Thicket

Climate-Focused Trauma and Resiliency Training
Navigating our Emotional Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change

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Emotional resilience is one of the strongest predictors of long-term well-being. Studies in psychology and neuroscience show that resilience practices reduce burnout, protect mental health and increase our ability to act with creativity and compassion under pressure. Just as muscles strengthen with regular use, resilience grows through intentional practice - especially when rooted in relationships and community.

Thicket is designed as a space to practice these skills together, a space of belonging where these practices are nurtured and shared. By weaving contemplative exercises, nature connection and shared dialogue, we create conditions that support sustained presence and collective care. Together, we learn how to slow down, replenish and bring care to the places of fracture.

Building emotional resilience is not optional in times of global crisis; it is the foundation for effective service, community health and the possibility of a more livable future.

Thicket

Next Cohort: February 27th - April 24th 2026

8 weeks - 4 modules

Five 120min zoom meetings on Fridays

2-4 hours of weekly asynchronous learning and practicing

Live-Meeting Time: 10-12pm PT/11-1pm MT/12-2pm CT/1-3pm ET

Live-Meeting Dates: 2/27, 3/13, 3/27, 4/10, 4/24 2026

Facilitators: Elizabeth Acuña Driscoll and  Eva Jahn
Pricing: $500-700 (scholarships available)

Offerings

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  • Nature Journeys

    Embodied nature-based experiences will offer opportunities for connecting with the more-than-human world. To acknowledge beauty, to name our losses, to feel the earth and hear her songs.

  • Contemplative Practices

    A variety of approaches to contemplative practices will offer weekly guidance focusing on emotional regulation, compassion and nature connection.

  • Community

     Sharing your experiences with your cohort members in a discussion circle provides support and connection in a time when you may feel alone with your feelings towards climate change 

  • Supportive Resources

    Every module will offer a variety resources to support your journey of navigating emotional resilience. Informational and encouraging frameworks will provide perspectives, stories and connections to people who are on this path with you.

Thicket is an eight-week online experiential training program for mental health and medical providers, educators, activists, researchers, public servants, and others navigating the overlapping crises of our time. To sustain our service to others and our care for the Earth, we also need practices that strengthen our own resilience and deepen our presence.

We believe with Susi Moser that "Burnt-out people aren't equipped to serve a burning planet."

In ecology, thickets are places of refuge and regeneration, providing shelter in challenging conditions. Our Thicket arose from the work of two licensed psychotherapists, Eva Jahn and Elizabeth Acuña Driscoll, who recognized the mounting distress that the Polycrisis evokes in individuals and communities. This training integrates evidence-based practices from psychology, environmental research and wisdom traditions into a supportive cohort model designed to build self-regulation, emotional intelligence and sustained engagement with the more-than-human world.

Course Structure & Learning Approach
Every module offers practices from our four experiential pillars of resilience: contemplative practices, nature connection, community support and curated resources. Together, these pillars support learning that is embodied, relational and practical. Participants will engage in:

  • Asynchronous learning (2–4 hours/week): short readings, videos, reflections, and nature-based practices that deepen self-awareness and applied skills.

  • Live cohort sessions (five 2-hour meetings): interactive group processes, dialogue, and guided experiential exercises.

The training follows the four stages of the Work That Reconnects (Joanna Macy), moving from gratitude to honoring our emotional landscapes, opening new perspectives and cultivating purposeful action. By engaging these stages together, participants practice skills that expand resilience, foster clarity and support compassionate presence in both personal and professional settings..

What if we were to think about grief as a form of love?

The Facilitators

Elizabeth and Eva created the Thicket course in 2019 and it has been a well-received training course by many ever since.

  • Co-Founder of CERI, Psychotherapist, and long-term group facilitator

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  • Executive director of CERI, psychotherapist, and long-term group facilitator.

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Testimonials

  • "As an activist working on the climate crisis, my mental health often was put on hold in the face of the urgency of the crises we are facing. The Thicket course helped me to slow down, and take seriously the need to better take care of my mental health. It provided useful tools, strategies and techniques, which will strengthen my well being and, by doing so, my activism too.

    Alex - South Africa Climate Justice Campaigner at 350.org, South Africa

  • "Thicket helped me to connect deeply with myself, my fellow human beings, and the Earth. Through participating in this group, I feel better able to hold my emotions related to climate change and I know what I can do to manage those emotions if they become overwhelming."

    Allegra - Clinical psychology student and researcher on climate change anxiety, Canada

  • "Thicket Training was an opportunity to strengthen my internal resilience in a safe space to express my emotions and have support for my own practice. "

    Nathalia - WTR facilitator, Brazil

  • "My work as an end-of-life doula means I'm navigating vulnerable spaces around grief and loss on a regular basis. But I find that being in a supportive role often means I'm doing less to track my own grief experiences. This is especially true when it comes to personal grief related to climate change, ecosystem collapse, etc. The Thicket course was so valuable in that it offered both a container and an outlet for me to learn about and be in creative dialogue with the various faces of my own grief. The content is dynamic, embodied, and is curated in such a way that all parts of you feel tended to and incorporated into the experience. I truly wish everyone could be gifted this sacred and thoughtful opportunity."

    Elizabeth, End-Of-Life Doula and ED of the Peaceful Presence Project, USA

  • “Eva and Elizabeth model a groundedness and open-heartedness that invited the same from me. I felt safe, understood, appreciated, seen -- with all the shades of feeling and experience I shared with the group.”ist Item

    P - Psychotherapist, USA

  • “Thicket gave me the tools and mindset needed to stay calm and engaged in climate action. I expect I will repeat many of the nature-based exercises in particular as a way to slow down and really appreciate my surroundings.”

    Stephanie - Environmental education program manager, USA