We live in dark times
As I write, representatives from eight South American governments are gathering in Brazil to discuss the future of the Amazon rainforest¹ – a vast region roughly twice the size of India, and one of the planet’s most important systems for storing carbon. Despite its critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate, the Amazon has long been treated as a resource to be exploited, often with little regard for sustainability or for the rights of its Indigenous peoples.
The consequences of this approach are becoming increasingly clear. Atmospheric chemist Luciana Gatti, in a report for The Independent,² highlights how deforestation contributes to rising greenhouse gas levels, while also reducing rainfall and increasing temperatures. The effects are not isolated – they compound one another. As Gatti puts it, by destroying the Amazon, we are accelerating climate change. In doing so, we are undermining the very conditions that support life on this planet.
This dynamic reflects what Carl Jung described as the ‘tension of opposites’, a concept central to his thinking and one that will feel familiar to therapists. We encounter it in the pull between creation and destruction, growth and collapse, love and hostility, dependence and autonomy. It is present not only in our clients’ inner worlds, but in our own. We are often caught between what we sense we truly need to live authentically, and the adaptations we have made to meet external expectations – those of family, culture and society.
This tension is not only psychological; it is ecological and cultural too. Our relationship with the land is not optional. It is fundamental. When that connection is broken – particularly through forces beyond our control – the result is not only environmental damage, but a deep loss of belonging.
In a time marked by environmental crisis and uncertainty, this return to nature may be more than a source of comfort. It may be part of the work of repair – both personal and collective. Not simply a retreat from the world as it is, but a way of re-engaging with it more consciously, and perhaps more sustainably, than before.
References
1. Maisonnave F, Biller D. Governments are gathering to talk about the Amazon rainforest. Why is it so important to protect? The Independent 2023; 6 August. https://tinyurl.com/mubj9zy8 (accessed 8 August 2023).
2. Conochie G. Holding the tension of opposites: why the way to solve our problems often isn't what we expect. The Art of Embodiment 2021; 30 June. https://tinyurl.com/2knr7jju (accessed 8 August 2023).
This is an edited extract from an editorial first published in Private Practice, September 2023, published by BACP©