North-Central Alberta (Westlock, Athabasca, and Beyond)
WELCOME!
<-- mE (FAR left) ... with my family at THE leopold shack
One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise.”
- Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949
My parents were ecologists - my dad of eminence and my mum with artist eyes. They raised me amid academia and wild things and a deep sense of belonging to the natural world. I inhaled the interaction between plants and animals and the place they call home. My community. Our living planet. The balance of nature, my parents explained.
But the balance was in trouble, I sensed even then.
As the years passed, those troubles grew. I pondered solutions, studied ecology, worked in the field, and grew disillusioned. Then, I dug deeper. Rigorous pursuits. Growing concerns. Added education and scientific research ... until, in time, I became a women's mental health therapist. "Women's therapy's a long way from wildlife ecology," an old friend once mused. But I'd dug through the layers and I'd found gold!
That gold was women. Women's wellbeing! I'd come to grasp women's wellbeing as foundational to Earth's recovery. Only when women live satisfying, connected, resilient, and empowered lives can we collectively and effectively heal this planet that sustains us.
CLIMATE CHANGE
= human-caused global warming and associated mass extinctions plus other ecological disasters
Today, I am a women's counselling therapist, specializing in trauma and working (mostly) with rural women. Rural women - a culture with unique experiences, perspectives, values and connection to the Land. As a rural woman myself, I cherish my life in Alberta's countryside. But, daily now, I witness climate impacts and ecological damage that pierce my heart.. Here, at ground zero, it's up close and personal.
So, yes, I know the anguish of climate change. The uncertainty, frustration, and anger. The horror, terror, and despair. And sadness and grief and depression and anxiety. Accordingly, I'm reaching out to like-minded others.
And I can tell you first-hand that healthy connection helps!
MY OFFERING
As a concerned citizen and established trauma (and addictions) therapist, I'm now offering the healthy connection and appropriate therapy needed to navigate the trauma of the climate crisis. I'm providing the support required to openly express concerns, locate resources, explore issues, heal wounds, and find the right path. And always, too, I am helping clients learn how to calm both their body and mind.
That is, I am offering climate-trauma therapy that helps frayed nervous systems - body-based (somatic) therapy. Body-based therapy for body-based trauma - appropriate support! It asks not what's wrong with you but what happened to you and listens to your body's knowing as well as your words. It is science-based and informative, gentle, and effective.
In fact, it's how I help protect our living planet today - one nervous system at a time. Because body-based therapy regulates our nervous system and heals our wounds (not just symptoms), it fosters lifelong change. Important! It also promotes wellbeing, healthy relationships, and resilience - and, therefore, a satisfied, connected, empowered, and resilient life.
Critical, too, is a body-based lifestyle. Body-based living allows us to experience life as it's meant to be experienced - from an inner world of ease, calm, and self-awareness. Our nervous system is regulated; our personality patterns balanced; our energy contained; and our brain online. We think clearly, choose thoughtfully, decide intentionally, and act deliberately. We are awake, aware, and engaged. We are "conscious!" Mind - Body- - Sprit - Community.
CONSCIOUS LIVING!
To be conscious is to be all that we are. We "live in the present, learn from the past, and live to create the best future possible." We flourish! Indeed, conscious living is the secret to fully living our one and only life and the key to collectively and effectively defending our one and only planet.
I practice conscious living. You can too! Our healthy planet requires our healthy selves.
A BIT ABOUT CLIMATE tRAUMA
WHAT IS OUR "NERVOUS SYSTEM?"
HOW DOES OUR NERVOUS SYSTEM RESPOND TO DANGER?
WHAT IS "TRAUMA?"
WHAT IS "CLIMATE TRAUMA?"
It is no wonder anxiety, depression, and despair are on the upswing - even denial (the "fawn" of the Fight-Flight-Freeze-Fawn survival response)! No wonder challenges associated with emotional stress are on the rise. E.g.relationship struggles, communication problems, domestic violence, substance abuse, decision-making challenges, and life transitions.
No, it's not weird.
In fact, it's anything but weird: it's the understood impact of trauma on our nervous system. It's our body's natural response to the overwhelming and uncontrollable event called climate change.
PHOTO ABOVE
Me (far left) with my family at the now-celebrated "Shack" on Aldo Leopold's farm
* Photo credit - my dad Lloyd Keith