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

This heatwave couldn’t have been this extreme without climate change.(And I’ve long loved “World on Fire” by Sarah MacLa...
07/03/2026

This heatwave couldn’t have been this extreme without climate change.

(And I’ve long loved “World on Fire” by Sarah MacLachlan, which has been on repeat for me lately and is just as apt now, if not more so, than when it was released in 2009.)

06/24/2026

All children the world over deserve a life of peace, and of freedom from the threats of climate change.

Last year, the American Psychological Association —the largest psychological association in the world—produced a webinar...
06/23/2026

Last year, the American Psychological Association —the largest psychological association in the world—produced a webinar (now available on demand in a free version as well as a paid CE version) on working with climate change in clinical practice and on using psychology to make a difference with climate change.

It matters a tremendous amount that APA is sending the message that psychological work with climate change is important and will be increasingly relevant as the world warms. Psychologists have a long history through of sounding the alarm on climate change and mental health, starting with the first APA Task Force on Climate Change in 2009, and I was honored to be part of the team that created and presented this webinar with , Scott Barstow, Gale Sinatra, and Susan Clayton, all of us dedicated to bringing it to life for the benefit of practitioners and others everywhere.

Access it in my link in bio or here: https://www.apa.org/education-career/training/getting-involved-climate-change.html

Bringing back some words from a year ago because they’re worth repeating, maybe even especially these days. We all exist...
06/16/2026

Bringing back some words from a year ago because they’re worth repeating, maybe even especially these days.

We all exist in the context of the various systems we’re in—our family systems, our communities, sociopolitical systems, economic systems, local and planetary ecosystems—and we affect, and are affected by, those systems. You’re not feeling climate anxiety and eco-grief in a vacuum but within all those contexts, including humankind’s toxic relationship with the fossil fuel industry and those who seek power at the expense of the natural world and human lives and wellbeing. So when we talk about managing climate anxiety, it’s with that knowledge as a central piece. It can be overwhelming and we need to ground ourselves, but not in order to placate ourselves so that we tolerate those abuses. Instead, it’s so that we (re)discover our care for ourselves and others, and so that we find the power and strength to act on our own behalf and for our own protection—by holding the system accountable and working to create something better for ourselves.

This post is the third in my “It’s Not Just Climate Anxiety” series. Human-caused climate change affects mental health, ...
06/10/2026

This post is the third in my “It’s Not Just Climate Anxiety” series. Human-caused climate change affects mental health, and in more ways than climate anxiety. Climate anxiety has thankfully gotten a lot of press in recent years, but it’s far from the only way that climate change affects our mental health, and this series is designed to share some of the other ways we’re impacted.

Today’s topic is trauma—both the acute and chronic trauma of climate change. Here are some ways that trauma shows up in relation to human-caused climate change:

• The unending, relentless stress of looking ahead to a lifetime of climate crisis has been termed “pre-traumatic stress disorder” by psychiatrist Lise Van Susteren.

• The direct experience of climate disasters and climate-exacerbated extreme weather can lead to acute stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder in some people.

• Exposure to even far-away climate disasters, through the news or others’ experiences, can lead to vicarious trauma. So can studying or working with climate change.

• The chronic nature of climate change has also been construed as traumatic, with less ability to recover between extreme events because they’re more frequent.

Human-caused climate change is preventable. We don’t deserve trauma.

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.

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