We are a diverse community of therapeutic practitioners, thinkers, researchers, artists and others who believe that attending to the psychology and emotions of the climate and ecological crisis is at the heart of our work.
The Climate Psychology Alliance came into being during 2009-12 with Adrian Tait and Paul Hoggett as co-founding Secretary and Chair and through the hard work of the whole group of founding members. The CPA has grown considerably since its formation, becoming broader, more interdisciplinary and international in its membership and opening up dialogues in multiple directions.
We welcome anyone and everyone to our membership who wants to engage in addressing the psychological aspects of the climate and ecological crisis. Whoever and wherever we are today, we are affected by it.
While individual members contribute in a range of ways, much of our core work is done through groups focusing on particular aspects or themes. On this page you will find a brief introduction to some of our groups.
CPA Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is the working group of CPA elected by its members to take care of coordination and our democracy and regulation. Within the Board of Directors, the Co-ordinating group is delegated to take care of the day to day organising. This was first known as the "Cœur" group meaning "heart" warming our focus on care, pacing and courage. The Board also delegates some financial responsibilities to the Finance Group. Our board members work across a range of different areas, including as psychotherapists, psychosocial researchers, activists, art therapists and artists.
Therapeutic Support Group
The Therapeutic Support Group offers support to people who are affected by the ecological, biodiversity and climate crises. Over 95% of the group are counsellors or therapists, along with experienced coaches, psychosocial practitioners and retired psychotherapists, all happy to offer up to three free support sessions to those affected by the crisis. Find out more here.
Explorations Group
The Explorations Group is the editorial team behind the bi-annual E-journal "Explorations in Climate Psychology”, which explores current and emerging themes and perspectives in the field. The Journal reflects the rich diversity of expertise and professional contexts of CPA members and their allies by way of its publication of their experiences, reflections, provocations, art, poetry and practice. We put out a call for themed submissions twice per year.
Our current issues can be accessed here. For any questions or comments please
The Group for Black, Indigenous & People of Colour
The CPA group for members who are black, indigenous and people of colour has meetings over Zoom on the second Wednesday of each month from 6.30pm. New and existing members are very welcome to join. CPA members can join our group here. To join CPA, find out more here .
The group is primarily an affinity group for people of colour within the organisation to come together and support one another. They also have a lot of energy and many ideas for the work they would like to do as a group and are making links between their diverse areas of interest. The group is at the early stages of planning some outreach and in-reach projects.
Youth Team
CPA’s Youth Team was formed through a shared passion to support young people with the difficult feelings that arise from facing the climate and ecological crisis.
Having hosted climate cafés for young people aged 18 - 25 and worked on projects with The Resilience Project and UK Schools Sustainability Network, the group’s focus has now been on developing a variety of workshops and support circles for younger people; holding supportive spaces for parents and carers (who are struggling with their personal feelings as well as those associated with the responsibility of raising children in these uncertain times); and continuing to develop and curate resources for use by young people, parents, carers and educators.
Decolonising Ourselves Group
A small group of those racialised white in CPA are meeting and working to explore racialisation and decolonisation in the organisation. The group has held a series of reflective spaces to learn about racism and how it works through us, and to develop awareness and action to dismantle systems of white supremacy within and between us.
Members are gathering and sharing resources they have found helpful, offering reflections such as this, and in collaboration with the Group for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour and the Board of Directors, the intention is to organise workshops open to the whole CPA membership, with external facilitators to deepen our engagement with these challenges.
Place-based Groups
A number of groups have emerged within CPA based on geographical location. See our Regions page for more information.
Inquiry Group
This group oversees the Handbook of Climate Psychology, the members’ Thinking Space events, our Climate Psychology Wikipedia page and the Climate Psychology Literature Repository.
Earth Systems Group
The Wholeness and Patterns in the Earth System Group is a discussion group that began as a response to the interrelatedness and complexities between economics, politics, and colonialism from which racial violence, ecological destruction and other forms of violence have emerged.
A free-floating membership and agenda-free format brings theories and practices from science to art to spirit into regular meetings, where heart, mind and body can be shared. The group recognises that we are both individual and at the same time connected in the dynamic complex of all there is and asks, “can we learn to practice uncertainty and follow wholeness as best we can?”