
“But, what can I do?”
Every Skillset You Have Can Be Useful Somewhere
Find Someone You Can Help
What is the “One Takeaway” From This Conversation
Where to Find out more about Linda and her work
“Both parts of ourselves need attention.
The uncaring part needs attention because it needs to know what caring looks like.
And the caring part needs to be nurtured and cultivated by societies and communities.
....
Resilience, for me, lies more in the communities we build and not in the individual.
It's the glue that holds us together.”
– Linda Aspey
Hash Tags
#cl
#H??Dryden
#S??icrolayer
Books Mentioned in This Interview
Active Hope:
How to Face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Resilience & Creative Power
by Joanna Macy
Hospicing Modernity:
Facing Humanity's Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism
By Vanessa Machado de Oliveira
Staying with the Trouble:
Making Kin in the Chthulucene (Experimental Futures)
By Donna J. Haraway
Braiding Sweetgrass:
Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants”
By Robin Wall Kimmerer
Holding the Hope:
Reviving Psychological & Spiritual Agency in the Face of Climate Change
by Linda Aspey (Co-editor)
“Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response”
– Joanna Macy
“World as Lover, World as Self”
Search Engine Mentioned in This Interview
Ecosia - Like Google, but greener
https://www.ecosia.org/
People Mentioned in This Interview
Sally Weintrobe
Nate Hagens
https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/
Iain McGilchrist
Daniel Schmachtenberger
https://civilizationemerging.com/
Caroline Hickman
Recommended - Webinar
“Climate Crisis, Fragmentation and Collective Trauma”
with Bayo Akomolafe, Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq & Dr. Gabor Maté (2021)
Recommended - Podcasts
Alexa Firmenich’s Lifeworlds
Rachel Donald’s
How a Single Paper Grew Into a Forest
Handprint co-founder Dr. Ryan Merrill was commissioned to write a paper by the United Nations on “Digital Sustainability.”
His research paper won the Financial Times “Paper of the Year.”
His work helped giant payments platform Alipay in China to launch a campaign called Ant Forest on the Alipay mobile client in August 2016.
It encourages users to lower carbon emissions by planting trees when users engage in activities that reduce carbon emissions.
They planted 350 million trees in the first 8 months of the launch of the app.
Dr. Ryan Merrill’s paper inspired the creation of Ant Forest which has planted hundreds of millions of trees.
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And How can we design safer plastic alternatives?
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Wildlife, Technology, and Biophilia in the 21st Century:
How should humans respond to the impact of climate change and the loss of biodiversity?
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