Understanding the current climate science and experiencing the years of possible meaningful political action pass us by, PSC is hosting a special event run by Geoff Berry that explores how we live into and make sense of ecological collapse. This webinar will explore:

How do we respond when we are finally forced to accept that environmental and political activism are not going to turn the tipping points or exponential curve around?
What helps us to retain a loving participation in everyday life when we fully realise the inevitability of ecosystem breakdown and imminent societal collapse?

From denial to doubt, collapse awareness to acceptance, some responses remain the same, no matter where we stand on the range of belief: psychological, emotional and spiritual responses to the climate emergency all look pretty similar along the scale of lost hope.

Geoff will outline how ecotherapy offers simple yet profound exercises designed to support participants to retain - and even deepen - their love of life, in a time of profound loss. Geoff teaches that it is never too late to fall back in love with the earth, especially when this sense of separation from nature is at the heart of our dilemma. The presentation will cover several types of response to collapse acceptance, from the 'active hope' of Joanna Macy to the community gardens style approach, rewilding to ritual, working with animals and other people, and the classic themes of depth psychology, such as your dreams, the symbols that are meaningful to you, and the myths you are intuitively drawn to.

Please take care of yourself when attending this presentation

How you respond to climate impact responses bears thinking about before you attend:

It is important to be kind to yourself, and to be in as calm and grounded a state as one can be.
Ideally, attend (or watch a recording) with a trusted companion or a group of colleagues.
However, Geoff promises this will be a heart-warming, soul-satisfying, spiritually nourishing response to what can only be faced at the level of the tragic.

Location and timezone

The event will be hosted online

All PSC event times are in an AEST/ADST timezone (Melbourne/Sydney/South East Australia)

Ticket price and PSC Member priority

This is a special event offered for free to PSC Members

Members: use your PSC member code to access your ticket - email us if you do not have your code.

Non-members: If you wish to participate and are not a PSC member, you can join PSC here, or you can choose to pay $25 to register if places are available. Registrations are limited and PSC members will receive priority.

Presenter Bio

Dr Geoff Berry is the Australian representative to the International Ecopsychology Society and teaches Ecopsychotherapy at the Ikon Institute, where he is also an Academic Course Coordinator. Geoff was awarded his PhD (Monash University 2010) for a thesis that explored the human relationship with nature, as told through light as a vehicle of consciousness. He also completed an MA (Deakin University 2005) about how our dreams link us to powerful mythic patterns and symbols. Geoff has been integrating his scholarly interest in ancestral wisdom and healing traditions with practice, both in academic positions and as a Trauma Informed Carer trainer, for over a decade. Geoff is an editor of PAN: Philosophy Activism Nature, has served as Chairperson of the Melbourne Zen Group (2005-2008), and more recently as the inaugural CEO of the South Coast NSW Aboriginal Elders group (2019-2020). He regularly presents and publishes on ecotherapy, myth, animism, dreams and symbology and his Advanced Ecotherapy Training Course can be found at this website, www.naturecalling.org