Re-Nature with Clara Schroeder: Ecotherapy, Climate Grief, and Healing Our Bond with Nature

What if nature is not just something we visit, but one of the oldest relationships we have? In this episode of Inner Compass Podcast, Vanessa sits down with Clara Schroeder, ecotherapist and author of Re-Nature: How Nature Helps Us Feel Better and Do Better, for a conversation about ecopsychology, climate grief, ritual, attachment, and the healing intelligence of the natural world. Together, they explore why “we are nature” is not simply a poetic idea, but a psychological, somatic, and spiritual reality. Clara shares how she came to ecotherapy through wildlife conservation, clinical psychology, spirituality, and her own recovery from a traumatic brain injury, and explains how nature can become a co-guide or co-regulating presence in the healing process. This conversation moves beyond “go touch grass” into something deeper: what happens to the human psyche when we are trained to live as if we are separate from nature? What gets lost when ritual, place, death, ecology, and the more-than-human world are pushed out of our daily lives? And how do we begin repairing our attachment to the original mother after ecological disaster, climate grief, burnout, and disconnection? What we cover: • What ecopsychology and ecotherapy actually are • Nature as co-regulator and ally in the healing process • Why “we are nature” changes the way we understand mental health • Meaning-making, synchronicity, ritual, and the psyche • Climate grief and the specific rupture that can happen after ecological disaster • The difference between demonizing and romanticizing nature • The life-death-life cycle and why destruction is part of the sacred • Nature as original mother and the possibility of repairing attachment with the earth • How reparenting, community, and reciprocity can expand beyond the human world For educational purposes only. This isn’t therapy. Resources: Re-Nature by Clara Schroeder Use for: Guest’s book, Re-Nature: How Nature Helps Us Feel Better and Do Better. Link: https://www.claraschroeder.com/book Note: Clara’s site describes the book as exploring nature connection, mental health, resilience, climate disruption, and sustainable action. Ecopsychology / Theodore Roszak Use for: Defining ecopsychology as the bridge between psychology and ecology / the human psyche and the natural world. Link: https://www.ebsco.com/research-starte... Note: Useful general background on ecopsychology and its association with Theodore Roszak’s The Voice of the Earth. Nature exposure and health Use for: Research support that exposure to natural environments is associated with decreased anxiety, rumination, and other mental health benefits. Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... Note: Review article on associations between nature exposure and health. Nature relatedness and mental health Use for: Research support that stronger nature relatedness is associated with fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... Note: Helpful support for the episode’s claim that relationship with nature matters for mental health. Connectedness to Nature Scale Use for: Research on emotional / experiential connection to the natural world. Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publicat... Note: Mayer and Frantz’s Connectedness to Nature Scale is a common measure in environmental psychology. Andy Goldsworthy quote Use for: “We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something separate from us…” Link: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/go... Note: This is a cleaner source than Goodreads for the quote used in the episode. Connect with Claire: Clara’s website: https://www.claraschroeder.com/ Book page: https://www.claraschroeder.com/book Instagram:   / livingwithclarity   Book Instagram:   / renaturebook   Substack: https://claraschroeder.substack.com/ If you want to go deeper, check out the written companion on Substack and explore community + training at https://www.vanessaBennett.com. Additional Resources Explore: https://vanessabennett.com/ Book: https://www.vanessabennett.com/the-mo... Community: https://www.vanessabennett.com/inner-... Training: https://www.vanessabennett.com/inner-... Connect with Inner Compass Follow on   / inner_compass_co   Connect with Vanessa Bennett: Follow on   / vanessasbennett   Follow on   / itsvanessabennett   Learn more on https://substack.com/@itsvanessabennett Connect with Vanessa Bennett on   / itsvanessabennett