Everything wrong and nowhere to go

12 MINUTES

Climate fears make Sindha feel doomed. Can eco-therapy help?

Amid yet another destructive wildfire season in southern California, the Pakistani American filmmaker Sindha Agha found herself deeply upset by the seemingly apocalyptic present and her anxieties about an even worse climate future. Unable to work, sleep or feel joy in everyday life, she seeks answers in the field of ‘climate psychology’, and learns that she is very much not alone. Delivered in Agha’s signature earnest-yet-comedic video-essay style, her short film Everything Wrong and Nowhere to Go tracks her search for relief, eventually leading her to the ‘climate therapist’ Leslie Davenport. Mining her fearful thoughts and therapy sessions with Davenport, Agha contemplates what it means to find degrees of inner peace and resilience in the face of real threats and genuine uncertainty.

ANXIETY PSYCHOTHERAPY WORRY AND RUMINATION

Director: Sindha Agha

Producer: Elizabeth Woodward

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MIND-BODY INTERACTIONS

How slow breathing calms down your brain

Researchers studied the effect of slow breathing on people’s brain activity while they experienced anticipatory anxiety

by Christian Jarrett

Photo of a set of keys on a pavement with yellow and grey paint markings in the background.

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

How I became a psychoanalyst by losing my keys

What are we really doing when we sit in a room with our patients and exchange some words?

by Jordan Osserman

Illustration of a room with a person lounging on a bed, a pink dresser, a table with cups and a plant.

A mysterious black orb trails Mo, growing ever harder to ignore

A film by Gil Goletski

A woman on a laptop in a modern café with wall art, a large cactus and pendant lights above.

WORRY AND RUMINATION

What if your worry problem is really a planning problem?

Clinicians have long recognised the link between worry and planning. New research asks what this means for managing anxiety

by Paul B Sharp

Photo of a woman in a floral blouse thinking deeply with her hands clasped near her face.

COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIOURAL THERAPIES

Instead of wrestling with self-defeating thoughts, try this

When your own thoughts discourage and undermine you, it’s easy to get tangled. A change of strategy could get you past it

by Joe Oliver & Kristy Potter

Two people holding mugs of tea at a round wooden table, one wearing a scarf, blurred green background.

Think someone should see a therapist? Here’s how to bring it up

Your suggestion could be invaluable, and it doesn’t need to be perfect. These steps will help you get a caring message across

by Kathryn Gordon

A man observing a large, lifelike sculpture of an elderly man with a braid on a white gallery wall.

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

Men’s anxiety about hair loss can have a deeper meaning

As a psychoanalyst, I’ve seen how reflecting on the emotional symbolism of hair loss can be therapeutic for many men

by Tom Wooldridge

Close-up of hands holding clear frogspawn with visible black eggs in a natural outdoor setting.

A filmmaker’s never-realised ideas become an exploration of self-doubt

Directed by Cameron Nicoll