Unmoored Yet Unbroken

Unmoored Yet Unbroken is less a final statement than a generative offering. It gathers voices from around the world—many early in their careers—who are working to articulate what it means to live and practice in an ecologically disoriented age. What emerges is a collective engagement with resilience, not as simple endurance, but as a relational process—a network of care that spans people, cultures, and ecologies, and leads to the deepening transformation of self. An important contribution to the ecopsychology literature.”

— PETER H. KAHN, Jr., Professor of Psychology and Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington; author of Technological Nature: Adaptation and the Future of Human Life

A rich tapestry of global narratives that highlights the psychological impact of environmental changes

Unmoored Yet Unbroken explores the intricate relationship between humans and the natural environment. With stories and observations from urban, suburban, rural, and wild environments, this book challenges ethnocentric perspectives and emphasizes our deep interdependence with the natural world. Protecting and stabilizing this relationship is vital for our mental health and essential in the broader fight against climate change.

This book uncovers the psychological challenges arising from our increasing disconnection from the natural world through a blend of diverse personal narratives, clinical insights, and cultural analysis. It addresses the urgent need to understand how environmental changes impact mental health in every community. By deepening our understanding of how climate change influences the human psyche, Unmoored Yet Unbroken offers an essential perspective for scholars, students, activists, and general readers.

• Explore the clinical implications of ecological change and how they differ globally

• Get a well-rounded perspective grounded in clinical evidence, personal stories, interviews, and survey results

• Understand how ecological changes impact marginalized communities in urban and rural settings

This book addresses gaps in existing literature and offers insights into the unique challenges marginalized groups face in environmental changes.

About the Contributors ix

About the Editors xiii

Foreword xv

Preface: Ethnographic Activism: Stories that Evoke Change xvii

Acknowledgments xxi

1 Introduction: Challenging the Inevitability of Climate Change 1

Susan Bodnar, PhD

2 Retracing Umunthu: The Interconnectedness of Home and the Natural World 15

Jean Kayira, PhD

Section 1 Attachment and Loss of Place 23

3 Nature as Caregiver: Our Attachment to Place 25

Linda Buzzell, MA, MFT

4 The Wind Sings: A Life Rooted in Nature and Reciprocity 29

Elizabeth M. Mattice

5 Sacred Land: Nature Connectedness and Identity in Iranian Diaspora 35

Sarina H. Alavi

6 Flames and Fears: The Impact of Wildfire on Children’s Mental Health 41

Amber Ray

7 Perspectives on the Changing Environment of South Florida 49

Maya Sikora

8 Resisting Binaries and a Changing Climate: Stories of Trans Ecology 55

Taylor Michl

9 The Fortress of the Gulf: From Sea Trade to Oil Wealth and Environmental Reckoning 65

Fatemah Alkhamis

10 It’s All One Song: The Interwoven Threads of Environment, Culture, and Community 77

Danny DeBonis

Section 2 Environmental Impacts and Emotions 81

11 Environmental Impacts and Emotions 83

Panu Pihkala, PhD

12 Disrupted Rhythms: Climate Change and Its Toll on Amazonian Lives 95

Paula Aljovin, MA and Luna Dannon, BA

13 Rising Tides, Burdened Minds: The Psychological Impact of Climate-induced Flooding in Pakistan 105

Ayesha Liaqat

14 Climate Change and Environmental Upheaval: Exploring Community Impacts and Resilience in the

Paraíba Valley 111

Katie Garcia

15 The Fifth Season in Nature: How Smog Redefines Lahore’s Winters and Community Life 119

Amna Maryam

16 At the Crossroads: Mental Health of Rural Men Facing Economic and Environmental Shifts in the

Catskills 127

Carrie Sutton, MA

Section 3 Environment and Mental Health 133

17 The Impact of the Climate Crisis on Mental Health: Journeys Between the Particular and the

Collective 135

Judith Anderson, MBChB, MA

18 Beyond Survival: Loss of Place Connection After Tsunami and Earthquake Devastation 145

Koya Asano

19 Between Screens and Streams: Technology’s Impact on Our Environmental Connection 151

Niklas K. Nyblom

20 The Impact of Wildfires: Experiencing the 2021 Colorado Marshall Fire 157

Elizabeth Campbell

21 Tides of Erasure: Change and Loss Amid Gentrification of the Hamptons, New York 165

Siena Fabiano

22 Dust Storms in Beijing: Breathing Through Environmental and Psychological Change 177

Zhaohe Chang

23 Honoring the Earth, Healing the Future: Ojibwe Spirituality and Climate Resistance 185

Nevaeh Marshall

Section 4 Community and Interconnectedness 193

24 Reflections on Community and Interconnectedness 195

Ranjan Datta, PhD

25 The Emotions of Climate Change and the Ripple in Community: A Haudenosaunee Perspective 199

Jade Haumann

26 Changing Climate, Severe Weather, and Socioeconomic Disparities in Environmental Experiences 203

Paritosh Joshi

27 Belonging in Nature: LGBTQ+ Community Connections Amid Climate Challenges 209

Sofia Packer

28 Whispers of the Canyon: Climate Change and a Diné Connection to the Land 215

Amber Ballenger

Section 5 Faith, Memory, and Change 221

29 Faith, Memory, and Change: Addressing the Climate Crisis Through a Moral and Spiritual Lens 223

Karenna Gore, JD, MA

30 Uprooted: Changing Climate, Conflict, and Displacement in Sudan 227

Zikra Fashir

31 The Impacts of Pollution, Climate, and Environmental Disaster on Residents of Mobile, Alabama 233

Rian Maxwell-Williams

32 Sacred Rains, Modern Times: Community Perspectives on India’s Changing Monsoons 239

Khushi Shah

33 Nature, Queerness, and Self-Returning 249

Irene Fueyo-Gomez

34 The Negro Speaks of Rivers: An Exploration of the Sacred Nature of Rivers in Africana Memory 257

Taylar S. Enlow

35 Echoes of an Ephemeral Relationship: Navigating Memory and Urban Transformation in Albania 263

Neiva Teka

36 Wildfires and the Psychology of Environmental Terror 267

Georgios Dougalis

Conclusion 273

37 Pathways to Resilience in a Changing World: Anchoring Individual, Community, and Ecological

Healing 275

Chrystal Dunker, PhD

Online Resources 285

Susan Bodnar, PhD, is a psychologist and educator who created a popular graduate-level course on clinical ecopsychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she also teaches child psychopathology. She is the founder of DEWLab.org, dedicated to exploring the human connection with the natural world. She serves on the editorial board of Ecopsychology and is assistant editor for Psychoanalytic Dialogues. Susan maintains a psychotherapy practice in Manhattan, offering traditional, walk-and-talk, and pet-assisted therapy, and is clinical director of the Stamford Wellness Center, a rural start-up clinic in upstate New York.

Chrystal L. Dunker, PhD, is an environmental educator and researcher specializing in human–nature interaction patterns and their role in well-being. She is managing editor of Ecopsychology and an affiliate of the Human Interaction with Nature and Technological Systems Lab (HINTS Lab) at the University of WA – Seattle. Chrystal’s love of the outdoors and her joy in sharing the wonders of the more-than-human world fuel her ongoing work—rooted in her dissertation research and years in environmental education—to contribute new insights and scholarship that help advance the field of ecopsychology.

Jean Kayira, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) in Syracuse. Her work is rooted in a deep commitment to Indigenous knowledge systems, land-based education, and community-led research. With a passion for decolonizing methodologies and food justice, she brings diverse ways of knowing into both her scholarship and teaching. Jean finds joy in learning alongside others and in building relationships that honor place, stories, and lived experiences.

“Unmoored Yet Unbroken is less a final statement than a generative offering. It gathers voices from around the world—many early in their careers—who are working to articulate what it means to live and practice in an ecologically disoriented age. What emerges is a collective engagement with resilience, not as simple endurance, but as a relational process—a network of care that spans people, cultures, and ecologies, and leads to the deepening transformation of self. An important contribution to the ecopsychology literature.”
—PETER H. KAHN, Jr., Professor of Psychology and Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington; author of Technological Nature: Adaptation and the Future of Human Life

A rich tapestry of global narratives that highlights the psychological impact of environmental changes

Unmoored Yet Unbroken explores the intricate relationship between humans and the natural environment. With stories and observations from urban, suburban, rural, and wild environments, this book challenges ethnocentric perspectives and emphasizes our deep interdependence with the natural world. Protecting and stabilizing this relationship is vital for our mental health and essential in the broader fight against climate change.

This book uncovers the psychological challenges arising from our increasing disconnection from the natural world through a blend of diverse personal narratives, clinical insights, and cultural analysis. It addresses the urgent need to understand how environmental changes impact mental health in every community. By deepening our understanding of how climate change influences the human psyche, Unmoored Yet Unbroken offers an essential perspective for scholars, students, activists, and general readers.

• Explore the clinical implications of ecological change and how they differ globally
• Get a well-rounded perspective grounded in clinical evidence, personal stories, interviews, and survey results
• Understand how ecological changes impact marginalized communities in urban and rural settings

This book addresses gaps in existing literature and offers insights into the unique challenges marginalized groups face in environmental changes.