Climate Trauma and Habits Toward Hope: A Decolonizing Earth-Centered Approach

Climatechange is fueled by ongoing colonial systems of domination embedded incapitalism, threatening both human and more-than-human life. Trauma theorysuggests that, when faced with overwhelming threat, humans often default tofight, flight, or freeze responses—reactions that can obscure the reality ofthe climate crisis and allow destructive systems to persist. This paperexplores the intersections of colonialism, climate change, and trauma,examining how trauma responses manifest in the face of ecological collapse,including in theological expressions of hope. Drawing on trauma recovery modelsand earth-centered motifs, it proposes decolonizing, trauma-informed practicesthat support sustained engagement with the climate crisis. How can individualsand spiritual communities cultivate the capacity to "stay with the trouble"(Haraway) and act for life's flourishing, even amid destruction? The paperinvites a reimagining of hope—not as escapism, but as a grounded, relationalpractice for living well in the Anthropocene.