I’ve been thinking about Andrew Boyd’s book I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope, and Gallows Humor. It’s good, it’s hard, and it’s genuinely helpful. If you’re struggling with climate anxiety and grief (or anxiety and grief about other current events), Boyd is a good companion. He explores how we think, feel, and respond to the ongoing reality of environmental breakdown. Rather than offering a single “right” mindset, he interviews eight climate thinkers—from doomers to hopeful activists—each sharing how they live with the crisis in their own way.
Is Climate Anxiety “Catastrophizing”? What If the Fear is Real?
If you’ve ever done cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), you may be familiar with cognitive distortions like all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralizing, mind-reading, or catastrophizing. Often, the work involves noticing when our minds are predicting disaster and gently challenging those thoughts. But what happens when there is a real catastrophe unfolding, when the fear isn’t irrational, but grounded in reality?
Why Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Fits Climate Anxiety
This is where I often find acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) more helpful. ACT doesn’t ask us to convince ourselves that everything will be okay. Instead, it invites us to make room for painful thoughts and feelings, to stop fighting what we cannot control, and to orient ourselves toward what matters most.
The core question Boyd asks is not how to avoid catastrophe entirely, which he suggests may no longer be possible, but how to make what comes next as humane, equitable, and life-affirming as possible. This question closely mirrors the heart of ACT. In my work, I often talk with clients about what kind of people they want to be in the circumstances they are in, not the circumstances they wish they had.
Building a Meaningful Life
ACT is grounded in the idea that a meaningful life is built through values-based action, even—and especially—in the presence of fear, grief, and uncertainty. When we show up for life in ways that align with our deepest values, we build meaning not by avoiding pain, but by choosing how we live alongside it. In that sense, meaning isn’t something we wait for; it’s something we practice.
That’s what Boyd’s “better catastrophe” points toward. Not a happy ending, but a more humane way of living through what is already here.
If you’re thinking about how to live meaningfully in a world undergoing profound ecological change, I recommend Boyd’s book. And if you’re struggling with climate grief, anxiety, or a sense of paralysis, acceptance and commitment therapy may offer a way forward—not by taking the pain away, but by helping you live well in its presence.