Ask a Climate Therapist: Is it still ‘catastrophizing’ if the threat is real?
The article discusses how to manage climate anxiety in a world facing real environmental threats. It emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between healthy threat awareness and unproductive rumination. The author suggests developing new skills to stay grounded and channel distress into meaningful action.
- ▪Climate anxiety can be a healthy response to real destruction and inadequate efforts to address it.
- ▪The cognitive goal should shift from assessing how bad the situation is to understanding what actions can be taken.
- ▪Therapeutic tools can help individuals stay present with climate realities without becoming overwhelmed.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Leslie Davenport Licensed therapist Published May 29, 2026 Topic Climate + Culture Share/Republish Copy Link Republish Copy Link Email SMS X Facebook Republish Reddit LinkedIn Bluesky Dear Leslie, A lot of my work in therapy for anxiety has focused on recognizing catastrophic thinking and assessing what is more realistic. How would you suggest adapting this for a world where reality itself is increasingly becoming more catastrophic, and science suggests things will get worse in the future? — Anonymously Anxious Submit a question for a future Ask a Climate Therapist column Dear Anonymously Anxious, Your question points to something I’ve had to reckon with in my own practice as a therapist.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Grist.
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