Growing Ecological Resilience

In 2021, the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work was the nation’s first school of social work to introduce an ecological justice concentration. Now, GSSW is the first known graduate school of social work to offer an MSW Certificate in Mental Health for Ecological Resilience and Adaptation.

Beginning in fall 2025, the certificate will prepare Denver Campus MSW students with the knowledge and skills to address and adapt to the interlinked social and environmental crises unfolding. The Ecological Resilience MSW certificate can be paired with any specialization pathway, and in 2026, the certificate will be available to students enrolled in GSSW's other MSW programs.

“Social justice is the foundation of social work education and practice. This certificate addresses ecological injustices and the multiple interdependent global social and ecological crises that affect the well-being of individuals, communities and Earth’s non-human inhabitants,” says Clinical Professor Sarah Bexell, who led certificate development. She explains that social and environmental crises are intertwined with environmental racism, injustice and speciesism, creating a “polycrisis” that exacerbates the harms that would be caused by any one crisis alone. “Social work is urgently needed to build resilience during the polycrisis and cultivate a compassionate human presence on Earth.”

Core certificate topics span social–ecological systems; critical anti-oppressive practice; strategies for psycho–social resilience-building with individuals, groups, or communities; systems thinking; traditional ecological knowledge; honoring other ways of being; regenerative futures; decolonizing the therapy room; and program development. More than 38% of U.S. adults report having some “eco-anxiety” — extreme worry about current or future harm to the environment caused by human activity — so students also learn clinical skills for addressing the growing issue of ecological distress and related diagnoses.

Certificate Advisor and Professor of the Practice Rachel Forbes explains, “Social workers are uniquely positioned to lead in addressing the mental health impacts of climate change. By combining research, advocacy and community-based practice, we can help build resilient and hopeful futures for those most affected by environmental injustice.”

“Training the next generation of social workers to understand and address the mental health impacts of climate change is essential. Equipping them with the tools to address eco-anxiety and related challenges ensures that individuals and communities are not only supported in healing but also empowered to thrive in the face of environmental challenges,” adds Forbes, who also directs the Western Colorado MSW Program and co-edited the recent book Ecosocial Work.

Several related courses have already been introduced, including the core course “Environmental Change Impacts and Resilience Strategies for Mental Health.” A new required course for the certificate, “Clinical Interventions for Building Resilience for Global Environmental Change,” provides students with an advanced conceptual understanding of the intersection between mental health, equity and environmental change. Students will develop the skills to treat diagnoses commonly associated with direct and indirect impacts of the ecological crisis as well as manage related ecological emotions, such as ecological distress, solastalgia, and ecological grief. Courses also emphasize nervous system regulation work and the transformation of difficult emotions on a community level to support health, resilience, adaptation, empowerment and activism. In addition to taking three required courses for the certificate, students choose from several elective courses (including interdisciplinary courses offered by other DU programs) or can complete an aligned field internship.

Students who earn the certificate can go on to earn their licensure and can work at the micro, mezzo or macro levels. Potential roles range from helping individual therapy clients to process eco-emotions and deal with environmental injustice, to developing policies supporting environmental and social adaptation.

The school also hopes to introduce a complimentary post-master’s certificate program for practicing mental health professionals. GSSW alumna and Adjunct Professor Kristen Greenwald (MSW ’17, LCSW) helped to develop the certificate and says, “Social workers themselves need to build mental and physical resilience so we can help our clients and communities adapt to environmental and other global changes.”