About the Book
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.
Table of Contents:
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
About the Author :
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.
