Climate Café by CPA-NA

Do you have some feelings about climate change? Worry, fear, anger, sadness, and hope are just a few of the emotions that many people feel when confronted with our current climate crisis. Research shows that while most people feel alone with their feelings, the majority of people are concerned about climate change. You are not alone. Talking about these feelings in groups can help make them bearable.

This event is held by the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America. 

Please email Cassie Whiteside with event questions! cassiewhiteside@climatepsychology.us

Climate Café Hosts:

Merritt Juliano is an integrative women’s psychotherapist and founder of Regenerative Psychotherapy & Wellness in Westport, CT where she specializes in perinatal mental health, ecotherapy and climate-inclusive therapy. Merritt’s work in maternal mental health led her to see the parallels between how we treat women, and our treatment of our ultimate caregiver, Mother Earth. As a mother herself, she became increasingly concerned about the climate and planetary crisis. Bridging the planetary crisis with psychology, Merritt served as a founding co-president of the Climate Psychology Alliance North America (CPA-NA) for several years, was appointed as a member of the 2021-2022 American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Climate Change, and currently serves as the CPA-NA Connecticut regional coordinator.  Merritt presents workshops on attachment and climate psychology, facilitates Climate Cafes and other climate grief groups for others to explore thoughts, feelings and experiences related to our planetary health crisis, and teaches classes on the psychological aspects of the planetary health crisis.  Merritt is also the founder of Chrysalis Collective for nature-based women’s wellness and an online community for women to navigate the planetary health crisis within the context of the Earth’s natural rhythms. In her free time, Merritt enjoys writing nature-based poetry and practicing the Japanese art of kintsugi. 

Elizabeth Bechard is Senior Policy Analyst for Moms Clean Air Force and leads the organization's work on climate change and mental health. She is author of Parenting in a Changing Climate: Tools for Cultivating Resilience, Taking Action, and Practicing Hope in the Face of Climate Change. Elizabeth also holds a Master's of Science in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where her thesis research focused on climate change and parents' mental health. Before coming to Moms Clean Air Force, Elizabeth worked as an integrative health coach and research coordinator at Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. She now lives in Vermont with her husband, 8-year-old twins, and two beloved cats.

NOTE

This Climate Cafe is not a therapy group and does not offer clinical service, supervision, or professional consultation. This Climate Cafe is a facilitated supportive conversation for individual reflections about the climate crisis. 

By registering here you are acknowledging that the CPA-NA Climate Cafe is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. Instead, all information, content, and materials connected to the Climate Cafe are for personal reflective purposes only.  Information shared in the Climate Cafes is offered by both participants and facilitators and is not intended to provide up-to-date legal, scientific, or other information. Climate Cafes cannot guarantee confidentiality but facilitators do suggest that the conversations within the Climate Cafe are personal and private. 

The follow-up materials Climate Cafe participants receive contain links to other third-party websites, as well as information about groups and activities offered by the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America (CPA-NA).  Such links and listings are only for the convenience of the Climate Cafe participants.  CPA-NA facilitators do not recommend or endorse the contents of the third-party sites or of the specific groups or activities listed.

The facilitators of the Climate Cafe reserve the right to remove any participant of the Climate Cafe who is impacting the group’s ability to meet for its stated intent.  

Please note:  Don‘t be late to your Climate Cafe! 

Climate Cafe waiting rooms are open 10 minutes before the start time.  

All CPA-NA Climate Cafe Facilitators stop admitting participants at 5 minutes after the start time of the Climate Cafe.  This allows participants the full time for their Climate Cafe experience, minimizes disruptions during the 90 minute group, and sets up a safe space that helps a deeper conversation unfold.  By registering for this Climate Cafe you are acknowledging understanding of the start time for the group, and the understanding that participants will not be admitted to the Climate Cafe once it has been underway for 5 minutes or longer. 

Participants who register for the Climate Cafe and join after the room doors close will not be offered a refund for their registration fee. 

After purchasing a ticket, you will be sent a link to join the Climate Cafe that you have registered to attend.