Family therapy in climate breakdown: systemic responses to climate distress

Rana Kökçinar’s presentation “Family Therapy in Climate Breakdown: Systemic Responses to Climate Distress”, presented at the 2025 Australian Association of Family Therapy Conference, explores how family therapy can address emotional and relational distress arising from ecological collapse and climate change. Rather than viewing climate-related distress through an individual symptom lens, the talk positions it as a complex, systemic phenomenon that emerges in and through family interactions, values, conflicts and shared meaning-making.

Drawing on systemic theory and practice, the session used a case-based approach to show how family therapists can conceptualise and respond to climate distress by attending to patterns of communication, intergenerational differences in climate engagement, and the broader sociopolitical contexts that shape emotional responses. Practitioners were invited to reflect on their own roles and assumptions, consider when and how climate distress appears in clinical work, and explore relational strategies that support connection, agency and ethical engagement rather than narrow symptom management.

Full reference:

Kökçinar, R. R. (2025). Family therapy in climate breakdown: systemic responses to climate distress. Australian Association of Family Therapy Conference: Healing and Reconnecting, Naarm, Melbourne, Australia.