1/2026 Letter from a Co-Executive Director

At the turn of the year, 2026. 

At the New Year, I am noting a distinctly different mood from one year ago. Where before, there was a deep, fairly impermeable, and almost suffocating sense of political and cultural dread, there is now also at least some movement, consistent resistance, and shoots of potential growth. Over the winter holidays, I hope that each of us has found capacity to breathe deep, touch ground, notice, and perhaps take part in these shifting dynamics - the uncertain as possibility. 

It is precisely in this movement and potential that the dynamic and growing field of climate psychology resides. Like the mycelium in our logo, the field branches, nourishes, and connects people to their inner experience, to the land, to each other, to our climate-impacted communities, to our ecological and social past and potential futures. 

In the first newsletter of our new year, it seems fitting to highlight the ways CPA-NA is branching, nourishing, and connecting. In a few short weeks, we will launch our vastly upgraded and expanded Climate-Aware Practitioner Directory (CAP), a network of climate care professionals, including mental health workers, somatic workers, students under supervision, coaches, spiritual advisors, and researchers. As a hub connecting professionals to the public, we hope CAP will help climate psychology take root in communities around the country - for people seeking climate-aware individual, group, or community care; for academics and researchers seeking collaborations and opportunities; for journalists seeking local contacts as they delve into local climate-related stories, and more.

We are also excited to launch our new website, improved membership communication platforms, and a more substantial volunteer support system. Through these layers and in all directions across and within CPA-NA, we hope to nourish consistent dialogue and interaction so our membership and the public can more easily access, manage, and join this space - whether it be for the community, the workshops, the climate-aware psychology curriculum, the committees focused on direct care, or to get involved locally throughout North America.

Looking back, 2025 was an appalling year on so many fronts. And the path through the destruction is by no means guaranteed or simple. But with each other and in this field, we are forging it together. I look forward to being in this with you.

-CPA-NA Co-Executive Director Rebecca Weston