Lesley Hartman & Associates Inc.

11/17/2025

If climate change is stressing you out, you’re not alone — and there are ways to feel calmer, stronger, and more hopeful.

Here are some expert-recommended strategies:
🌍 Acknowledge your feelings — worry, anger, sadness, and fear are normal human reactions.
🌍 Talk about it — share with friends, family, or groups; it reduces isolation and builds support.
🌍 Get outside — reconnect with nature through mindful walks, parks, sky-watching, or gardening.
🌍 Do grounding activities — cooking, cleaning, caring for plants, and simple routines can calm the mind.
🌍 Start climate writing — journaling, letters, or noting daily observations helps process emotions.
🌍 Limit doom-scrolling — curate your feed with positive climate stories and even a little humour.
🌍 Take meaningful action — volunteer, join local climate projects, or reduce your personal impact.
🌍 Focus on what you can control — small habits like composting, reducing waste, or choosing low-impact foods restore a sense of agency.
🌍 Join citizen science — use apps to identify plants or birds; contributing to research builds empowerment.
🌍 Engage your community — connect with others who care; action feels easier together.
🌍 Contact your elected representatives — turning worry into advocacy can provide purpose and relief.
🌍 Balance engagement with rest — you don’t have to solve everything. Protect your energy.
🌍 Stay hopeful — progress exists, change is happening, and your efforts matter.

🌱 Climate anxiety isn’t a weakness — it’s a sign your heart is awake. Take care of yourself so you can keep caring for the planet. 🌱

If you want to learn more about ways to manage climate anxiety, here are some helpful articles:
📚 UBC Alumni — 3 Calming Ways to Work Through Your Climate Worries:
https://magazine.alumni.ubc.ca/2024/environment-life/3-calming-ways-work-through-your-climate-worries
📚 Greenpeace Canada — Advice From a Climate Activist: How to Manage Eco-Anxiety:
https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/story/49789/advice-from-a-climate-activist-how-to-manage-eco-anxiety
📚 Psychology Today — 5 Things That Can Alleviate Your Eco-Anxiety:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/healthy-minds/202204/5-things-that-can-alleviate-your-eco-anxiety
📚 University of Colorado — Climate Anxiety:
https://www.colorado.edu/health/blog/climate-anxiety
📚 Harvard Health — Is Climate Change Keeping You Up at Night?
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-climate-change-keeping-you-up-at-night-you-may-have-climate-anxiety-202206132761
📚 Climate Institute — Climate Anxiety Overview:
https://climateinstitute.ca/climate-anxiety/

11/11/2025

10/27/2025

A recent study explored how a therapy called Internal Family Systems (IFS) can help adults who have PTSD caused by multiple childhood traumas. Seventeen people took part and received 16 weekly IFS sessions.

After treatment, most participants had much fewer PTSD and depression symptoms, felt less shame and emotional pain, and were better able to handle their emotions. About 90% no longer met the criteria for PTSD one month after finishing therapy.

IFS therapy is based on the idea that our mind has many “parts” — like inner voices or emotional sides.
Some parts carry painful memories and feelings from the past, while others try to protect us from that pain (for example, by avoiding, numbing, or being angry). Beneath all these parts, everyone has a core Self — calm, caring, curious, and wise.

The goal of IFS is to help people connect with this Self, so they can approach their inner parts with kindness and understanding instead of fear or judgment. In therapy, clients learn to notice their emotions and body sensations, understand what each part needs, and begin to heal the parts that were hurt by trauma.

Advantages of IFS therapy include:
🌿It’s gentle and doesn’t require re-living traumatic memories.
🌿It builds self-compassion and reduces shame and guilt.
🌿It helps people understand and care for all parts of themselves instead of fighting them.
🌿It strengthens emotional balance and inner peace.
🌿It works well for complex childhood trauma and can be combined with other treatments.

Although this was a small, early study without a comparison group, the results were very encouraging. The researchers believe IFS could be a promising, compassionate, and effective way to help people heal from deep emotional wounds caused by childhood trauma. As an experienced IFS therapist who has witnessed the tremendous benefits for clients, Lesley Hartman agrees.

🔗 Read the full article here:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10926771.2021.2013375?fbclid=IwZnRzaANlsRJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHsz9WI64E8ZhiV1k8X9cJvpL7fy7RGoFQOTk-OIsxYKZ4wfIU0QEz4PDMWJX_aem_HhUAIN0VHovn0N6Eun-3gw