Debbie Crawford Sturm, PhD, LPC

Dr. Debbie Sturm is a 2008 graduate of UNC-Charlotte's Counselor Education program, a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Professor at James Madison University, and contributing faculty for Walden University. Her clinical specialties include trauma, community violence, family systems, and nature-connectedness. She has graduate coursework, training, and teaching in environmental advocacy, environmental education, climate resilience efforts, environmental justice, and communication strategies. She is a member of ACA’s Climate Crisis Task Force and Human Rights Committee. She is a Steering Committee Member and Press Liaison for the Climate Psychology Alliance. She received the 2013 SACES Award for Outstanding Teaching, the 2020 SACES Courtland Lee Social Justice Award, and the 2021 Counselors for Social Justice Climate Justice Award. She is a trained member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps. In 2017, Dr. Sturm wrote the first article on climate and mental health to appear in ACA’s Counseling Today. Since then, she has published two book chapters and two encyclopedia entries on the impact of climate on mental health. She has produced a dozen (including in-press) peer-reviewed journal articles, delivered 18 conference presentations, and presented to nearly half a dozen state counseling associations on nature connection, climate justice, and climate-related issues. She is deeply passionate about expanding this conversation among counselors across the country.