Spirituality, Therapy, and the Good Life

In “Why Taking Care Of Just My Own Corner Of The World Is No Longer An Option” therapist and founder of Therapists for Social Responsibility, Shauna Smith, asserted, “We as therapists are in a unique position to know, understand and speak out about the inequities in our society, the crimes committed against humanity and especially children, because of a system whose bottom line is profit, not people. We know that basic social services are woefully inadequate and that reducing them while delivering corporate tax credits, subsidies and bailouts, never mind the $1 billion a day that goes to the military and the additional estimated $100 to $200 billion to fund preemptive military interventions in other countries, is unacceptable… We are in a unique position to know that more and more people are being diagnosed with stress, depression and anxiety. While we may not know the exact interplay of nature vs. nurture within each individual we do know that people’s well-being improves when they live in environments which nurture and support rather than deplete and impede. We could double everybody’s dosage of celexa to stabilize their moods, but in many cases people are experiencing normal reactions to being bombarded by the system they live under. ”

In a letter to congress and to key members of the Obama administration on mental health impacts of client change, psychologists for social responsibility wrote, “Climate change already appears to be having devastating environmental effects in the U.S… The psychological responses to those effects can also be devastating. Many Americans are already anxious about what climate change portends. The greater risk is that millions of people will develop severe and persistent anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, aggression, and other troubled behavior if the U.S. does not quickly lead the way to dramatically reduce carbon emissions.

Without such action, the impact of heat waves, extreme storms and floods, droughts and water shortages, food production problems, lessened air quality, sea level rise, and displacement from homes and communities is likely to pose significant mental-health challenges to millions of Americans and billions of others worldwide…”

As therapists we all too often witness the psychological, emotional and spiritual pain infllicted by our profit driven culture. How do those of us charged with assisting our clients to create lasting change address these wounds while all too often ignoring their social causes? Eknath Easwaren, creator of passage meditation, reminds us that, “lasting change happens when people see for themselves that a different way of life is more fulfilling than their present one.” There’s a great deal that those in the mental health profession have come to understand regarding the root causes of depression, anxiety, over-consumption, and alianation. We also have so much to offer in terms of sharing (not only with our clients but within our larger communities) what will counter these ills and promote meaning, community, happiness and sustainability. (More on this in later posts)

I attended the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream workhsop this past weekend where we were reminded that all we need to do to make this a more “environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just” world is to just do SOMETHING, ANYTHING. If each and every one of us does just one little thing towards any of of these goals, the ultimate transformation will be remarkable. What one little thing might you do?