With so many climate issues occurring throughout the planet, individuals are experiencing a new type of loss and suffering. Individuals may be affected directly by climate change or indirectly. Those who lose homes, or crops, or life styles due to climate change experience a far more direct experience, while those who simply mourn the symbolical loss and potential effects suffer more indirectly. As members of the planet, the loss is painful to all. This type of grief has been labeled as Ecological Grief. Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification
The article, “What’s the Difference Between Eco-Anxiety and Ecological Grief?” by Markham Heid looks closer at the anxiety and grief tied together in climate change. He states,
“Ecological grief is a relatively new term for a form of climate-related loss and mourning that researchers are just beginning to study. However, some research has already attempted to map out this term and its related causes and psychological experiences. The perspective article published last year in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health defined ecological grief as the “grief felt in relation to experienced or anticipated ecological losses, including the loss of species, ecosystems and meaningful landscapes due to acute or chronic environmental change.”
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Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in grief counseling.