Dr Trudi Macagnino

I am a psychosocial psychologist with a research interest in our individual and collective responses to the climate and ecological emergency (CEE). My research seeks to understand the continued deprioritisation of this global issue by citizens, communities, organisations and governments despite increasing awareness and concern. As a psychotherapist I am particularly interested in the emotional impact of engaging with the problem and the individual and social defences used to avoid distress and disruption. My research and professional practice inform my role as a staff tutor in the school of psychology and counselling. 

PhD Thesis - 'The Play of Defences in the Climate and Ecological Emergency: A Psychosocial Exploration of Therapy and Eco-activism' 

I argue that therapy has an important role to play in these times of the CEE but it needs a radical reframing as an eco-psychosocial practice. Therapy can support activists by helping them to understand their motives and the relationship between their histories and their activism (inner and outer), leading to activism with awareness and preventing burnout. Therapy can support people to live with the reality of the CEE and the difficult feelings it evokes by providing the containment and safety to process them. It can act as a bridge to support people to connect with their agency and to act for change, thereby countering feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness.

In order to be able to do this however, therapists need to first engage with the CEE on a personal level, to process their own feelings and dismantle the individual and social defences that are a barrier to this. Therapists will need support from professional organisations in terms of training and a move away from the highly controlled regulation. New forms of healing and transformation may be needed where the inner and outer can come together in a truly psycho-social space. The role of community support and engagement will become increasingly important as we traverse between the old and new world. As the CEE becomes increasingly felt by those of us in the more privileged and insulated Global North and eco-distress increases, my study offers some insights in how we are to live with this reality.

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