Join us if you are seeking connection in challenging times. This 7-week experience is a good complement to practices during the Season of Creation and is designed by therapists, pastors and chaplains. This is for people of all faiths and for those with no faith affiliation and is offered for teachers, parents, young and older people, community leaders, pastors and creation care advocates. Together, we will explore emotional and spiritual responses and share stories in the face of current ecological and social challenges. Green Teams and church groups have had great experiences registering together and being in the same small groups.
Responses like grief and sorrow, anxiety and fear, guilt and shame, anger, and despair are normal responses in unprecedented times. This course is designed to offer mutual support, healing, insight, and compassion, not a therapy experience. Register Before August 21 Deadline
Offered 7 Thursdays, August 27- October 8, 2026, 12:30-1:45 pm ET pm ET Led by therapists Connie Burns, Martha Frame and Sydne Stone and Rev. Scott Hardin-Nieri.
*Registration Fee = $20 *Scholarships available, Email Shardinnieri@gmail.com Past participants expressed profound gratitude for being among people who could talk honestly about grief, suffering, and the ecological and social challenges of our time.
The movement of these 7-weeks together will include the following:
1. Introductions/Orientation
2. Sorrow/Grief
3. Anger
4. Fear/anxiety
5. Shame/Guilt
6. Despair/Hopelessness
7. Integration and wholeness
Facilitators
Sydne Stone: I’m a mostly retired psychotherapist living near the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia with my partner and dog. Time in the forest and other natural areas is essential to me, as is this kind of work. Processing feelings around ecological challenges has become fundamental to my well-being, and I look forward to this circle.
Connie Burns: I’ve lived in the southern Appalachian mountains for nearly 30 years and have done eco-grief work for the past 7 or 8. I believe that living in balance and connection with the Earth requires learning to work through our feelings about what’s happening. A psychotherapist of 40-some years, I find these circles rich and rewarding.
Martha Frame: I live in the Catskill mountains of upstate New York on a family farm I help care for. A Protestant Christian confirmed in the Episcopal church with liberal theological leanings, I trained as a clinical social worker and chaplain, drawing on eco-therapy, eco-theology, and eco-grief in my practice. I’ve shared these circles as intern, participant, and facilitator since 2020.
Scott Hardin-Nieri: Serves as Co-Minister of Green Chalice and Director of Bethany Congregations, bringing nearly 20 years of ministry experience. He co-founded Eco Grief/Story Circles and offers climate-informed spiritual direction, shaped by Hurricane Helene’s impact on Western North Carolina. Holding degrees from Texas A&M and San Francisco Theological Seminary, he helps communities grow justice and resilience in a climate-changed world.
