Support groups for people anxious about climate change are on the rise. Do they help?

Idaho Matters

Farmer Melissa Gilbert (left) and therapist Caitlyn Wallace lead climate cafes in Reno, Nev., where people can share their feelings about the effects of human-caused climate change.(Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau )

It’s a Saturday morning on a small urban farm tucked into a residential neighborhood in Reno, Nev., and Melissa Gilbert, holding a dark gray meditation bowl, is standing in front of a small group of people.

She taps the bowl with a small rod, sending a soft ringing sound into the air.

“Let the bells bring your attention back to your breath, back to your body, and let's enjoy the vegetables that are planted in the ground,” Gilbert says with an encouraging smile.

She leads the small group on a meditation walk through a section of the Reno Food Systems farm. They crunch along a gravel path past rows of carrots, kale, garlic, and even chickens, who add to the ambience with incessant clucking.

“Bring your attention to your feet on the earth,” Gilbert says as she rings the bowl once more. “Your connection – the earth supporting you.”

This is the start of the third climate cafe Gilbert has helped host along with group leader Caitlyn Wallace, a certified therapist based in Reno. Wallace was trained by the Climate Psychology Alliance North America, a nonprofit that teaches therapists how to run climate cafes.

“The need in my practice came from working with new moms, who are feeling a lot of guilt around bringing kids into the world,” Wallace says. “This was specifically during wildfires, and smoke seasons.”

Her goal is to provide a safe space for all people – not just mothers – to share their feelings about the effects of human-caused climate change, such as extreme heat waves and intensifying wildfire seasons.

That’s what brought Jaline Castell to this free climate cafe.

“The Caldor Fire impacted me a lot,” Castell says, her voice catching and eyes welling up with tears.

Firefighters battle flames approaching a major highway during the 2021 Caldor Fire, which scorched over 200,000 acres south of Lake Tahoe in California. (Kara Capaldo / Adobe Stock)

That fire in 2021 scorched over 200,000 acres south of Reno and Lake Tahoe. The blaze forced thousands to evacuate, and blanketed the region in wildfire smoke for weeks.

“Being in it is so different,” Castell says. “To be in the smoke for that amount of time, and to look straight at the sun without having the glow of it.”

Castell was one of four participants in this climate cafe in Reno.

Another was Nikki Raffail, who says climate change has caused her to wrestle with big questions like “do I want to bring a child into this world?”

Raffail has put her energy into babysitting and connecting to nature by growing a garden on her patio.

“When everything else is spiraling out of control, and you feel like the world is on fire and you can’t do anything about it, it's really nice to just go outside and tend to your little sunflower,” Raffail says with a smile. “So, that’s been nice because I have been riddled with anger.”

Sherry Lugone, a retired school teacher, says that was her reaction to the climate crisis for many years. Now, she works on reducing her carbon footprint.

“I use cloth napkins and I try not to drive unless I need to,” Lugone says. “And I try to eat an environmentally conscious diet.”

Climate cafe participants are not required to translate their feelings into actions. But that naturally happens, says Barbara Easterlin, co-president of the Climate Psychology Alliance North America.

She says people may leave climate cafes feeling empowered, “and some sense of like, ‘Oh, I'm actually doing something here and I can actually be an example to other people.’ ”

Easterlin, who lives in western Wyoming, says the alliance is creating a program to research how often climate cafes lead to people taking action. In addition, the nonprofit plans to bring these support groups to marginalized communities, which often face the brunt of climate change.

“We’re seeing more of that feeling of feeling betrayed, by the government or the global system, the capitalist system,” Easterlin says.

Climate cafes are being held at the Reno Food Systems Farm, where participants take mindful walks and discuss their anxiety and fears about the climate crisis.(Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau)

Back in Reno, the mood at this climate cafe has shifted from somber to hopeful. Attendees share warm smiles and laughter as they end their time together.

Therapist Caitlyn Wallace says that shows why support groups for people dealing with climate anxiety are more important than ever.

“It’s going to be us that saves ourselves, at the end of the day,” Wallace says. “We’re going to show up and feed each other and help each other and take care of each other when the larger systems around us are no longer able to because they're defending corporations.”

Wallace and Gilbert are leading their next climate cafe at 9 a.m. on Aug. 18 at the Reno Food Systems farm. Participation is free.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.