Attachment, Climate Crisis and the Natural World: The John Bowlby Memorial Conference Monograph 2024

Attachment, Climate Crisis and the Natural World is the first book to consider the psychological and social impact of global warming through the lens of Attachment Theory. The contributors reflect on our relationship with the natural world from the perspective of Bowlby’s major themes, including the nature and primacy of the attachment instinct for survival, the secure base, separation anxiety, maternal deprivation, loss and mourning. The therapeutic value of renewing our relationship with, and respect for, the natural world we are part of is explored, as is working with psychotherapy clients who are troubled by the climate emergency and suffering caused around the world by continued reckless plundering of natural resources. Attachment, Climate Crisis and the Natural World will offer valuable insights for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, counsellors, psychologists, environmental activists, and anyone concerned about our relationship with the natural world in times of ecological crisis.