Climate change and mental health are two interconnected issues that are increasingly gaining attention in today’s society. As the effects of climate change become more evident and severe, it is essential to understand its impact on our mental well-being. In this episode, Gordon and Lauren Hawkins explore the relationship between climate change and mental health, focusing on the counseling professional’s role in addressing this issue. We dive deep into climate change’s profound impact on mental health and the importance of learning about eco-anxiety.
Meet Lauren Hawkins 
Lauren’s approach is person-centered and trauma-informed, meaning she centers your safety and comfort in session. Through either an EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) or talk therapy approach, Lauren seeks to help you utilize your innate capacity for healing and growth and to uncover the strengths that already exist within you. Lauren is trained in EMDR therapy through an EMDRIA-certified trainer. Along with trauma and abuse survivors, she typically sees people going through life transitions, struggling with depression or anxiety, those seeking to establish healthier boundaries and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. If you feel out of place or disconnected, Lauren will help you to begin cultivating awareness and intentionality so that you can feel at home in your mind and body. Considering the varying intersectional systems that each person is a part of, Lauren sees counseling as a collaborative process guided by your unique needs and desires. She believes that anyone can benefit from counseling and that whether you are struggling with your mental health or have a simple desire for self-discovery, counseling can be a useful space to grow.
Lauren’s experience includes providing counseling services to individuals diagnosed with severe persistent mental illness, as well as foster youth, adults, families, and people in relationships. Her background also consists of substance abuse counseling, and she has led several therapy groups, including anger management, women’s groups, and addiction recovery groups. Lauren has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Kentucky and a Masters’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Cincinnati.
Embracing the Environment in Healing Minds and Hearts
Lauren approaches her work through a holistic counseling lens, emphasizing viewing clients as whole individuals rather than focusing solely on their symptoms. She highlights the need to consider the interconnectedness of various aspects of clients’ lives, including their relationship with nature and the environment. While holistic wellness models often include environmental wellness, Hawkins notes that the connection between individuals and nature is rarely explicitly discussed. This oversight is surprising, considering that nature is essential for meeting our basic needs, such as food, water, and shelter.
Climate Crisis and Mental Health: Understanding the Profound Impact
The impact of climate change on mental health is significant. As the hottest year on record and extreme weather events become more frequent, individuals experience increased anxiety, stress, and depression. The uncertainty and fear of climate change can be overwhelming, leaving people feeling helpless and hopeless. The loss of natural habitats, biodiversity and the negative consequences of environmental degradation further contribute to mental health challenges.
Counseling professionals are crucial in addressing climate change’s impact on mental health. Counselors can help clients navigate their emotions, fears, and anxieties about climate change by adopting a holistic approach. They can provide a safe space for individuals to express their concerns and explore coping strategies. Additionally, counselors can help clients develop resilience and adaptive skills to navigate the challenges posed by climate change.
Facing Eco-Anxiety: Navigating the Emotional Toll of Climate Change on Mental Wellbeing
Eco-anxiety, also known as climate anxiety, is a term that refers to the anxiety and distress caused by the awareness of climate change and its impact on mental health. It is a specific form of anxiety that arises from the understanding that our mental health will likely deteriorate as climate change worsens. This concept is increasingly being recognized in counseling and therapy, as it is becoming evident that climate change is not only an environmental issue but also a mental health issue.
Lauren discusses the importance of acknowledging and addressing eco-anxiety in therapy sessions. They highlight eco-anxiety symptoms, including hopelessness, depression, and fear of the future. She also emphasizes that clients may not have the words to describe this anxiety, making it essential for counselors to be aware of its existence and bring it up in sessions.
Unseen Burdens: The Hidden Toll of Climate Change on Mental Health
Climate change has become one of the most pressing issues of our time, with far-reaching implications for various aspects of our lives. While climate change’s environmental and physical consequences are widely discussed, its impact on mental health is often overlooked. However, there is a strong correlation between climate change and mental well-being. As the effects of climate change become more evident and severe, individuals may experience heightened levels of anxiety and distress. The uncertainty of the future, the loss of biodiversity, and the destruction of natural habitats all contribute to despair and hopelessness.
For individuals already struggling with anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder, the added stressors and uncertainties climate change brings can worsen their symptoms. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, and wildfires, can lead to displacement, loss of homes, and trauma, further impacting mental well-being. Additionally, losing access to resources, such as clean water and food, can contribute to feelings of insecurity and anxiety.
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Right. Okay, go ahead with the board.
Okay. Hello, my name is Lauren Hawkins. I am a licensed professional counselor in Texas and Colorado. I am happy to be on the practice of therapy podcast today, we're going to be talking about just clinical work and climate change and mental health and the counseling professionals role in that.
Well, hello, everyone, and welcome again to the podcast. And I'm really looking forward to hearing from Lauren Hawkins. Welcome, Laurie. Hi, welcome.
Thank you. Yes, yes.
So Lauren, and I kind of got introduced by a fellow podcaster. And when I started learning about Lauren, I think she's got some really interesting stuff for us to talk about. But, Lauren, as I begin with everyone, why don't you tell folks a little bit more about yourself and how you've landed where you've landed?
Yeah, so I am a independently licensed professional counselor in both Texas and Colorado. I'm based in the Dallas, Texas area. I work mainly with individuals who have gone through some sort of trauma, do a lot of trauma work. I'm trained in EMDR. So I use that frequently. And I also work with the LGBTQ plus community.
Awesome, awesome. And I know one of the things that you've been passionate about, and done some recent presentations on is just how climate change is affecting our mental health. And I think certainly, that is something that is in the forefront as we're recording this. But yeah, you know, just, if you watch the news at all, it's, this is the hottest year ever that they've recorded. So yeah, so tell us more about that. And, you know, really kind of how you've landed in the kind of that niche.
Yeah, so um, back in February, I think it was 2022, I published a manuscript in the Journal of counselor leadership and advocacy, called Climate Change and mental health, the counseling professionals role. And really, it's just started exploring this relationship between climate change and mental health and more specifically, looking at it through a counseling lens. And just, you know, how can professional counselors be involved in this? Why does it even matter? How is this showing up in the therapy space? And then recently, I also got to present on that same topic at the NBCC, bridging the gap symposium in Atlanta. So that was really cool. But yeah, like you said, you know, just actually a few days ago, I think it was July 3, through July 6, were the four, it was four consecutive days in a row that were the hottest days ever recorded, like on Earth. So this is something that is like an immediate concern that's going on.
Right, right. Yeah. So tell us tell us a little more about what you learned through your research and all of that sort of thing and how it's affecting us?
Yeah, so Well, for me, I approach kind of all of my work through a holistic counseling lens. And I think people sometimes like hear that word, it's like thrown around a lot. But there's no like, solid definition of it always. But for me, basically, what that means is just like looking at your client, as a whole person, you know, looking at all of these different interconnected pieces of their life, not just seeing them for like, you know, the symptoms that show up in our office. And so, when I was taught a lot in grad school about just like the different models of holistic wellness, like the wheels of wellness that are out there, I'm not sure if you're familiar with those or not, but there's kind of various models of this holistic wellness, you know, idea out there. And one thing that I noticed was always missing from these, you know, we've got the, there's financial wellness, or social, wellness, physical, emotional, mental, like all of these different pieces that make us up. And they did talk about environmental wellness, and these models, but it was never specifically about our connection with nature, it was just sort of like, you know, it could fit into that category, but it was never specifically talked about. And I thought that was strange, because it's this one piece of this puzzle that, you know, just, we are all affected by we're all connected to, you know, nature is when we think about our basic needs, you know, food, housing, water, things like that. It's all a product of the environment, the natural environment we're in and if we don't have those basic needs, we don't have much else. So I thought it was interesting that that was kind of never included in the conversation.
Right, right. Yeah, no, no, I know for for a lot of us just, if we think about just the whole issue of climate change, and just how, how we're seeing it affect the world. I think for a lot of us, we feel kind of helpless to do anything to change it? And no, you know, it's kind of that whole, I'm reminded of that starfish story, you know, of the guy going down the beach and seeing all these starfish washing up on the beach, and he's putting them back in the ocean and somebody says you're not going to make any difference. And you just said, you know, I'll make a difference for that. That one, but in your work with, with clients, what, what sort of themes are you seeing come up around? Just, and I'm making an assumption that climate change issue is something that brings people a lot of anxiety.
Yeah, so there's actually something specifically called ego anxiety. It's just this this term that's out there and, and sort of just this idea of, you know, there's there's the general anxiety that we all see, right. But ego anxiety is sort of this awareness of climate change and the impact, it's having a mental health and like, the understanding that as climate change worsens, as temperatures continue to rise, as natural disasters continue to happen, whatever it is, right, that our mental health is going to also continue to worsen. And I think it's interesting too, because when we don't take this, like, holistic, intersectional approach, you know, we might miss this big piece of what really is driving some of our clients anxiety. And I think it's interesting, because since it's not something that's talked about, specifically, within the counseling field is often or just sort of, in general, sometimes, our clients might not even have words to put to this anxiety that they're feeling. But you know, with this ego anxiety, it's definitely already showing up in our therapy spaces, whether we're acknowledging that or not a lot of it, you know, there's just a general anxiety that we see. But there's also symptoms like hopelessness and depression and like, just fear of the future or an inability to plan for the future because of this, you know, worry about what that's even going to look like.
Right, right. And so what have you found is a good kind of segue and bringing that up with clients, as far as you know, helping them understand that about themselves or being able to recognize that as an issue.
Yeah. So again, for me, I think that I'm just really of the belief that I think like all counseling should be holistic, that we should be taking into consideration all of these parts of our client, I think we're kind of doing a disservice if we're not. And I think it's, you know, not fully trauma informed to not be doing that, too. So for me, it's something that I sort of do, already, kind of going back to those, there's a wheel wellness. The first one was created by Sweeney and Whitmer, I think, in like the 1990s. And then there was another one created by Myers and Sweeney and the 2000s, sometimes, sometime, and then there's a newer model two that's been created by Dr. Ryan Reese. That includes this eco wellness piece. And I think using these models in our counseling work can be a really like, easy way to bring this stuff up. Because it's not like you have to even sit there and say, Okay, today we're gonna talk about climate change and how that's impacting us. It's just like, here's this whole big model of all of these different parts of yourself. Let's talk about each area and talk about you know, are there some areas that maybe need a little bit more attention? Are there some areas that are causing us a little bit more problem, more more areas that we have, like some disconnect from ourself or places we could be paying more attention to?
Right, right. Yeah. When you when you were talking about eco wellness, I guess the first thing that came to mind, for me was just thinking about something that we might not even see, when we when we work with clients is just kind of the environment folks are living in. And just, you know, I've done some work, you know, just in the past, with people that are living in extreme poverty, and when you see kind of what they're having to deal with day in and day out, and what they're leaving with, you know, that it's affecting them physically, but also, yeah, just the whole emotional component. Yeah. And so more about that, I mean, just Yeah.
I would love to whenever I talk about this, that's actually a piece I always really liked to bring up is, you know, this is also a social justice issue. And I think that's another reason why it's so important for counselors and mental health professionals to be having these conversations. Because climate change, there's all kinds of research out there that shows climate change negatively impacts marginalized populations at a disproportionate level. So people, like you said, like people who live in poverty, you know, climate change will impact them first and hardest. And most of the time to the people who are impacted the hardest by climate change are the ones who they're not the ones who are doing the things that are contributing to it. Right, because the people who are in the most privileged positions who have the most power often that's sort of where the problems start, and the people who are being really impacted by this Is are not most at fault.
Right. Right. Yeah. And so I think, you know, I would imagine that just being able to acknowledge that with a client is makes a huge impact for them.
Yeah. And, you know, it's, it's this thing to that when we start thinking about climate change in terms of like our clinical work, I think it really opens up like whole new avenues for us to go down with our clients that we wouldn't have even considered before. But there are avenues that are incredibly relevant, like, you know, climate change or access to resources, right? If we're living in poverty, or in an urban environment where there's no nature around us, or we're in a food desert or something like that, right? These access to resources, these impacts of climate change of natural disasters of being displaced from our homes and not having a place to live anymore. It's like, these are going to impact all of these other areas are absolutely going to impact our emotional mental health, right. But they're also going to impact things like our physical health and our social relationships. And just our you know, stability.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's thinking about some a here, here, where I'm located in the Appalachian Mountains. There's a lot there's a whole whole culture of generational poverty, and people that
you know, this gets into the a little bit of the environmental stuff, but where I live here, we're very, very close to the coal fields of Eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, West Virginia, that kind of thing. And if you've ever been into any of those communities, you can see how just the mining and all of that has affected the environment in those locations. And, you know, just, you know, like, some of these coal mining, I call them villages or whatever, that are literally back in the hollers of the mountains, as we call it. And when there's when there's a lot of rain, they are just in this funnel of being flooded. And some work I did a few years ago, where we were going in and helping people repair their homes, you really get a good sense of okay, what would it be like to live in this kind of situation? And you know, it's affecting, not only them physically, but mentally as well.
Yeah, absolutely. I actually also used to live in Kentucky, and one of the places that I think I first like, developed my, like, just real love for nature, and being outside was actually in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. So but you're so right, it's, you know, it's these people lives, their, their lives and their livelihood, like depend on these things that are actively putting them in harm's way. And it's, it's something that's, you know, not only affecting them, but then it's like, it's also having these ripple effects throughout their community throughout, you know, just larger communities outside of even that. Yeah, it's it's, it's, there's so many layers to it.
Yeah. Yeah, it is. Well, I'm glad I'm grateful to you, Lauren, for the making, making this something that we can have conversations about and begin to really address in a in a much more direct way to change subjects a little bit tell. Tell folks a little bit about kind of your practice and how you've, you mentioned doing being licensed in both Texas and Colorado. And I know as we were chatting before we started recording, you're actually working for two different practices. And so yeah, so what's all that like?
Yeah, it's been great. So I actually moved to Texas about a year ago. So I'm sort of newer to the area. moved here from Ohio. So I used to live up there in the Midwest area. But yeah, I right now, I do some work at different practices, one environment in Texas, one in Denton, Texas, and then I'm also licensed in Colorado, so I can see people virtually there as well. But most of the work I do really focuses on trauma. I see people who have gone through all kinds of trauma. That's sort of what most of my client base is, and then the LGBT community. So, you know, there's lots of trauma. Within that, too. There's so much hope and joy and beautifulness inside that community, but there's also a lot of trauma. So I really enjoy that work. And I do do EMDR, too. That's a part of my practice now.
Right. Right. So I'm curious too, is as you were developing your career, just thinking about all the different career paths, what, what kind of drew you to private practice versus just going to work for an agency somewhere?
Yeah, so my background is actually in agency settings. I practice I'm an internship and grad school was in like a community mental health agency. And then first job out of grad school was at a foster care agency. And then after that, I worked in another community mental health agency. So I've, I've been in agencies. And while I loved them, and I loved the experience that I got, and I loved the people that I got to work with there. It was really draining. And it felt like a not incredibly sustainable environment for me to be in. And so when I moved to Texas, I decided that I was going to transition out of that and into private practice. So that's where I'm at now. And it's been really great. And just being able to have the freedom to, you know, do things in a way that fits for me, has been really good, because I, I'm a big advocate for, you know, our clients showing up authentically and showing up as their genuine selves. And I think it's not fair if I can't do the same. And I think in agency settings, it was a little bit harder to do that.
Yeah. Yeah. Very, very good point. And, and, and kudos to you for really seeking that out. What was it that went into your decision, that don't not to put you on the spot too much of saying, Okay, I'm gonna go work for a private practice, versus I'm going to start my own. But yeah, gone into that decision for you?
Well, kind of a lot of things, I think just one being where I'm at in life right now, it sort of makes more sense. But, you know, I think, kind of making that transition, especially where I was working before I lived in the Cincinnati area. And there's all kinds of wonderful, like, private practices that are thriving in the Cincinnati area, obviously, but my experience specifically was more in the agency settings. And I feel like I didn't really get that. I don't know guidance of like this, you can do this, this is what it can look like, it doesn't just have to be Community Mental Health all the time, even though there is a huge need for that. And so part of it was I just wanted to be, you know, around other people who are doing this, and you know, so I can kind of learn from them and soak up things from them and figure out what this is like, because this really was my first experience going into a private practice setting. And so I really like having people around me who know what they're doing and can kind of give me some wisdom.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, I think it's, you're, you're exactly right. I think having a community regardless of what setting you're in is, is crucial to just our own self care, and just being able to do really good solid clinical work, because I think it's, you have to be able to bounce ideas off of people and be able to get feedback. And, and and also the support it brings, I think is so important. Yeah, yeah, I think, yeah, well, I mean, no, just because say that people hand us very hard stories and hand us a lot of heavy things. So we need to have a way to process all of that.
Yeah. And it's, I think it's difficult to, you know, do things for the first time when you've never really had exposure to them to. So just being able to, like, gain that from other people. And it's been a really great experience.
Well, good. Well, good. Well, Lauren, I want to be respectful of your time. And I'm so glad we get to have this conversation. tell folks how they can get in touch with you if they'd like to have more conversation with you.
Yeah, so best ways to get in touch with me. It's going to be probably my LinkedIn, you can just look me up Lauren Hawkins should be should say fly around on there. And then my psychology today. You can look me up on there too, for any clinical things.
Awesome. Awesome. Well, we'll have links in the show notes in the show summary. Well, Lauren, thanks again for being on the podcast and hope to have another conversation with you here soon.
Yeah, thank you so much.
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