Humanity&Planet

Humanity&Planet Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Humanity&Planet, Psychologist, 202 E. Washington Street , #300-B, Ann Arbor, MI.

Dr. Laura Carter Robinson
☀️ Clinical psychologist & ecopsychologist
🌎 Climate change/env. + mental health specialist
🌳 Consulting | writing | teaching | workshops | speaking

Today is National Trails Day with ! Paths winding their way through the wilderness or your neighborhood, portals to a wo...
06/06/2026

Today is National Trails Day with !

Paths winding their way through the wilderness or your neighborhood, portals to a world that opens up around the next corner, throughlines on a journey through place, emotion, and visceral experience—trails take us places, in every sense of the phrase.

Do you have a favorite trail? I have my local favorite go-to trails for everyday hiking, and countless favorites from the places I’ve traveled to hike. Since I’m not outside at the moment, though I’ll be out later, here’s a sampling of some of my close-to-home and traveled-to hikes in the U.S. I take photos of trails all the time because I find them so evocative and beautiful.

🛶 Protecting our public lands, waters, and parks, and making the outdoors inclusive, is crucial. Human beings and the rest of the natural world are interdependent, and honoring our relationship with, and responsibility to care for, the natural world matters and is meaningful. Reach out to your members of Congress about preserving our public lands, and the trails within them.

🌲 As well, nature provides the beautiful views but our stewardship makes it possible to keep the outdoors clean and safe. You can help take care of trails by picking up any trash you notice or by joining a trail maintenance project. Also, stay on trails, not off-trail, when you’re hiking and leave only footprints.

🥾 Find out more about all of the above, or find a local event for today, at https://americanhiking.org/national-trails-day/

ICYMI: Climate change affects our mental health in so many problematic ways that aren’t in the headlines but that we sho...
06/06/2026

ICYMI: Climate change affects our mental health in so many problematic ways that aren’t in the headlines but that we should know about. Cognitive processes like our thinking, memory, and attention are greatly impacted by it, for example. Check out my Substack for a very quick read of brief points you can share the next time you’re thinking of talking with someone about climate change. You can access it at my link in bio or at humanityandplanet.substack.com (it’s free and no subscription is needed).

As hard as it is to think about, I imagine that most of you would want to know that this is another reason we need to do...
06/04/2026

As hard as it is to think about, I imagine that most of you would want to know that this is another reason we need to do something about human-caused climate change. This week’s post is Part 2 in my series of quick and easy-to-read points about climate change and mental health, and it’s on thinking, attention, memory, and more.

Why the phrase “It’s Not Just Climate Anxiety”? Because while climate anxiety is real and valid, there are other ways that climate change affects mental health, too. For example:

• Climate change negatively affects our cognitive processes like how we think, learn, remember, and pay attention.

• Heat due to climate change leads to more pollution—both ground-level ozone and particulate pollution—which increases the risk of dementia and even makes Alzheimer’s worse.

• Heat harms our ability to focus and pay attention.

• High levels of CO2 itself directly decrease our decision-making abilities.

• Bottom line: Our brains on climate change don’t work as well. We don’t need to think twice to know things have to change.

Most people don’t know about these consequences of climate change because they’re not usually front-page news, even though they are so critical to every aspect of our lives. Let’s change that and start having the conversation with each other, and with those in power who should be protecting our brains and mental health.

As hard as it is to think about, I imagine that most of you would want to know about these additional reasons we need to...
06/04/2026

As hard as it is to think about, I imagine that most of you would want to know about these additional reasons we need to do something about human-caused climate change. This week’s post is Part 2 in my series of quick and easy-to-read points about climate change and mental health, and it’s on thinking, attention, memory, and more.

Why the phrase “It’s Not Just Climate Anxiety”? Because while climate anxiety is real and valid, there are other ways that climate change affects mental health, too. For example:

• Climate change negatively affects our cognitive processes like how we think, learn, remember, and pay attention.

• Heat due to climate change leads to more pollution—both ground-level ozone and particulate pollution—which increases the risk of dementia and even makes Alzheimer’s worse.

• Heat harms our ability to focus and pay attention.

• High levels of CO2 itself directly decrease our decision-making abilities.

• Bottom line: Our brains on climate change don’t work as well. We don’t need to think twice to know things have to change.

Most people don’t know about these consequences of climate change because they’re not usually front-page news, even though they are so critical to every aspect of our lives. Let’s change that and start having the conversation with each other, and with those in power who should be protecting our brains and mental health.

ICYMI earlier this week in my IG post, climate change has all kinds of effects on our mental health that most people don...
05/30/2026

ICYMI earlier this week in my IG post, climate change has all kinds of effects on our mental health that most people don’t know about. Even though climate anxiety has thankfully become more well known and publicized, there are other consequences as well. Some of those include aggression and violence. Read my Substack (access through link-in-bio or at humanityandplanet.substack.com) for a quick read on the details. (Free and no subscription needed.)

05/28/2026

There are so many ways I experience the natural world. Hiking and being amidst trees, dirt, and sky, and absorbing the breeze and birdsong—these are just a few. How about you? What are some of the ways you experience it and feel connected?

05/27/2026

As someone said to me earlier today, it’s “fawn season”! And it’s also mama season, and this beautiful new mama deer just had her fawn a couple of days ago. What a gift to be able to be on this planet with living beings of such beauty and gentle strength.

Every spring my family hopes to have a fawn or two at least wander through our property or nearby in our semi-rural neighborhood. It doesn’t always happen but often does! We haven’t yet seen this fawn (though our neighbors did) because so far it’s carefully hidden away, but Mama Deer has been hanging out in our yard, resting and eating.

It’s wondrous to share a space with creatures, from large to small, and I’m grateful. And it feels really good to know they feel safe in our space.

When I first learned about the mental health effects of climate change, I was stunned and horrified. These consequences ...
05/26/2026

When I first learned about the mental health effects of climate change, I was stunned and horrified. These consequences are not widely known by most people, and in an attempt to help with that in my own small way, today I’m starting a series of quick and easy-to-read points over a few weeks, called “It’s Not Just Climate Anxiety.”

Why that name? Because climate anxiety has gotten a lot of press over the past few years. That’s incredibly valuable and helpful in letting people know more about it and normalizing it, but even though climate anxiety is widespread, it’s not the only thing that happens to us from a mental health perspective due to climate change.

My first topic is aggression, conflict, and violence as a consequence of climate change. Here’s how people are affected:

• Heat makes people irritated and increases aggression.

• Higher temperatures lead to increased child neglect.

• Domestic violence and child abuse often increase after disasters like those related to climate change.

• Climate change multiples the the threat of other social challenges and difficulties. The destabilization of society, displacement of people, and fewer available resources increase the risk of conflict and war.

Let’s fight climate change. So we don’t fight each other.

Wild, rich nature is filled with life forms that mutually affect each other in a finely tuned balance. And that biodiver...
05/22/2026

Wild, rich nature is filled with life forms that mutually affect each other in a finely tuned balance. And that biodiversity leads to human wellbeing—not surprisingly since, as humans, we evolved while embedded in the natural world.

Here’s the thing, though—climate change is coming for biodiversity, and has been for a while. Biodiversity has been dangerously depleted at an unprecedented rate. So bring on the healthy forests, waterways, and meadows, and the wildlife they all support. Bring on the native plant gardens over lawns. Rewild, preserve, and protect. And most of all, bring on the necessary change to a world that’s green in plants *and* green in energy, and healthy for all forms of life. Because we are interconnected as part of the web of life, and living with care for the other members of the web just makes sense. And we need the web of life, not only for our wellbeing but also very much for our lives themselves.

Today’s International Day for Biodiversity theme of “Act Locally for Global Impact” reflects the importance of everyone’s role in increasing biodiversity, all the way from individuals to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022, so that humans can live in harmony with the rest of the natural world. What action can you take to benefit biodiversity where you are?

05/20/2026

More than 73,000 people in 77 countries, representing 87% of the world’s population, were surveyed. And 80% of them said they want their countries’ governments to take stronger action on climate change. So when governments tell you they’re all in on fossil fuels, they’re not representing you, or your mental health and wellbeing.

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202 E. Washington Street , #300-B
Ann Arbor, MI
48104

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+17348642056

Website

http://linktr.ee/humanityandplanet, http://sincere-acorn-97135.myflodesk.com/cpq1roy5

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