Climate change, fragmentation and collective trauma. Bridging the divided stories we live by*

ABSTRACT

This article explores psychological responses to climate change with the lenses of brain hemisphere imbalance, the fragmentation process of collective trauma and the Jungian maturation theory of two halves of life, which views suffering as a necessary component in the move towards a ripened culture. The perspective of climate trauma is widened to an inter-generational aspect. The article argues that the disowned and marginalised aspects of society need to be re-integrated, bridging cultural compartmentalisation and balancing the unequal representation of left and right hemisphere attributes. The writing itself aims to demonstrate this by weaving in and out of different paradigms.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate change
• collective trauma
• fragmentation
• brain hemisphere balance
• maturation
• climate trauma
• inter-generational trauma

This article is part of a series including:

Ecology, psychoanalysis and global warming: present and future traumas

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Steffi Bednarek

Steffi Bednarek has a background in Gestalt psychotherapy, climate psychology and somatic trauma therapy and writes widely on climate change and psychology. She has been Head of Counselling and Mental Health in higher education and has worked as an international consultant for several Government Ministries, the Council of Europe and the World Health Organization. She is a member and partner of the Climate Psychology Alliance and leads climate grief work and incubation spaces for mental health professionals.