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Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth: How to Live with Care and Purpose in an Endangered World
Climate anxiety is real. Here is a practical, accessible, necessary guide to meeting a climate-changed present and future.
Summer after summer is the hottest on record. People’s homes are flooding, burning, blowing away. We live with the loss, pain, and grief of what’s happened, and anxiety for what might happen next, as the systems in which we live are increasingly strained. Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth addresses our collective concerns with empathy, grace, and practical strategies to help us all envision a viable future. By moving through your personal and general climate anxiety, frustration, helplessness and grief, you can move toward a sense of shared purpose and community care. You’ll find actionable steps for connecting with others, identifying and activating community abundance, matching your skills with organized climate activism, and imagining a radically more livable future in order to bring it into being. Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth meets you where you are, not sugarcoating the realities of this growing crisis, but offering practical strategies for meeting a climate-changed present and future with emotional honesty and communal support.
In 2014, when Kate Schapira first set up a Climate Anxiety Counseling booth in her hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, far fewer people were talking about climate change and its attendant anxiety, leaving those who couldn’t ignore climate change and the forces that cause it feeling frantic and alone. Seeking a way to reach out and connect, Schapira set up a Peanuts -style "The Doctor Is In" booth to talk about climate change with her community. Ten years and over 1200 conversations later, Schapira channels all she’s learned into an accessible, understandable, and aware guide for processing climate anxiety and connecting with others to carry out real change in your life and in your community.
Summer after summer is the hottest on record. People’s homes are flooding, burning, blowing away. We live with the loss, pain, and grief of what’s happened, and anxiety for what might happen next, as the systems in which we live are increasingly strained. Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth addresses our collective concerns with empathy, grace, and practical strategies to help us all envision a viable future. By moving through your personal and general climate anxiety, frustration, helplessness and grief, you can move toward a sense of shared purpose and community care. You’ll find actionable steps for connecting with others, identifying and activating community abundance, matching your skills with organized climate activism, and imagining a radically more livable future in order to bring it into being. Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth meets you where you are, not sugarcoating the realities of this growing crisis, but offering practical strategies for meeting a climate-changed present and future with emotional honesty and communal support.
In 2014, when Kate Schapira first set up a Climate Anxiety Counseling booth in her hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, far fewer people were talking about climate change and its attendant anxiety, leaving those who couldn’t ignore climate change and the forces that cause it feeling frantic and alone. Seeking a way to reach out and connect, Schapira set up a Peanuts -style "The Doctor Is In" booth to talk about climate change with her community. Ten years and over 1200 conversations later, Schapira channels all she’s learned into an accessible, understandable, and aware guide for processing climate anxiety and connecting with others to carry out real change in your life and in your community.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published April 9, 2024
9 people are currently reading
2359 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 22, 2024
"When people ask, at the counseling booth and elsewhere, 'Is the world about to end?' they often mean, 'Does the climate crisis mean that my life - my life as I've known it, or the way I want to live it - has to end?' Between things that will become less possible to do, things that it will be less ethical to do, and things that differ from what you're doing now but will actually improve your and others' lives as the climate changes, the answer may be yes.
"But after your life as you know it ends, as long as you're still physically alive and emotionally present, there's the uncertainty (which, remember, means the possibility) brought by another day, and another. The one certainty that comes with us when we're born - that we will die - is neutral, just like being born is. It's how, it's when, for whom, for what. Who do you want to be, with others, when the changes come that end your life as you know it?..
"I can't promise you a life where no one will hurt you, but you don't have that now. I can't promise you a life where the rules won't change on us, but we don't have that now... I do know that we weather hardship, disaster, and even violence better, and find more reasons to summon courage and endurance, when we know other people and other people know us...
"When you are your bravest, kindest self, what do you want your response to climate change to be?
"Who can help you grieve without dinking into despair?
"Who can enjoy and cherish the living world with you?
"Who can enable your deepest and most thrilling visions of possibility?"
Hope is a wonderful thing.
"But after your life as you know it ends, as long as you're still physically alive and emotionally present, there's the uncertainty (which, remember, means the possibility) brought by another day, and another. The one certainty that comes with us when we're born - that we will die - is neutral, just like being born is. It's how, it's when, for whom, for what. Who do you want to be, with others, when the changes come that end your life as you know it?..
"I can't promise you a life where no one will hurt you, but you don't have that now. I can't promise you a life where the rules won't change on us, but we don't have that now... I do know that we weather hardship, disaster, and even violence better, and find more reasons to summon courage and endurance, when we know other people and other people know us...
"When you are your bravest, kindest self, what do you want your response to climate change to be?
"Who can help you grieve without dinking into despair?
"Who can enjoy and cherish the living world with you?
"Who can enable your deepest and most thrilling visions of possibility?"
Hope is a wonderful thing.
January 17, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. As someone who experiences anxiety about the future in regards to climate change, this was a really thought provoking and practical guide to navigating our responses to our changing world.
I especially appreciated that this isn’t your typical individualistic environmentalism. This book, instead emphasizes the need for community and the need to divest from the systems of oppression that got us into this mess in the first place
Thank you Hachette books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
I especially appreciated that this isn’t your typical individualistic environmentalism. This book, instead emphasizes the need for community and the need to divest from the systems of oppression that got us into this mess in the first place
Thank you Hachette books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
November 16, 2023
At multiple times and multiple places around Providence, Kate Schapira sat behind a sign that read "Climate Anxiety Counseling 5 cents: The Doctor Is In." She found this to be an excellent way to invite conversations with strangers about climate change and their fears or concerns, and time and again she heard the same refrain: I'm just one person, what can I do?
In this book, Schapira points out that our emotional responses to the climate crisis can open the way for group action. Once we start where we are, with the people around us, we can learn from each other and find ways together to turn our collective grief and trauma into possibility. And throughout the book, Schapira offers stories about people who have found profound ways to meet the crisis head-on, questions for reader reflections, and practices that can be done alone or in community to help move people from helplessness to empowerment. Some of the possibilities discussed are learning about what the local/community needs might be and where local government is not stepping up, what individuals can offer either in direct action or care for others, how to build mutual aid networks, and how to address structural inequities (among many, many more ideas).
There is, of course, no One Big Thing that will solve all our climate-related problems. But this book offers many ways to help people move from despair to engagement in ways that truly address community needs. Whether you read this on your own and do the work by yourself, or you find a group willing to work together, it's an excellent resource. And as Schapira notes, the anxiety we feel about climate change is a sign of our uncertainty about the future -- which means that our future is not written in stone and that we have the chance to build a more just and livable future if we try.
An additional note: the author's note at the end really struck me as a positive example of how we can work together and respect each other. She gives full attribution to many people throughout the book and gave them the opportunity to have final say over how their words and stories were used in the book, and she also shared the proceeds from the book with those people, who then used that money to fill a need they saw around them. It's a wonderful example of how to use one's privilege to make space for others, and it's something that I hope will inspire others, too.
5 stars. Read it and do some of the work for yourself, share with others, pass it on.
Thank you, Hachette and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.
In this book, Schapira points out that our emotional responses to the climate crisis can open the way for group action. Once we start where we are, with the people around us, we can learn from each other and find ways together to turn our collective grief and trauma into possibility. And throughout the book, Schapira offers stories about people who have found profound ways to meet the crisis head-on, questions for reader reflections, and practices that can be done alone or in community to help move people from helplessness to empowerment. Some of the possibilities discussed are learning about what the local/community needs might be and where local government is not stepping up, what individuals can offer either in direct action or care for others, how to build mutual aid networks, and how to address structural inequities (among many, many more ideas).
There is, of course, no One Big Thing that will solve all our climate-related problems. But this book offers many ways to help people move from despair to engagement in ways that truly address community needs. Whether you read this on your own and do the work by yourself, or you find a group willing to work together, it's an excellent resource. And as Schapira notes, the anxiety we feel about climate change is a sign of our uncertainty about the future -- which means that our future is not written in stone and that we have the chance to build a more just and livable future if we try.
An additional note: the author's note at the end really struck me as a positive example of how we can work together and respect each other. She gives full attribution to many people throughout the book and gave them the opportunity to have final say over how their words and stories were used in the book, and she also shared the proceeds from the book with those people, who then used that money to fill a need they saw around them. It's a wonderful example of how to use one's privilege to make space for others, and it's something that I hope will inspire others, too.
5 stars. Read it and do some of the work for yourself, share with others, pass it on.
Thank you, Hachette and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.
September 2, 2025
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, as works in this vein can often come off as kind of hollow and placating in the very individualist lens they take. "Just learn to live with it" and "remember to practice self-care and mindfulness" kind of stuff. On the other hand sometimes books like this go whole hog the other way and leave you just kind of adrift in an ocean of "the real issues involved here are so deep and systemic that there's essentially nothing meaningful I can do short of really extreme measures." Either way, the work ends up being kind of a nothing-burger that leaves you just as aimless as before.
This, surprisingly and thankfully, was neither of those books. Honestly more of a critical workbook than a straight up non-fiction read, Schapira really takes the reader and the climate-anxious in general to task to truly sit with that anxiety and do something real and powerful with it. She accomplishes this by applying a highly collectivist and cooperative lens, getting to those structural underpinnings of climate change, but in a way that's accessible and practical rather than mired in theory and ethical hand-wringing. Throughout the book we get stories of and from everyday folks trying to make change and make a difference in their communities, and their struggles, successes, conflicts, and failures.
Every point is tempered with much-needed nuance, but in a way that feels like a simple admission of humanity rather than like defeat. Schapira's exercises ask us to hope, but also to recognize and understand what hopelessness means and does for us. They ask us to find and connect with community, but also to understand and learn to navigate the inherent internal and external conflicts that come with community. To be prepared to take risks, but also to really think about what risks we're willing to take and how we will deal with and recover from them if things go wrong.
All in all, this is definitely a book I'll be buying a copy of to help inform my own climate activism and volunteering, and one that I'd recommend to anyone involved in the same. Frankly I think this book is extremely valuable even if you're involved in other forms of activism, too - many exercises are specific to climate change, but may are more broadly about activism, change, and living in community. Whatever your involvement, if you care about the world and people around you and want to make that world a better place, do yourself a favor and grab a copy.
This, surprisingly and thankfully, was neither of those books. Honestly more of a critical workbook than a straight up non-fiction read, Schapira really takes the reader and the climate-anxious in general to task to truly sit with that anxiety and do something real and powerful with it. She accomplishes this by applying a highly collectivist and cooperative lens, getting to those structural underpinnings of climate change, but in a way that's accessible and practical rather than mired in theory and ethical hand-wringing. Throughout the book we get stories of and from everyday folks trying to make change and make a difference in their communities, and their struggles, successes, conflicts, and failures.
Every point is tempered with much-needed nuance, but in a way that feels like a simple admission of humanity rather than like defeat. Schapira's exercises ask us to hope, but also to recognize and understand what hopelessness means and does for us. They ask us to find and connect with community, but also to understand and learn to navigate the inherent internal and external conflicts that come with community. To be prepared to take risks, but also to really think about what risks we're willing to take and how we will deal with and recover from them if things go wrong.
All in all, this is definitely a book I'll be buying a copy of to help inform my own climate activism and volunteering, and one that I'd recommend to anyone involved in the same. Frankly I think this book is extremely valuable even if you're involved in other forms of activism, too - many exercises are specific to climate change, but may are more broadly about activism, change, and living in community. Whatever your involvement, if you care about the world and people around you and want to make that world a better place, do yourself a favor and grab a copy.
April 19, 2024
Full review at: https://readingourshelves.wordpress.c...
I loved this one, and found it an uplifting and informative read! It’s not a science-heavy book, but more of a self-help book about ways we can come together as communities – or across different communities – to deal with the various crises that are coming our way. While the lessons within were learned by the author’s years being involved in climate actions, they could also be applied to other areas of activism or community care.
Kate Schapira has been hearing stories of people’s “climate change anxieties” for a decade now. And more than just talking, she’s also joined some local activists to help fight the things that are threatening their local neighborhoods and jobs. She has learned a lot, and shares some interesting stories.
This book is different from other books on the topic, though, as it’s set up as more of a self-help book! After a story, or deep dive into a specific topic, the author gives you self-reflection questions and ways to practice what you’re learning. Some might encourage you to research more about what’s going on in your area, or think about how your talents could contribute to a larger movement.
Many of the exercises emphasize the idea of community, and the fact that we cannot right our trajectory solely by individual actions. Further, strengthening our bonds with others helps us feel like we’re all in this together, thereby lessening some of the initial anxiety.
She is careful to recognize that her stories are, by default of where she lives, very US-centric. She also recognizes the need to listen to indigenous perspectives, as their histories on this land go back further than others.
I felt that this was a lovely little addition to the current wave of books on this topic. The emphasis on community-building could really be essential reading for anyone, regardless of what societal issues they feel fired up about.
I loved this one, and found it an uplifting and informative read! It’s not a science-heavy book, but more of a self-help book about ways we can come together as communities – or across different communities – to deal with the various crises that are coming our way. While the lessons within were learned by the author’s years being involved in climate actions, they could also be applied to other areas of activism or community care.
Kate Schapira has been hearing stories of people’s “climate change anxieties” for a decade now. And more than just talking, she’s also joined some local activists to help fight the things that are threatening their local neighborhoods and jobs. She has learned a lot, and shares some interesting stories.
This book is different from other books on the topic, though, as it’s set up as more of a self-help book! After a story, or deep dive into a specific topic, the author gives you self-reflection questions and ways to practice what you’re learning. Some might encourage you to research more about what’s going on in your area, or think about how your talents could contribute to a larger movement.
Many of the exercises emphasize the idea of community, and the fact that we cannot right our trajectory solely by individual actions. Further, strengthening our bonds with others helps us feel like we’re all in this together, thereby lessening some of the initial anxiety.
She is careful to recognize that her stories are, by default of where she lives, very US-centric. She also recognizes the need to listen to indigenous perspectives, as their histories on this land go back further than others.
I felt that this was a lovely little addition to the current wave of books on this topic. The emphasis on community-building could really be essential reading for anyone, regardless of what societal issues they feel fired up about.
February 1, 2024
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the ARC!
as someone with a generalized anxiety disorder, and has chatted with my therapist many many times about my own climate change anxiety, as soon as I saw this title on netgalley I knew I had to read it.
Schapira just gets it-- the feelings of hopelessness, that nobody's listening, and also understands the systemic issues at play. I really appreciated that throughout reading, she points out these barriers involving race, class, colonialism, capitalism, and actively talks about avoiding ecofascist talking points. Many of the exercises were similar to those that I had found worked for me in my own therapy and mental health journey. She also stresses just how empowering it can be to give that stress and grief a name, and calls us to work together and build community. The exercises she illustrates are incredibly helpful, and I am definitely going to purchase a hard copy of the book upon release to annotate and act out the exercises within a group.
I am so thankful to Kate Schapira for her work on the climate booth, for seeing this hurt that needs to be addressed and putting out the book to reach more people!
as someone with a generalized anxiety disorder, and has chatted with my therapist many many times about my own climate change anxiety, as soon as I saw this title on netgalley I knew I had to read it.
Schapira just gets it-- the feelings of hopelessness, that nobody's listening, and also understands the systemic issues at play. I really appreciated that throughout reading, she points out these barriers involving race, class, colonialism, capitalism, and actively talks about avoiding ecofascist talking points. Many of the exercises were similar to those that I had found worked for me in my own therapy and mental health journey. She also stresses just how empowering it can be to give that stress and grief a name, and calls us to work together and build community. The exercises she illustrates are incredibly helpful, and I am definitely going to purchase a hard copy of the book upon release to annotate and act out the exercises within a group.
I am so thankful to Kate Schapira for her work on the climate booth, for seeing this hurt that needs to be addressed and putting out the book to reach more people!
May 7, 2024
A fascinating, cross-sectional window on the way people feel about climate change and how that has changed over time, alongside an abundance of ideas for how to change those feelings for the better through direct action as well as through emotional processing. As a white guy unaccustomed to interrogating my feelings, I found myself out of my depth, or at least in deep water, more often than I'd like to admit. But I found that experience incredibly useful, since it shows me what I still have yet to learn.
I found the anxieties covered here to be for the most part centered on the coastal and in particular the Eastern coastal United States, which was also fascinating and informative for me as a Boston expat now living amid the Great Lakes: the regional differences in the ways climate anxieties hit are striking.
The sheer volume of emotional work here is immense, and Schapira renders that abundantly clear without ever letting it overwhelm. This book is an amazing resource, filling a much-needed niche at a crucial moment.
I found the anxieties covered here to be for the most part centered on the coastal and in particular the Eastern coastal United States, which was also fascinating and informative for me as a Boston expat now living amid the Great Lakes: the regional differences in the ways climate anxieties hit are striking.
The sheer volume of emotional work here is immense, and Schapira renders that abundantly clear without ever letting it overwhelm. This book is an amazing resource, filling a much-needed niche at a crucial moment.
October 9, 2024
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!
Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth snuck up on me.
The way Schapira writes—the language and phrases she employs—made this this book feel like it is only intended for a very specific audience. Which is fine—not every book needs to be for everyone. I don't think I can share Lessons with the people in my community and neighborhood who have very different perspectives and hold very different beliefs about the world than me, but that's not really the purpose of this book.
Lessons is for anyone who has ever felt overwhelming despair and hopelessness in the face of climate crisis. Lessons is for anyone who has ever wondered if their choices or life can make a difference. Lessons is for anyone who longs for a richer, more compassionate community with the people around them. Lessons was for me, and it was such a gift in this tumultuous year. I'm certain I'll keep returning to it, amidst more and more tumultuous years.
Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth snuck up on me.
The way Schapira writes—the language and phrases she employs—made this this book feel like it is only intended for a very specific audience. Which is fine—not every book needs to be for everyone. I don't think I can share Lessons with the people in my community and neighborhood who have very different perspectives and hold very different beliefs about the world than me, but that's not really the purpose of this book.
Lessons is for anyone who has ever felt overwhelming despair and hopelessness in the face of climate crisis. Lessons is for anyone who has ever wondered if their choices or life can make a difference. Lessons is for anyone who longs for a richer, more compassionate community with the people around them. Lessons was for me, and it was such a gift in this tumultuous year. I'm certain I'll keep returning to it, amidst more and more tumultuous years.
April 17, 2024
Kate Schapira opened the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth in Providence, RI. Inspired by Lucy of Peanuts comics fame, her sign read “Climate Anxiety Counseling 5 cents: The Doctor Is In.” This led to many conversations with people about climate change and related fears and anxieties as well as anxiety generated by other issues.
The book is Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth: How to Live with Care and Purpose in an Endangered World by Kate Schapira. It is a book offering practical tips and exercises in dealing with these anxieties as well as making a difference. Given that climate change is real and the effects are becoming more severe in recent years, I suspect this book may help a good number of people. I thank NetGalley for allowing me read this before publication.
The book is Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth: How to Live with Care and Purpose in an Endangered World by Kate Schapira. It is a book offering practical tips and exercises in dealing with these anxieties as well as making a difference. Given that climate change is real and the effects are becoming more severe in recent years, I suspect this book may help a good number of people. I thank NetGalley for allowing me read this before publication.
January 18, 2024
Thank you to Hachette and NetGalley for this opportunity.
First, what an interest story! If you are interested in the Climate (which you should be), then this book provides a great playbook on how to both deal with Climate anxiety, as well as have meaningful conversations with others. While I enjoyed the background and narrative about the climate anxiety counseling booth, I was floored when I realized that this book existed to equip the reader with the tools necessary to navigate these conversations with family, friends, and even strangers.
Highly Recommended.
First, what an interest story! If you are interested in the Climate (which you should be), then this book provides a great playbook on how to both deal with Climate anxiety, as well as have meaningful conversations with others. While I enjoyed the background and narrative about the climate anxiety counseling booth, I was floored when I realized that this book existed to equip the reader with the tools necessary to navigate these conversations with family, friends, and even strangers.
Highly Recommended.
August 30, 2024
Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth... providing guidance and advice for readers about how to discuss climate anxiety with a variety of people, from friends and family to small groups who are passionate on the same subject to corporations and policy makers. Very opinion based, but provided several personal stories based on facts and the author's personal experience interviewing people who have lived with Climate Anxiety. Provides example questions and responses to people who need convincing.
July 24, 2024
Really helpful handbook for self-reflection and for those hoping to facilitate groups/workshops for others looking to address climate change and the psychological stress and exhaustion that it is manifesting. The activities aren't groundbreaking, but they do help the reader find their place within the existential threat of climate change and grant a little bit of agency and peace in the midst of the turmoil. Helpful for personal anxiety, but really important for facilitators.
May 20, 2024
We all suffer from climate change anxiety to one degree or another. Kate Schapira draws on real examples of that distress from her Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth. (Think Lucy in Peanuts and her Psychology booth.) Her aim is to help us get a handle on our fears and develop methods of de-stressing.
Well worth a read.
Well worth a read.
March 2, 2025
Great book to help you turn your anxiety into action! This book is not one to just blaze through, it provides activities and reflection questions that can be done solo or in a book club or activist group. Highly recommend this book for anyone wondering "where do I start?" when it comes to climate change.
March 12, 2025
A helpful and practical handbook to managing the many competing emotions that can overwhelm those who grapple with our planetary predicament. I especially appreciate the author’s thoughtful commitment to accessibility in all of her suggested practices.
July 3, 2024
Some thoughtful, actual exercises for recognizing climate-related anxiety and working on ways to feel you're doing something.
August 7, 2024
I thought the journaling promps in here were helpful, I enjoyed the opportunities for reflection. The book read more like a zine than I expected. I liked that.
Want to read
October 31, 2024Author spoke at Rally
Read
December 2, 2024Update to say, I did not finish reading. This was not quite was I expected and required more than I was able to give it. I had to return it to the library. I cannot fairly give it a rating
January 26, 2025
Very interesting point of view so someone who helps people at a Climate Anxiety booth. Very good stories.
Read
November 7, 2025Could have definitely listened to this more attentively but I think I would've enjoyed this more had I read a physical copy of the book
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews