In summary:
- Climate distress is rising. APS research shows 94% of psychologists are worried about future mental health impacts.
- Psychologists play a central role in shifting the national focus from crisis response to proactive resilience-building through early intervention and psychological preparedness.
- Embedding climate literacy helps psychologists across disciplines understand how environmental issues intersect with wellbeing, behaviour and social cohesion.
- APS resources support practice – including the How to talk to children about climate change toolkit, Disaster Response Network (DRN), and the trauma-informed practice activity. course.
- Psychological preparedness is as vital as physical readiness – research shows that anticipating emotional reactions and planning coping strategies improves adaptive response during disasters.
- Practical actions for psychologists include fostering preparedness conversations, promoting community connectedness, supporting vulnerable groups, and integrating trauma-informed approaches.
As Australia gears up for a likely warm and dry summer season, APS's CEO, Dr Zena Burgess, shares her advice on how psychologists can support clients experiencing climate anxiety.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is predicting the upcoming summer period in Australia to be warmer than usual, warning of an increased likelihood of extreme heat.
While the BoM is yet to publish its official bushfire outlook for 2025-26 (which is set to be released later this month), it is predicting dry conditions which could potentially lead to an increased bushfire risk.
Much public discussion focuses on the physical and economic risks of events such as bushfires, however, the psychological dimension of climate-related disasters is just as significant.
Research from Orygen found that, in 2023, more than 3 in 4 young Australians were concerned about climate change, with two-thirds saying this was having a negative impact on their mental health.
Our own 2024 research found that 94% of APS members were concerned about future mental health implications on Australians due to climate change, and 40% predicted that climate change and natural disasters-related mental health issues would increase within the community over the next three years.
Findings and insights like these suggest that Australia needs to embrace a proactive, preventive approach that addresses both individual wellbeing and community preparedness. This is where psychologists play a central role, ensuring that, as a nation, we move away from crisis response and towards resilience-building.
Embedding climate literacy
Climate distress is not a recognised diagnosis. It’s an understandable response to genuine environmental threats and concerns.
The challenge for psychologists lies in helping clients to channel climate distress into helpful actions.
A useful first step can be to normalise the experience. Clients often fear their anxiety is excessive or irrational. Reassuring them that these feelings are valid can reduce shame and isolation. Reframing clients' fear and anxiety and exploring adaptive behaviours can open the door to a sense of agency and resilience.
Psychologists can strengthen their impact by developing climate literacy to inform their practice.
For psychologists who work in schools, this might mean helping teachers to integrate age-appropriate conversations about climate change into wellbeing programs.
The free APS resource, How to talk to children about climate change, offers practical, evidence-based strategies for parents and educators. It encourages adults to listen first, validate emotions and empower children with problem-solving tools rather than overwhelming them with information.
Climate literacy can extend to helping workplaces prepare for climate-related disruptions and supporting employee wellbeing during crises. Business continuity planning increasingly involves psychological safety – ensuring employees feel supported, informed and able to contribute meaningfully during uncertain times.
Climate literacy might also involve recognising how environmental stressors can exacerbate existing conditions such as anxiety, depression and trauma, and incorporating these insights into assessment and treatment planning.
Developing climate literacy is an important step in positioning psychology as central to Australia’s climate response. By embedding this understanding in everyday practice, psychologists can help ensure that when climate-related distress surfaces – in classrooms, clinics or workplaces – our communities are equipped not only to cope, but to adapt and recover.
Building community resilience before disasters strike
The frequency and intensity of climate-related events in Australia has made psychological preparedness as important as physical readiness.
The APS’s Disaster Response Network (DRN) exemplifies how psychology can contribute before, during and after disasters. Comprised of volunteer psychologists trained in disaster response, the DRN supports frontline and emergency workers and volunteers to prepare for, respond to, and recover from these events.
Just as psychological support is critical following a disaster, psychological preparedness in anticipation of future disasters is also important.
Research has shown that individuals who receive psychological-preparedness guidance – including awareness of likely emotional responses, recognising anxieties and planning coping strategies – were better able to anticipate and manage their own and others’ reactions during high-risk periods.
The research also highlighted that many residents carried vulnerabilities (e.g. prior trauma, chronic anxiety, avoidant coping style) that hindered both psychological and physical preparedness, underscoring that in addition to having stores of food, water and batteries (for example), resilience is also about being mentally ready to respond adaptively.
Working with children and young people
Children can be among the most vocal and vulnerable when it comes to climate distress.
Open-ended questions and reflective listening can be helpful to support children to process information, maintain a sense of agency, and strengthen their trust in adults’ capacity to respond. For example:
“What worries you most about the environment?”
“What are some things people are already doing to help?”
“What could we do together to make a difference?”
See APS resource How to talk to children about climate change for a useful downloadable worksheet for young children, designed to help them feel more in control of their role in helping the planet.
For teenagers, psychologists can support identity formation around environmental values.
Managing distress among adults
For adults, climate anxiety can present in subtle forms, such as irritability, grief, insomnia or guilt about one’s carbon footprint, to name just a few examples.
Psychologists can help clients identify which coping mechanisms are adaptive (such as community involvement) and which are avoidant (such as denial or withdrawal).
Cognitive and behavioural strategies are particularly useful. For example, clients could be encouraged to:
- Set realistic boundaries around social media consumption to prevent overwhelm.
- Engage in restorative action – for example, volunteering for environmental restoration programs, or advocating for sustainability policies.
- Use techniques such as mindfulness to regulate physiological arousal and reconnect with the present moment.
For some, climate distress may intersect with existential questions about meaning and legacy. Psychologists can facilitate values-based conversations that reconnect clients with purpose – an essential buffer against helplessness.
A collective mission
Climate resilience is not just a clinical issue but a professional and societal one. It calls for collective efficacy – a belief in our shared capacity to adapt and respond.
As psychologists, our impact can include advocacy, education, leadership and modelling psychological flexibility in the face of uncertainty.
As Australia enters another bushfire season, psychologists can take practical steps now, such as:
- Joining the DRN – Training that leads to membership of the APS Disaster Response Network is free for all fully registered psychologists who are members of the APS.
Becoming a DRN psychologist provides opportunities to engage in meaningful volunteer work by supporting the frontline workers and volunteers who step up to help during disasters, emergencies and collective trauma events.
- Update referral pathways – Ensure you know your local emergency management contacts and community mental health supports and have this information available for clients who may be seeking additional support or information.
- Refresh principles of practice aligned with being trauma-informed and culturally responsive.
- Look after your own wellbeing – Self-care and peer consultation are critical for sustaining this work.
APS members can access a free self-care course here.
Climate change presents profound challenges, as well as opportunities for psychology to lead. By helping individuals transform anxiety into action, strengthening community preparedness and supporting those on the frontline, psychologists can be powerful catalysts for developing resilience.
Our profession has a crucial role in shaping Australia’s response to a warming world, with our work helping communities to remain connected and resilient amid ongoing change.