The paper is available on Open Access at https://journals.plos.org/mentalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmen.0000563

Citation: Sheate B (2026) Re-framing eco-distress for self-efficacy and resilience building. PLOS Ment Health 3(2): e0000563. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000563

See also summary on Kudos https://link.growkudos.com/1q6soynpn28

Bill Sheate, 20 February 2026

Severe eco-distress (eco-anxiety) presents challenges for public mental health provision. There will be increasing need for public mental health preventive action: e.g. education, mental health promotion, and protection; and guidance for mental health professionals on working with these issues.

Sheate, Bill. Climate Change and Mental Health: The Rising Tide of Eco-distress, Perspectives in Public Health (2025) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17579139251333289.

Bill Sheate, 22 July 2025

In “Perfectionism: the modern scourge” I explained what is often going on and why; the constant striving for perfect, but that perfect is so often an unattainable goal. Here I explore a little further some of the diverse manifestations of this challenging issue.

Unhelpful strategies…..

Many of the coping strategies people adopt for trying to deal with perfectionism ironically often maintain and exacerbate their perfectionism, because they fail to address the root causes (beliefs, thoughts, feelings, behaviour etc). Perfectionism itself is an unhelpful coping strategy for anxiety so an unhelpful coping strategy for managing an unhelpful coping strategy isn’t very helpful! Here are just a few of the ways perfectionism can manifest itself:

• Striving to be on top of everything e.g. doing well in all topic/modules in a degree course when that's not possible, sustainable or indeed expected. Or trying to be on top of everything at work and ‘perfect’ in everything required of you.

• Over-rationalisation (that is makes sense to strive for perfection, even though perfection is not possible); unable to see the consequences as irrational, seeing them only as evidence that not trying hard enough, which reinforces a common underpinning core belief "I'm not good enough; I'm a failure":

  • “If only I could perfect perfectionism!”

  • “My perfectionism hasn't yet been honed enough otherwise I would be perfect!”

• Making lists, over-planning - often employed as a way of trying to exert control (or a perception of control) over everything even over things you have no agency in or control over. Long to-do lists create anxiety that you haven’t completed everything - there’s a tendency to put everything on a list when actually only the most important things are worthy of being on a list. Otherwise this leads to a lack of flexibility when things don't go to plan, or are disrupted, and so more anxiety.

• Obsessiveness can follow from lists and over-planning, when the desire to control becomes such a strong focus that the idea of just seeing how things play out becomes a complete anathema.

• Loss of perspective - a focus on what are essentially trivial matters, the smallest of details but that assume huge importance to the extent that you can’t move on until that tiny detail is perfect. This lack of perspective means there is no broader context within which to view those tiny details, or awareness of things that are really important to you (your values) but that have ended up being squeezed out by things that really aren’t very important (this can follow from obsessiveness).

• Worry and rumination - a dominance of thinking about the future (what-if questions) and the past (questions of why?); consequently little time is spent engaged in the present, the only place workable action can take place.

• Striving v procrastination (anxiety) - avoiding starting on something so you can't fail. But all procrastination does is to put off the inevitable - temporarily you are distracted and may feel a bit less anxious, but it is always temporary and becomes a habit increasingly hard to shake off, without help - see my blog post on Procrastination: a waste of time?

More helpful alternative strategies……

If some of this resonates with you then be reassured that there are ways of resolving perfectionism and these include a raft of more helpful alternative strategies. You can change things and begin to reframe the way you deal with work and day to day life tasks, to let go of ‘perfect’ and embrace your values and the things you enjoy, while being much more able to cope with the other day to day admin.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch and make a first appointment for an assessment and conceptualisation session that can begin to uncover what is going on for you personally, and for us to then agree a tailored treatment programme that can work for you.

Bill Sheate

5 March 2025

As the 2024-25 academic year begins you may be embarking on your dream course, or maybe you have all sorts of expectations of what university life will be like. Give yourself time to settle in, make friends, socialise - your social network (and by that I mean in-real-life friends and colleagues!) will provide you with the base from which to celebrate the good stuff and cope with the problems in life.

Here are a few of the common issues many students find can end up occupying their time more than they would want - if that’s the case do something about it; don’t let these issues define your time at university - they don’t need to, with the right help:

• Do you spend a lot of time worrying about how well you are doing?

• Do you constantly compare yourself with others

• Do you sometimes ‘feel’ like an impostor or ‘not good enough'?

• Do you work late into the evening/night and have trouble getting up in the morning?

• Do you procrastinate e.g.scrolling through YouTube videos, because of a sense of overwhelm?

• Do you get anxious about deadlines, exams, giving presentations, working in groups?

• Are you a perfectionist and find it difficult to judge when something is good enough to submit (or even can’t comprehend the idea of ‘good enough’).

• Do you feel anxious, angry or sad about the future and climate change or loss of the natural world (experience eco-anxiety)?

Is this causing you distress or difficulty in coping with your studies or life more generally? Then elsewhere on this website and blog you will find some useful resources that can be a starting point for you to begin to understand what might be going on and how cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy might be suitable for you. See for example:

• Worry - what is it and how to deal with it?

• Procrastination - a waste of time?

• Unwritten rules - I should, I must, I need......

• Perfectionism - the modern scourge?

• Social anxiety in class?

• The lost art of taking notes!

• A sense of ‘Self’ - your own identity

• Use ‘active revision’ to re-frame your approach to exams

• Exams - it's all about technique!

• Learning, assessment and exams – a mindful approach

Don’t hesitate to reach out; I offer significant discounts for students on fees and often a lot can be achieved in relatively few sessions - see Fees.

For those of you doing a PhD or other doctoral research, then you may find my blogs on this useful (I work with PhD students a lot):

• Anxiety and depression among PhD students

• Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD

And if the climate crisis causes you anxiety or distress contact me directly for some one-to-one sessions; see my webpage and blogs on eco-anxiety.

If you’re into sport and maybe would like to improve your performance or just want to build confidence in your sport then sports hypnosis might be for you - check out my webpage on this if so.

Set out with the aim to enjoy yourself at university; if you find yourself struggling then do reach out.

Bill Sheate, 1 October 2024

Two of my popular and topical workshops are now available for booking (Summer/Autumn 2024) - spaces are limited, so booking well ahead is advised:

• Eco-anxiety, eco-distress - an introductory workshop - 8 July 2024

  • This 1.5hr introductory workshop provides an opportunity to share experiences and develop a deeper understanding about eco-anxiety and potential treatment.

• Practical Mindfulness for Everyday Living - 16 September 2024

  • A practical workshop that introduces you to wonderfully simple mindfulness techniques and practices that you can integrate into daily living, allowing you to let go of negative thoughts and worry. Importantly, you can be mindful without doing lengthy meditation; and meditation doesn’t mean you are able to be mindful when you are not meditating! Find out more in this 2.5hr workshop.

Further information and booking for both workshops available at My Eventbrite Collection.

Bill Sheate, 30 May 2024

My new clinic times will be:

• In-person (only) at Bloomsbury Therapy Centre - 5.00-8.30pm on Tuesday evenings,

• Online via Zoom (only) - Wednesday afternoons/evenings 4.00-9.00pm.

I’m joining a centre of expertise and a team of other experienced therapists across a range of modalities and specialisations* while bringing Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy to the Centre for the first time. The Centre is also home to the Bloomsbury Alexander Centre.

This builds on my long-standing presence in Bloomsbury and the heart of academia in London.

Please contact me directly for appointments bill@imaginationtherapy.co.uk.

See What is CBH? for further information about sessions and fees.

Bill Sheate, 30 April 2024

* see Therapies https://www.therapylondon.co.uk/therapies.html, and my Therapist Profile https://www.therapylondon.co.uk/bill-sheate.html

In the first of these two extended blogs (Eco-anxiety: what’s in a name?), I noted that the way we define emotional responses to environmental change makes a difference to how we might view ourselves and our approach to treatment.  Perhaps in contrast to some other therapists, I approach eco-distress as a manifestation of anxiety, anger, sadness etc in a particular context, rather than as something that is exceptional, unusual etc. Some might even say treatment is not appropriate given anxiety and anger are quite rational responses to the climate emergency. While that may be true, it is problematic, and therefore worthy of ‘treatment,’ when the emotional responses lead to such distress that life loses its meaning, that there is no joy in life any more, and that everything that once seemed important has faded from perception.  I’ve spent much of my adult career in service of the environment, in various capacities (academic, consultant, campaigner), but I have learned through experience to find a way to have perspective – in fact it is because I have spent so long in the environmental policy space that I have that perspective; I am only too well aware of how policy making works and the tension between the desire for urgent action and the realities of securing and implementing policy change, especially at international level when you are trying to get nearly 200 countries to act in concert.

For some, behavioural action - engagement in positive action – is the most constructive way to turn anxiety and anger into something more helpful, and hopeful.  That may work to some extent, but also can come with some risks as we shall see, if it serves to maintain undue focus of attention and/or may result in action that runs in conflict with other personal values.

Purpose of treatment

In seeking to ‘treat’ eco-anxiety or eco-distress the aim is not to eradicate the emotional response of anxiety/sadness/anger or whatever else is experienced, but to be able to shift or gain perspective, accepting that these emotional responses are normal human responses but that in extreme forms are deeply distressing and paralysing.  A common desire is ‘to find joy in life again’ and that often involves (re)connecting to one’s personal values – the things/domains in life that are important to you.  You may be unaware that might even be the issue as the environment has become so dominant it is all that seems important. In reconnecting to values, that entails being more present, aware of the here and now in order to:

• be more psychologically flexible in response to the changing environment, to uncertainty; and

• be able to act in the present in service of values.

My own approach to treating eco-anxiety and eco-distress has evolved out of the transdiagnostic[1] model of Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (Hypno-CBT®), which draws heavily in my application on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) and utilises hypnosis primarily for reinforcement of mindfulness-based techniques and action, for relaxation, and for imagining more positive futures where the client has greater self-efficacy and long-term resilience.

For me, eco-anxiety/distress involves a collaborative conceptualisation with the client around ACT and MCT models (as well as CBT), from which emerge the main approaches to treatment, and techniques and resilience building skills. Collaboration is key as the approach depends upon the client willingly engaging in the practice of techniques and alternative behaviours.  By the time a client reaches out for therapy, however, there is often motivation for change. 

Eco-anxiety/distress often presents as a ‘stuck’ focus of attention, where thoughts are dominated by the past or the future, where experiential avoidance is prevalent along with fusion about the meaning of the negative autosuggestions (negative automatic thoughts) you might be giving yourself, along with a range of cognitive distortions. You may find it difficult to observe your own thoughts and feelings, and consequently tend to become attached to your own conceptualisation of yourself based on your ‘stuck’ focus (I’m an eco-anxious person; I’m scared, I’m a worrier etc) – and so you increasingly associate with the content of your thoughts and feelings. Consequently, it’s difficult to have any real clarity about what is important to you – your values – and therefore it is difficult to act in service of those values.  What often happens is that the environment becomes either the dominant value or pervades all other values to the extent that it becomes paralysing and you may find you are unable to actively engage with other values. Ironically, through avoidant behaviour you may even stop engaging with the very thing you value most highly – nature and the environment.

The dominance often of future thinking, and fear of the future, while not an unnatural response to climate change, is not very helpful if it results in excessive worry. The extent of worry is such that it often manifests itself through metacognitions (thoughts about thoughts; beliefs about beliefs). You may, for example, find yourself getting anxious about being anxious (which feeds into experiential avoidance as a coping strategy). Metacognitive therapeutic approaches, notably detached mindfulness and attention training, overlap helpfully with and complement ACT mindfulness and values techniques in this context.

Intolerance of uncertainty frequently manifests as a stuck focus of attention on the emotional response being experienced (anxious, angry….), and the uncertainty inherent in the consequences of climate change for the world and individually. The resulting lack of psychological flexibility makes it increasingly difficult to switch attention away from this and to the present moment and more helpful action.  In fact, an unconscious metacognitive belief in the power of thinking (and of checking/monitoring) often leads into excessive worry and ‘doomscrolling’ through social media and newsfeeds for negative news, reinforcing anxiety, anger, and/or sadness and creating excessive vicious cycles/spirals.

What to expect with treatment…

In my approach I draw upon three main components:

• ACT[2]– conceptualisation, values, committed action and simple informal mindfulness techniques for present moment awareness, acceptance, defusion and being an observer of self (including self-compassion)

• MCT[3] – conceptualisation, attention training to ‘unstick’ and reinforce switching of attention; detached mindfulness to let go of negative thoughts; and ability to be more mindful

• Hypnosis for confidence in one’s own ability to be more mindful, to do committed action in service of values (includes environment, but not the only thing that’s important)

So, for me, the focus for treatment is not primarily on channelling the negative emotion into positive action for the environment, positive though that can be. There are some potential benefits to be found in acting individually and collectively in pro-environmental behaviour and campaigns to further climate change action.  However, one potential problem with that is that it may not help gain sufficient perspective, and may even serve to exacerbate the focus of attention on the single value and the struggle.  And it may be that in trying out forms of action that are not consistent with other personal values, e.g. confrontational demonstrations/campaigns, especially for someone who is more pacifist in their approach, may cause a spiral of helplessness and hopelessness, despair and depression. 

Action for the environment can, however, fit as part of wider committed action in service of multiple values (e.g. connecting with friends, community, nature), e.g. volunteering at a nature reserve or animal sanctuary, doing practical action that makes a tangible and visible difference on the ground and is situated within the new-found perspective.

Finding hope….

This approach has been developed with clients and has had real beneficial effects with those I’ve worked with, many of whom have been able to gain perspective and find joy in life again, while still caring passionately about the environment and climate change. For those suffering with eco-distress, there is hope in seeking treatment, and it can make a real difference over quite a short period of time. A typical treatment programme for eco-distress with me is likely to occur over 6-10 sessions (sometimes fewer, sometimes more and spread out over several months), to help build greater resilience and psychological flexibility.  Rest assured, concern for the environment and climate change won’t go away – nor should it.  But it can be held more kindly in a broader perspective of values, alongside other things that are important to you in life, for life to be meaningful.

If any of this resonates with you, then do reach out and get in touch – it can make all the difference.

by Bill Sheate, 17 April 2024

Endnotes

[1] Transdiagnostic refers to a mechanism which is present across ‘disorders’, and which is either a risk factor or a maintaining factor for the ‘disorder’. Transdiagnostic processes are found in the domains of attention, memory/imagery, thinking, reasoning, and behaviour (Psychology Tools, n.d. Information Handout). By focusing on transdiagnostic processes we can seek to address the underlying causes rather than being overly focused on ‘disordered’ experiences (see Labelling Issues: the Pros and Cons blog post).

[2] Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

[3] Metacognitive Therapy

In this first of two blogs, I’m looking at the words we use to describe emotional responses to environmental and climate change, and why it might matter what we call it. In the follow-up blog I’ll look at my own approach to treating eco-anxiety.

Eco-anxiety or Eco-distress?

There is now ample evidence for the prevalence of eco-anxiety (often among young people in particular), with vigorous debate among academics as to our understanding of the relationship between observed emotional, behavioural and cognitive responses to the impacts of climate and environmental change more generally [1].   Discussion ensues over terminology, categorisation and taxonomy of the psychology associated with climate change and what seems often to be a significant focus on ‘grief’.  While eco-anxiety has often become an umbrella term for all the other eco-emotions, including anger and sadness, maybe a simpler and more encompassing term would be ‘eco-anguish’ or ‘eco-distress’ (Dictionary definition of anguish: “severe mental suffering or distress” (OED) or “extreme unhappiness caused by physical or mental suffering” (Cambridge Dictionary); distress: extreme/great anxiety, sorrow, or pain)(Collins Dictionary) either of which, to my mind, capture much of what we are dealing with.  For want of a better alternative I refer in the rest of this post to ‘eco-distress’ to cover all negative emotions associated with environmental and climate change.[2] 

Why does this matter?  Because so many who experience eco-distress experience a range of negative emotions, not just one.  Trying to define ever-more tightly each eco-emotion either labels an individual with many apparent negative labels or misses the underlying issues by focusing primarily on the immediate experience and symptoms. 

My own viewpoint on eco-distress is informed by some 40 years working in the environmental space, as an academic, campaigner, consultant and in more recent years as a therapist specialising in anxiety and stress, in higher education, and in eco-anxiety/distress.  This perspective provides me with a significant resource on which to draw as a therapist in my approach to treating eco-distress. What is interesting is that much of the literature on eco-distress, unfortunately, is not hugely helpful to therapeutic practice.  That's not so surprising perhaps since the drivers behind research are very different to those behind practice.

Is it really ‘grief’?

In opening, I touched on the fact that grief gets a lot of air-time in the academic literature among emotional responses to environmental change. Grief is, of course, very relevant for those directly affected by loss of life, livelihood, homes etc, e.g. though fire, flood, drought; the immediately experienced consequences of climate change [3]. However, therapeutically, this may confuse the picture as to what is often going on with many eco-distressed clients who do not have that direct experience.  If you look principally through a grief lens, then you are likely to define the experience in those terms, in terms of loss (real or perceived).

I see rather less expression of real grief or loss among my client base, but a lot of commonalities through underlying maladaptive processes that contribute to and maintain anxiety, sadness, and anger– eco-distress.  Most frequent is a ‘stuck’ attention and loss of clarity about personal values – the things in life that are important to you (the environment having so often become dominant over other value domains); this, alongside the perceived role of worry/rumination underpinned as it so often is by a (metacognitive) belief in the power of thinking as an unconscious (but unhelpful) coping strategy to an intolerance of uncertainty. Uncertainty is inherent in all environmental policy fields, but it is not possible to make certain that which is inherently uncertain, despite our endless search for it in our thoughts.

Framing eco-distress principally through a grief lens, to my mind, risks undermining our meaning and understanding of ‘grief’ as a process rather than a single emotion (see also an earlier blog post on Labelling issues: the pros and cons). It risks over-complexifying what might really be going on for the eco-distressed.  But for many experiencing eco-distress (and those presenting in my London clinic) their experience is usually less immediate or direct and more anticipatory, future-focused and therefore often has a strong element of fear/anxiety about the future and anger at humanity’s apparent inability to act. Even while some clients might make reference to a sense of loss, this can be as a result of trying to make sense of what they are feeling and thinking, e.g. around hopelessness and helplessness. What might be described as a feeling may well actually be a thought, or at least involving significant cognitive appraisal (e.g. guilt, shame, ‘grief’).

In practice, the experiences of the ‘eco-distressed’, I suggest, are not really so different to the ‘ordinarily distressed’. The ‘eco‘ term relates to the situation or context of the emotional response.  I don’t find it particularly helpful to define the emotional responses of clients to environmental change as somehow fundamentally different to the emotional responses of clients to other contexts when we are dealing with the same underlying processes. From an academic research perspective the ‘eco’ aspect perhaps has become a way of defining the emotional experience as somehow exceptional, and so it has helped define the focus for research (and funding) linked to climate change [4].  From a therapeutic perspective, the ‘eco’ aspect relates to the situation or context in which the emotional response occurs (in the same way that ‘work’ or ‘health’ might precede the word ‘anxiety’), which includes the usual range of normal human emotions, behaviours, and cognitions, some of which may be unhelpful and maladaptive.  My environmental expertise therefore informs my therapeutic work because I also understand the challenging scientific, policy and political context within which these emotional and other responses are happening.

So, what is in a name?

Well, quite a lot it seems. It matters, as a client, what you are labelled with or how you label yourself. Labels can be helpful, but are also ‘sticky’ and can distort how you see yourself; and they can shape the approach adopted to therapeutic treatment. The purpose of treatment in this case is not to eradicate the emotional responses - they are after all normal human experiences - but to better understand them and to gain perspective that helps build greater, long-term resilience. In the next blog post (‘Eco-anxiety, eco-distress: finding joy in life again......a practical approach to treatment’) I will look at the approach I use in treating eco-distress – anxiety, sadness, anger, etc - which is based on well-evidenced therapeutic models and techniques for treating anxiety and depression.

Bill Sheate, 17 March 2024

[1] See for example: Lawrance et al (2022, Lancet); Vercammen et al (2023, Challenges) Stanley et al (2021, The Journal of Climate Change and Health); Hickman et al (2021, Lancet Public Health); Hogg et al (2021, Global Environmental Change); Agoston et al (2022, Climate Risk Management); Léger-Goodes et al (2022, Frontiers in Psychology); Kurth and Pihkala (2022, Frontiers in Psychology); Agoston et al (2022, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health); Pihkala (2022, Sustainability); Pihkala (2022, Frontiers in Climate);

[2] Marks and Hickman, Nature Mental Health 2023; Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2020.

[3] Tschakert et al (2019, Global Environmental Change).

[4] Chiolero (2023, Epidemiologia)

This evening (Tuesday 31 October 2023) I was delighted to speak at the British Psychological Society (BPS) in London on eco-anxiety and approaches to treatment. This was as part of a seminar on Psychology and Climate Change: what is to be done?

Eco-anxiety’ has become a catch-all term for a range of emotional responses to climate change and environmental degradation, from fear of the future to anger or sadness that insufficient action on climate change or biodiversity loss appears to be happening (‘climate anxiety’, ‘eco-anger’, ‘eco-grief’ etc). Studies show a high prevalence among young people, while my own clinical experience reflects its increasing presentation among a diversity of clients, including those working in the environmental field and those with nothing to do with it.

In my own London-based practice (and online), eco-anxiety rarely presents in isolation; often it appears as a specific 'stuck' focus of attention where the environment in some shape or form has become a dominant or all-pervasive personal value over and above, and at the expense of, all others. Consequently, mindfulness-based cognitive therapies, e.g. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and metacognitive approaches drawn from Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) appear most promising in helping clients to shift perspective, gain greater psychological flexibility and to be able to find joy in life again.

If you feel anxious, sad or angry in relation to climate change and/or environmental degradation, don’t hesitate to get in touch. My environmental background means I have a unique perspective as a therapist on this difficult issue. But it is possible to address it in a way that offers hope and a more positive mindset for the future.

See also Eco-anxiety under Issues, including periodic online Eco-anxiety introductory workshops.

Bill Sheate, 31 October 2023

With the new 2023-24 academic year now well underway it’s a good time to get a handle on your approach to learning, studying or research. A model of learning that may have served you well (or at least OK) at secondary school is unlikely to serve you so well at university. Here are a few quick pointers/questions to ask yourself, some equally relevant to whether you are an undergraduate, postgraduate (Taught) or postgraduate (Research - PhD/Doctoral research). There are some issues especially relevant to postgraduate study, e.g. to a one-year Masters or to doctoral research.

• Do you spend a lot of time worrying about how well you are doing?

• Do you constantly compare yourself with others

• Do you sometimes ‘feel’ like an impostor or ‘not good enough'?

• Do you work late into the evening/night and have trouble getting up in the morning?

• Do you procrastinate e.g.scrolling through YouTube videos, because of a sense of overwhelm?

• Do you get anxious about deadlines, exams, giving presentations, working in groups?

• Are you a perfectionist and find it difficult to judge when something is good enough to submit (or even can’t comprehend the idea of ‘good enough’).

• Do you feel anxious, angry or sad about the future and climate change or loss of the natural world (experience eco-anxiety)?

Is this causing you distress or difficulty in coping with your studies? Then elsewhere on this website and blog you will find some useful resources that can be a starting point for you to begin to understand what might be going on and how cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy might be suitable for you. Don’t hesitate to reach out if so. See for example:

• Worry - what is it and how to deal with it?

• Procrastination - a waste of time?

• Unwritten rules - I should, I must, I need......

• Perfectionism - the modern scourge?

• Social anxiety in class?

• The lost art of taking notes!

• A sense of ‘Self - your own identity

• Use ‘active revision’ to re-frame your approach to exams

• Exams - it's all about technique!

• Learning, assessment and exams – a mindful approach

For those of you doing a PhD or other doctoral research, then you may find my bi-monthly facilitated online PhD Peer Support group a useful way to get to grips with the uniqueness of the PhD position and process and the challenges that can pose (next meeting 12 June 2024). Booking is via the Eventbrite page.

See also previous blogs on this at:

• Anxiety and depression among PhD students

• Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD

And if the climate crisis causes you anxiety keep an eye out for my next workshop on eco-anxiety (likely to be in the first half of 2024) - see my Eventbrite Collection for further information and booking, and see my webpage on eco-anxiety.

Give yourself permission and time to look after yourself at university; if you find yourself struggling then do reach out.

Bill Sheate, 25 October 2023

• Thiermann, U.B., Sheate, W.R. How Does Mindfulness Affect Pro-environmental Behaviors? A Qualitative Analysis of the Mechanisms of Change in a Sample of Active Practitioners. Mindfulness (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-02004-4 (Open Access)

• Thiermann Ute B., Sheate William R., Vercammen Ans (2020), Practice Matters: Pro-environmental Motivations and Diet-Related Impact Vary With Meditation Experience, Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 35-77, https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584353, DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584353

• Thiermann, U.B. and Sheate, W.R. (2020), The Way Forward in Mindfulness and Sustainability: a Critical Review and Research Agenda, Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41465-020-00180-6#auth-1, available online 2 July 2020

• Thiermann U, Sheate W (2020), Motivating individuals for social transition: The 2-pathway model and experiential strategies for pro-environmental behaviour and well-being Ecological Economics (2020)

Just click on the images to take you to original publishers source or on the links above.

Alternative source for open access versions of the papers is at https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/w.sheate/publications.html

Bill Sheate, 29 September 2023

My currently available online workshops/events (as ongoing periodic events over the coming months) are:

• An Introduction to Eco-anxiety (run every few months) - next event on 15 November 2023.

• PhD/Doctor Researcher Peer Support Group (run regularly every two months) - next event on 6 December 2023

Both are available now for booking via https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/mental-wellbeing-and-resilience-skills-workshops-2463049

Other occasional workshops will be included covering self-hypnosis skills, and integrating mindfulness into everyday living.

Watch this space (and Eventbrite Collections)!

Bill Sheate, 1 August 2023

This introductory workshop provides an opportunity to share experience and begin to develop a deeper understanding about what eco-anxiety is, and how you can better manage and re-frame your approach to it. It acts as a standalone workshop but also offers the precursor preparation to subsequent individual one-to-one or small group therapy for eco-anxiety if desired.

Programme:

• Introductions and overview

• Context and issues

• Sharing of experience

• Understanding eco-anxiety and treatment options

The 90-minute workshop will take place online via Zoom - details will be sent to ticket holders following booking. Participants are encouraged to share personal experiences of eco-anxiety and their own perspective of how it impacts their lives. Online supporting materials will be provided to participants.

Ticket is by Eventbrite ticket only in advance where further information about the workshop can also be found.

£10.00

Tickets are available on a first come first served basis and limited to a maximum of 24 places.

This workshop was last run on 13 December 2022

Bill Sheate, 7 June 2023

How can CBH help you with anxiety whatever walk of life you are in?

CBH draws on tried and trusted evidence-based techniques for managing stress and anxiety, for changing your approach to stressful situations and building greater psychological flexibility for long-term resilience. Below I’ve provided the links to just a few of my popular blog post topics, the things that often initiate people seeking out therapy or support. If something resonates for you don’t hesitate to get in touch to arrange an assessment and conceptualisation session - no obligation to further sessions. But it might just help you to understand better what is going on and why. Clients often find that first session can be so helpful and therapeutic in its own right.

And see What’s Involved for further information on seeking therapy and Issues and Skills for the range of services I provide.

Selected blog post topics:

• Peer support group for PhD students now available

• Anxiety and depression among PhD students

• Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD

• Maybe I need to change my job…..

• Labelling issues - the pros and cons

• A sense of ‘self’ - your own identity

• Spreading the word about ‘mindful learning’

• Eco-anxiety and the state of the planet (and see Issues)

• Procrastination - a waste of time?

• Worry - what is it and how to deal with it?

• Unwritten rules - I should, I must, I need……

• Perfectionism - the modern scourge?

• Social anxiety in class?

• Self-awareness or awareness of ‘self’?

• Tension: a physical manifestation of anxiety?

Bill Sheate, 16 May 2023

Following Mental Health Awareness Week on ‘Anxiety’ (15-21 May 2023), I’m launching (and will facilitate) from 7 June a new online PhD peer support group, open to any PhD/Doctoral research student from any higher education institution.

The PhD/Doctoral Researcher Peer Support Group is open to any full or part-time student at any stage of a PhD/doctorate from any higher education institution and any discipline. It is aimed at addressing mental health and well-being issues, the sharing of PhD experiences, challenges at various stages of doctoral research, supervision problems etc. So many issues encountered by PhD/Doctoral research students are shared across disciplines and subjects, because doing a PhD is an unusual situation to find yourself in, as I’ve discussed before (see Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD). Each meeting lasts 1.5 hours (90 minutes) every 2 months; attendance can be regular or occasional.

The group operates within a broad cognitive behavioural/Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) approach to understanding the interactions between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Participants bring to each session issues they wish to discuss with the group (and can send agenda items in advance). Where appropriate skills training can be provided to support building resilience and psychological flexibility to deal with the challenges of doctoral research, and to enhance personal agency.

Dates of meetings in 2023.

Attendance can be regular or occasional and is by Eventbrite ticket only booked in advance (£8 per session). Further details and booking can be found on the group Eventbrite page. Meetings are held via Zoom every two months on a Wednesday evening, 6.00-7.30pm (UK time):

• Wednesday 7 June 2023

• Wednesday 2 August 2023

• Wednesday 4 October 2023

• Wednesday 6 December 2023

Bill Sheate, 25 April 2023

As an academic and as a therapist I’ve observed over the last couple of decades a steady decline in students’ general ability to take notes. Why might that be and so what? Well, note taking is a skill that previous generations took for granted because we had no choice – in a lecture we were never given handouts let alone copies of slides or the option to watch it again (or for the first time) on video! You had to filter what was important and what was not. And so, the skill was learned through years of practice; learning by doing.

Note taking as attention training…..

This is not a nostalgia for bygone days; you might ask who needs to take notes now when technology helps us – we can annotate online slides, type as we go along, scribble on our phone, or call up ChatGPT for AI assistance? Except that misses the important underlying skill involved in the technique of making notes – the skill involved in paying attention and at discerning what is important and what is not, in an instant. And it is a skill used in so many jobs, from taking minutes, to honing in on the key issues under discussion in a meeting.

There is a physical eye to hand coordination that exists between the act of writing manually with a pen or pencil through the eye to the brain. A connection that doesn’t seem to exist in the same way between typing on a keyboard or maybe even annotating on a tablet with an electronic pen. In part that may also be due to lack of focus and other distractions. Students sat in a lecture theatre (or at home online) with a key board or tablet/phone in front of them have a huge diversity of distractions at their fingertips – social media, YouTube, WhatsApp groups, TikTok, Instagram etc. If anything, the lecture is a potential distraction from all the other stuff! Even if you think you are multitasking, you are not – and, in any case, it’s a hugely over-rated activity!

The ability to filter from lots of information those nuggets of information that have real meaning, that provide you with focus, that offer the core elements that you can work with, has increasingly been lost. School no longer seems to teach it, because students are to a large extent seemingly given what is important in order to pass exams, without developing their independent critical thinking skills. That skill has far wider applicability and I see this most often in relation to perfectionism presenting among clients. “I can’t start an assignment until I know everything about the subject”, which is a recipe for extended procrastination, endless research and heightened anxiety as a deadline looms, and still you haven’t begun to get a structure of an assignment together.

You can, of course, never know everything about a subject; nor do you need to. You only need to know enough to be able to answer the question in hand – the assignment posed, which is probably framed within a deadline/time limit and maybe a word count or page length. So how much information can you use? If you attempt to try to know everything about a topic, you will be doing so for ever, and never get to a point where you can work out what you can use and to what effect. The Pareto Principle (aka 80:20 rule) suggests that 80% of the outcome results from 20% of the effort/input - it’s a rule of thumb, not a strict rule! But it basically says that we waste an awful lot of time focusing on things that don’t matter, instead of getting to the point and focusing on the stuff that does.

Technology is not a substitute

So, despite increasing technological help (including ChatGPT), note taking is a fundamental skill – it helps you zoom from the strategic to the specific and out again; it helps you sort the useful information from the dross – to evaluate quickly; it provides perspective; and it helps you acquire a life-long skill. And a love of learning, since the process of filtering can be hugely satisfying.

Give it a try. Next time you go to a lecture (or a seminar, or a meeting) try sitting in it and listening and, armed only with a pen and paper (switch off phone and laptop/tablet); take notes - you can’t write down everything - so listen. As a lecturer of many years experience, believe me, much of what we say is padding - it connects key messages together, seeks to create a flow, and involves story telling to provide illustration of principles. You really don’t need to write it all down! But there are nuggets of information in there - and the lecturer may even make a point of highlighting them for you, summarising them.

Listen, and take note(s) - develop your own shorthand if it helps - observe/experience the event in the present moment. This is ‘mindful learning’ - paying attention to present moment awareness and being engaged in the learning process. And then afterwards reflect upon the lecture via your notes - are there any gaps in your understanding; if so, what can you do about it; plan what to do and when and then put it into action. This is essentially Kolb’s experiential learning cycle (see picture above) - (in short) observe, reflect, plan, act - a simple way to make the most of an experience, be it a lecture, seminar, lab session, a meeting or even a conversation.

And practice - it gets easier the more you do it.

Bill Sheate, 7 April 2023

There can be many reasons to make a career change or change your job. Stress and work/life balance may be a strong motivating force. Sometimes, however much you try to manage the stress and anxiety, changing the principle stressor in your life - your job - may be the only real option. That can seem even more scary than the stresses your current job is putting you under. But it need not be. Maybe the stress is exactly the impetus you needed to step back and look anew at what’s really important to you and where your job fits into your wider personal values.

Or maybe you can approach your existing job with a different mindset that no longer sees everything as a problem. How do you currently cope with work stress, and is your approach to coping no longer very helpful, even part of the problem?

What’s really important to you - relationships, friends, family, career, education, recreation, community, your place in the world……? How does work feature in those priorities? Career planning is fundamentally about problem solving and problem solving is a skill you can acquire. You may already be quite an accomplished problem solver in some aspects of life, but how you approach problems can often be context dependent. Do you have a positive or a negative attitude to problems; are they something to be feared or challenges to solve? Do you try to avoid problems if at all possible or do you see them as a normal part of human life?

Happenstance…..

Krumboltz’s Theory of Planned Happenstance offers a positive way of looking at unexpected events and changes in life and in career. There can be opportunities to be found in the unexpected, and that you can create if you approach the situation in a certain way - ‘things happen’ whether you like it or not. So how can you make the best of it? Career planning is by its nature often unplanned; events happen that affect what you do and where you work. Many if not most people’s career paths are meandering, not a straight line (mine certainly has been!), and will be increasingly so in the future. Sometimes there are chance opportunities that arise because you happen to talk to someone who mentions something to someone else - serendipity! The key is the degree of curiosity and flexibility you bring to such situations. You can also create your luck.

Seek help……

If you find yourself in an unexpected situation with work: maybe things not going so well, high levels of stress or just a realisation that you want to change course, then seek some help. It may only need a short number of sessions to get a handle on the key issues and help work out a new approach or direction. But a structured approach to working through the issues can help build the confidence to make big decisions or respond positively to potential opportunities that might arise.

Don’t struggle on your own, going over and over all the possible implications, especially all the worst possible ones, in your head. Change can be good, exciting even, but it may involve allowing yourself to accept that any uncertainty created is a normal part of human experience.

Bill Sheate, 7 March 2023

Thiermann, U.B., Sheate, W.R. How Does Mindfulness Affect Pro-environmental Behaviors? A Qualitative Analysis of the Mechanisms of Change in a Sample of Active Practitioners. Mindfulness (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-02004-4 (Open Access)

Bill Sheate

1 November 2022

Periodically, I post on my blog short articles on key aspects of stress and anxiety, and mental health and well-being, especially related to higher education. Below are just a few of the resources on this blog - clustered in one place so they’re easier to find - that you might find helpful:

• Eco-anxiety and the state of the planet and Eco-anxiety - an introductory workshop and It’s warm out there…

• Labelling issues - the pros and cons

• A new year, a new you?

• Celebrating uncertainty…

• Coronavirus 6 Keeping a sense of perspective…. and Coronvirus 7 - another year, another variant….. and links to earlier Coronavirus blog posts

• Anxiety and Depression among PhD students and Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD

• Procrastination - a waste of time?

• Worry - what is it and how to deal with it?

• Unwritten rules - I should, I must, I need......

• Perfectionism - the modern scourge?

• Social anxiety in class?

• A sense of ‘Self - your own identity

• Self-awareness or awareness of 'self'?

• Tension: a physical manifestation of anxiety?

• Use ‘active revision’ to re-frame your approach to exams

• Exams - it's all about technique!

• Learning, assessment and exams – a mindful approach

Bill Sheate, 10 October 2022

The problem with the language of heatwaves is that it can cause more anxiety than necessary, when the actual purpose of heatwave planning and heat-health alerts is to encourage people to take preventive action, provide advice and mobilise support, especially for the most vulnerable, for whom prolonged high temperatures can be dangerous. But the language and the reporting invariably frames such weather in a highly negative way that creates unhelpful levels of anxiety among many, let alone those who may already experience eco-anxiety.

‘It's hot’ is a judgement and a negative framing of the whole experience. So when we tell ourselves ‘it’s hot’ we struggle with it - we say ‘NO’ to it. And when we struggle with the physical experience we bring negative thoughts to bear which heighten our awareness of it, and our behaviour towards it, and increase our anxiety about it. So it often goes something like this:

“OMG its so hot, I can’t stand it. I feel like I'm going to pass out [rapidly tries to fan self with a book, piece of paper, or hand]. Its getting hotter and hotter and they say it’s going to reach the highest ever temperature recorded next week. I’ve got to get out of this heat.”

Stop struggling - say YES to it

So, instead, try saying ‘YES' to it - accept it for what it is - it’s a sensation, neither good nor bad, just a sensation…..

“It’s warm, but it’s just a sensation - it is what it is and worrying about it isn’t going to change it [sit with the experience, don’t judge it, and allow the immediate feeling of heat to pass - if you flap around and get agitated you just make yourself hotter still - and sweat is just the body cooling itself - allow it to happen].

This is mindful acceptance - an open willingness to the present moment experience, without judgement. If you travel on the tube or buses you can’t escape the heat. Take water with you, dress sensibly (you don’t need a jacket!) and accept that it will be warm, keep calm and carry on!

It’s summer…

And remember, it’s summer. Yes, climate change is likely to bring more extreme temperatures, but having a few weeks of hot dry weather is not unusual in July. For more than 20 years I’ve taken my holiday from mid-end July because there is a high probability of good weather in the UK at that time. It’s known as a ‘singularity’ - a period of high frequency of return of a type of weather pattern, in this case a high pressure system. We’ve had droughts and high temperatures before - for example notably in 1976, the early 1990s, 2003, 2019. However, our awareness has changed because we now have 24hr news and social media, and heatwave alert systems in a way we never had before.

We have to adapt to climate change - as a society and as individuals - just as we try to reduce the causes of climate change. Extreme temperatures should be a wake up call for such action. But, plenty of countries experience temperatures far higher than we do or are likely to - we can learn from them. And we can start our own personal adaptation process by dressing and behaving accordingly, and being a bit more mindful.

A little perspective is helpful if we are to cope better with warm weather. Take sensible precautions, and then simply by doing nothing other than accept it is what it is can free us from the personal struggle with heat. And with practice, it gets easier so even sleeping at night becomes OK, despite the warmth.

Try it - it works!

Bill Sheate 13 July 2022