Te Ipu Taiao – The Climate Crucible

“This is a time of great reckoning. Privately, locally, globally. The question is no longer ‘when will this change?’ but ‘how far am I willing to go to meet the changes and bring them about in myself?’” Kae Tempest

We invite you to join members of NZAP on Saturday mornings, 6, 13, 20 & 27 March 2021, in an online learning community to address the Climate Tragedy.

The destructive domination of neo-liberal capitalism has engendered ‘othering’ of indigenous people, inculcated a culture of hyper-individualism, destroyed the habitats of other species, perpetuated injustice and inequality and threatened the very fabric of life.

What will become possible if we reflect on the unconscious processes involved in our disconnection from Earth? Detached, disembodied and omnipotent, we have used our ecosystems and other life-forms as objects for perverse and unfettered enjoyment, denying our utter dependence on and indebtedness to the intricate web of life of which we are a part and which we surely need to protect.

What resources can we bring from the body of theory that informs us and our experiences as psychotherapists that might contribute understanding, stimulate debate or support community preparation and action in the evolving crisis?

What can Pakeha learn from te Ao Maori about belonging within ‘the woven universe’? This intricate web of relationships in which tangata ira live in relation to other entities that respond and have agency. This provides a contrast to omnipotent and superior individualism as cultivated in Western world views.

We hope that in coming together we may find strength to face some of the reality of the climate crisis, bear feelings of grief, rage and guilt in the service of mourning and the discovery of a pathway towards rapprochement, reparation and repair.

In the Climate Crucible leading thinkers in psychotherapy and science will participate in our enquiry regarding the environmental, social and political changes that are coming with Climate Change and what we can do now to prepare personally, as psychotherapists and citizens in this time of “great reckoning”.

For more details and to register, please go to nzap.org.nz/nzap-events/conferences/