Your Fault: Relationships Suffer Due To Hotcoldwetdry

Have I seen this one before? I guess if we want to include harassing your relatives at Thanksgiving and Christmas

Couples therapist Orna Guralnik thinks climate change is affecting your relationship

Psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist Orna Guralnik became one of America’s favorite couples therapists through her role on the Showtime docuseries “Couples Therapy.” Guralnik has said in press interviews that she thinks climate change is at the root of many pressing challenges today, from our governments to the “mini political systems” we build in our homes.

Yale Climate Connections sat down with Guralnik to dive deeper into how she sees climate change affecting romantic relationships, families, and communities.

Yale Climate Connections: How do you see the climate crisis affecting our relationships with one another?

Orna Guralnik: I happen to think that the climate crisis that we’re all facing is probably the most important factor that is influencing global politics, all the way to couples’ relationships, family planning, and the way people live within themselves. I think it’s definitely the biggest threat and challenge that humanity is facing, and even the biggest climate deniers are, on some level, very aware of the fact that we have caused irreparable damage to the Earth. I see a lot of what’s happening in the world on a large scale and on a more local scale as a response to that crisis and impending doom.

My head hurts from reading that, causing eye roll.

Yale Climate Connections: When people come to therapy, whether it’s couples therapy or individual therapy, how might they be aware that climate change may be coming up in the room? Or how might they bring it up themselves?

Guralnik: People are often referring to this kind of free-floating anxiety that is on the rise now, and they just make these vague reference points to it. “Well, you know what’s going on in the world? Dot, dot, dot.” So it would be good for people to repeatedly pause and say, “What do you mean? What are you referring to? There’s a lot of things going on in the world. Let’s get explicit about it. What are you anxious about?” Like, break through the fog of defense, you know? And then, if you ask people, they will pretty quickly talk about not only the political and polarization tensions, but climate. It’s right there. Both the fear of the future and the shame and guilt about all this destruction that we’re engaging with every day.

Kinda sounds like she’s leading them into this cult insanity, which would be malpractice. Sounds like she needs a competent mental health professional who is not a cult member for her own issues. Seriously, Yale is trotting out a TV show host for this?