Psychotherapy with eco-anxiety: Implications from a study of the climate emergency in Ireland using discourse analysis

Abstract

Eco-anxiety is an increasingly common presentation for psychotherapists. This paper aimed to explore the discursive construction of the climate emergency in Ireland in 2024 and its implications for psychotherapy with eco-anxiety. The starting premise was that eco-anxiety emerges from a rupture in Western Modernity’s order of discourse; in particular, a rupture in the alliance between science and capitalism. Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2013) was employed to examine representations of the climate emergency produced during the Irish general election of 2024. The analysis suggests broad acceptance of the reality of climate breakdown in Irish discourse; and competing views on whether this is manageable or catastrophic. The research explores how power is employed, subjectivities are created and cultural complexes are activated in discourse about the climate emergency; and how and why this is relevant for psychotherapists working with eco-anxiety.