Women’s Climate Group
Accepting Members for 2025 Cohort
Starting March 6, 2025
8 Thursday evening meetings online on Zoom
Open to California residents
Do you feel overwhelmed about the climate crisis and environmental loss? Stuck on where to start?
Do you feel denial, grief, anxiety, rage, hopelessness, existential dread, fear, paralysis?
Feelings that sometimes make it hard to think clearly, breathe, dream about the future, enjoy being in nature and daily life?
Do you wish you had a space + community for these feelings?
A space to channel your feelings and forge connections with a community of people who *get it*?
The Women’s Climate Group is an online therapeutic group for female-identified* folks who are ready to turn toward feelings about the climate crisis and state of the world and find emotional resilience.
In the group we will practice ways to cope with the despair, anger, and anxiety that arise from environmental loss and the metacrisis*, stay engaged in solutions, and avoid burnout.
*Female-identified includes those assigned female at birth as well as those who identify as femme (non-binary) and trans-femme
*”Metacrisis” refers to the interconnected crises of our time: environmental crisis, rising authoritarianism, socioeconomic disparities, global financial instability, existential biological risks, technology
This group is for people who:
Live anywhere in the state of California. Facilitators are licensed clinicians and can only serve CA residents.
Care about our planet and feel the urgency of the climate crisis and the loss of the natural world deeply.
Feel alone sometimes in your grief, fear, and anxiety about climate change and metacrisis.
Have felt judged as a downer or buzzkill when you bring it up.
Don’t know where to start with “climate action.”
Feel burnout, hopeless, disconnected in your ecological/climate activism or work, or concerned about burning out.
We welcome women confronting climate change directly in their work and daily lives (e.g. climate activists, scientists, researchers, policy advocates, educators, health care providers, educators, business leaders, concerned mothers, aunts, grandmothers) but you do not have to be in one of these roles to participate in the group. This crisis touches everyone, regardless of history, field, or prior experience.
Over 8 weeks, we will come together through…
Reflection
Storytelling
Grief Ritual
Mindfulness and meditation
“Parts” work
We will guide you in:
Sharing and honoring your climate feelings
Practices to calm climate anxiety and fear and cultivate self awareness
Exploring parts of you that block you from climate action
Helping you find a sense of purpose and connect to who you wish to be in the midst of this unfolding crisis
Exploring “pleasure activism”; finding replenishing activities for pleasure and enjoyment of nature and life
Participants can expect to:
Get real about how you feel and receive support from group members and licensed therapists
Offer active listening and thoughtful reflections to other members
Note: This is not a therapy group, though the content is informed by therapy frameworks and practices. This is a wonderful complement to individual and/or group therapy.
About your Guides
Joanna Calabrese (she/her) is a licensed marriage and family therapist who has worked in the climate and sustainability space on Capitol Hill, in universities, and for grassroots nonprofits. She is a Climate-Aware Therapist with the Climate Psychology Alliance and has led grief rituals, support groups, and “Climate Cafes” for communities online and across California. She created this group for her inner-burnout activist- because she needs it too! She is dedicated to supporting fellow women in finding connection, relief, and renewed hope and energy for action. In designing this group, she draws from her formal education and training in somatic/trauma-informed therapy and eco-therapy, and lived experience participating in women’s groups, rites of passage work, and climate-activism.
Emily Fasten (she/her) is a licensed marriage and family therapist based in San Francisco. Drawing from her training in integral psychology, gestalt therapy, existential-humanism, yoga philosophy and
practice, and attachment theory, Emily has a relational, compassionate, pragmatic approach to
personal growth. She supports people to channel their inner work of self-responsibility, authenticity, difference, and freedom toward collectively confronting the most wicked challenges of our time, including the climate crisis. Along with a master’s degree from the California Institute of Integral Studies and nearly 15 years of clinical experience working with individuals and groups, Emily has completed CIIS’ Climate Psychology Certificate and is a member/volunteer with the Climate Psychology Alliance.
Joanna and Emily believe that you have to “feel it to heal it” when it comes to personal and planetary pain. And that healing is best done in community.
Therapy and therapeutic groups are a critical climate solution! Adapting our psyches to climate change is as important as adapting the land with stronger sea walls and power-grids. Psychological adaption and resilience is needed to steward our human energy and creative capacities NOW when they are most needed.
This group is inspired by:
Therapeutic orientations: gestalt, expressive arts therapy, eco therapy, narrative therapy, existential-humanism, attachment theory
Good Grief Network’s 10 Step Program
Work that Reconnects (Joanna Macy)
Sacred Work of Grief (Francis Weller)
Polyvagal theory (Steven Porges)
Pleasure Activism (adrienne maree brown)
Recommended Resources for Group Members
Book: All We Can Save
Podcast Series: We Are The Great Turning
Podcast Episode: Hidden Brain: When’s Its All Too Much
Podcast Series: Facing It
Epic comprehensive list of articles, books, videos, etc by the Good Grief Network
Testimonials from past participants (2024 group)
“Joanna & Emily model what it is to be real with the enormous weight that comes with this moment in our world. The care and skill woven through the facilitation of the group brought our cohort together and created magic for exploring my climate grief, and my relationship to death, hope, pleasure, and nature.” - D.P.
“I felt held and supported in learning alongside a group of women I admired. There was a high level of trust and closeness fostered with others grappling with difference, justice, and finding courage to persist in our own forms of climate action. Highly recommended!.” - K.Y.
FAQs
How much does the group cost?
$500.00 USD
Payment plan options are avaiable, as are limited sliding scale spots. Email joannacalabresetherapy@gmail.com.
HSA/FSA funds can be used to pay for this group. Many group member's workplaces have considered this professional development and have reimbursed for it.
How do I sign up?
Fill out the form below at the bottom of the page. The first step is a 20-30 min call to make sure it’s the right fit and answer any questions you have.
How many members will be in the group?
6-10 members
Is this a therapy group?
No, this is not a therapy group. Joanna and Emily will be teaching and facilitating therapeutic practices and activities, yet will not be serving your personal or group therapist. This is not a replacement for individual or group therapy. We're happy to make referrals for climate-aware therapists.
Will the group be closed or open?
This is a closed group. No members will be added after the start date.
How long will the group run?
8 consecutive weeks starting March 6, 2025 with one week off in the middle.
When and how will the group meet?
8 meetings total on Thursday evenings online on Zoom from 5:30pm-7pm (90 min) starting March 6 2025, running through May 1, 2025.
What if I can’t make all of the meetings?
We ask that during the course of the group you treat it like you would a family or work commitment, - as a high priority. Each week builds on the previous one, as the group becomes deeper and more cohesive over time. You are expected to pay for all meetings even if you need to miss any of them. If you know you will need to miss more than 2 out of the 8 meetings, it may be best to wait to join the next round of the group.