MEDIA KIT
Allison Claire Davis
Author, scholar, and educator working in Maternal Ecopsychology
Allison Claire Davis is an author, scholar, and maternal mental health counselor whose work sits at the intersection of motherhood, ecological crisis, and care.
Books: Mother Juniper: On Matrescence in Ecological Crisis (forthcoming, 9th House Press) and Mothering in Climate Change Precarity in North America with Kimberly Merenda (under review, Texas A&M Press)
Theory: Developed the framework of maternal ecopsychology and its central concept of maternal ecodistress, in collaboration with reproductive psychologist Aurélie Athan at KHORA Lab, Teachers College, Columbia
Practice: Adjunct Faculty in the Mythological Studies Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute, developer of the Maternal Ecopsychology Certification™, and Owner & Lead Clinician at Southwest Perinatal Counseling
Mother Juniper: On Matrescence in Ecological Crisis
9th House Press · November 4, 2026
Foreword by Ibu Robin Lim · Afterword by Aurélie Athan · Softcover · 5.5" x 8.5" · 180 pages
What happens when a woman becomes a mother during the slow emergency of ecological crisis?
I was nursing my daughter when I read the IPCC report: twelve years to limit catastrophic warming, less than the length of her childhood. My body made milk while I realized her future had a deadline. Behind my house stood a juniper, twisted, scarred, and magnificent. Over years of returning to her, I learned how her growth in hostile terrain made ground for what came after.
Mother Juniper names maternal ecodistress and traces a developmental path through it, arguing that the wound severing mothers from Earth is the wound at the root of our ecological crisis.
Includes a free digital workbook with every pre-order.
Advance Praise
“Allison Davis has done something remarkable with Mother Juniper: she named maternal ecodistress with the precision of a clinician, the courage of a mother, and the grounded wisdom of someone who has genuinely learned from the living world, opening a new domain of care that climate psychology has long needed someone to pioneer. For anyone who has felt the impossible weight of loving a child fiercely while grieving the planet they will inherit, this book is both a salve and a revelation, weaving nature connection, attachment science, and lived matrescence into a framework that finally holds the whole truth of what we are carrying. A beacon for mothering in these times.”
“Until now, psychology, psychiatry, and modern medicine in general have had no container for the strife of mothers struggling to nurture and nourish their children in the era of ecological crisis. Allie Davis has written the book and done the research that assures me I am not alone. You have named our Maternal Eco-Trauma. Maybe in baby steps, we can heal it enough to survive, perhaps to thrive.”
“I have never before seen such a deep understanding of how the transition to motherhood has become both a precipice for severe climate distress, and an opportunity, if properly supported, for the development of a strong and centered Ecological Selfhood. Allison skillfully weaves her own story and the power found in her secure attachment to Mother Juniper, with wisdom born from years of witnessing and guiding other mamas to a place of wholeness from which we are prepared to face our children's futures. This book is a must-read for all professionals in the perinatal fields, and a wonderful resource for any mother who has believed herself alone on this journey. I only wish it had been available when my child was born.”
“Mother Juniper gives us a long-needed revision of attachment theory that is intended to match the realistic experience of eco-distress with ecological care work. The worldview presented is the therapeutic reframing that women have been crying for and need immediately. Allison Davis grounds us in a vision of how to nourish matrescence and thereby meet the true needs of children. A weave of memoir, practical nature-based guidance, and overview of feminist and ecospychology research, the framework Davis provides is a service to everyone, especially young and future mothers.”
"If you’ve ever found yourself deeply responsible for the survival and wellbeing of another living being, you need to read this book! And if you or a friend are going through the profound rite of passage of becoming a mother in a time of ecological crisis, author Allison Davis offers an essential guide to the transformative psychological transition that happens as “the self becomes a mother.” Maternal ecodistress and the Earth-Mother wound are increasingly urgent issues as we all struggle to survive and thrive in worsening circumstances. Davis reminds us that “What mothers are experiencing in the slow emergency matters beyond mothers themselves. The capacity for ecological consciousness travels through the attachment system, activated by the work of tending new life."
Headshots
High-resolution headshots are available below. Click any image to download the full-resolution file. Photos by Anton Brkić.
Biography
Short Bio
Allison Claire Davis, MS, LPC, PhD, is an author, scholar, teacher, and maternal mental health counselor. With Aurélie Athan, she developed the framework of maternal ecopsychology and its central concept, maternal ecodistress. She is the author of the forthcoming book Mother Juniper: On Matrescence in Ecological Crisis (9th House Press, November 2026).
Medium Bio
Allison Claire Davis, MS, LPC, PhD, is an author, scholar, teacher, and maternal mental health counselor whose work explores motherhood, trauma, ecological crisis, and care. Her research, developed with Aurélie Athan, established the framework of maternal ecopsychology and its central concept, maternal ecodistress. She is the author of the forthcoming book Mother Juniper: On Matrescence in Ecological Crisis (9th House Press, November 2026). She teaches in the Mythological Studies program at Pacifica Graduate Institute and owns Southwest Perinatal Counseling, a perinatal mental health practice serving Texas and Colorado.
Long Bio
Allison Claire Davis, MS, LPC, PhD, is an author, scholar, teacher, and maternal mental health counselor whose work explores motherhood, trauma, ecological crisis, and care. Her research, developed with Aurélie Athan, established the framework of maternal ecopsychology and its central concept maternal ecodistress. She is the author of the forthcoming book Mother Juniper: On Matrescence in Ecological Crisis (9th House Press, November 2026).
Davis completed her postdoctoral work as a Matrescence Research Fellow at KHORA Lab, Teachers College, Columbia University, and continues collaborating through the Maternal Ecopsychology CoLab. She teaches in the Mythological Studies program at Pacifica Graduate Institute and owns Southwest Perinatal Counseling, a perinatal mental health practice serving Texas and Colorado. She is the developer of the Maternal Ecopsychology Certification™, a continuing education program for clinicians and birth workers.
Her research on maternal ecodistress, ecological carework, and narrative ecotherapy has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Ecopsychology and Women's Studies International Forum. With Kimberly C. Merenda, she is co-editor of Mothering in Climate Change Precarity in North America, a collection under peer review with Texas A&M University Press as part of the Texas Woman's University Book Series.
She holds an MS in Counseling and Development and a PhD in Multicultural Women's and Gender Studies from Texas Woman's University. She lives in northern New Mexico with her two daughters, among the junipers that gave the book its title.
Selected Publications
Allison's scholarship develops Maternal Ecopsychology through research on matrescence, maternal ecodistress, ecological carework, and climate-aware maternal mental health.
Ecopsychological Development and Maternal Ecodistress in Matrescence (2023)
Untangling the Double Bind of Carework in Green Motherhood: An Ecofeminist Developmental Path Forward (2023)
Narrative Ecotherapy During Matrescence May Help Mothers Transform Climate Distress into Ecolgoical Awakening (2025)
Maternal Ecodistress as Catalyst for Post-Traumatic Growth Amidst Climate Change (2025)
Selected Features & Media Appearances
Explore interviews, bylined writing, and media coverage highlighting Allison Claire Davis's work in maternal ecopsychology.
Mom and Mind Episode 454: "Matrescence: Navigating Through Maternal Ecodistress," with Dr. Kat Kaeni
Host Dr. Kat Kaeni interviews Allison on the role of an ecotherapist in perinatal care, and how maternal ecodistress, including climate anxiety and reproductive grief, can be named and understood as a form of ecological intelligence rather than personal pathology.
The Numinous Podcast With Carmen Spagnola, on Mother Juniper and maternal ecodistress
Host Carmen Spagnola speaks with Allison about Mother Juniper and the framework of maternal ecodistress, exploring how the developmental window of matrescence offers mothers the chance to build an earned, secure attachment to the Earth.
Oracle On Purpose with Lia Dunlap
Matrescence, Maternal Mental Health & Eco-Distress with Allison Davis
Allison joins host Lia Dunlap to talk about building a telehealth practice that reaches mothers in states where perinatal support is scarce, and about how her own unsupported transition into parenthood became the research question behind her career.
Moms Clean Air Force "Mental Health and Climate Change: Moving From the Burden of Eco-Guilt to the Relief of Collective Action" This article on climate psychology cites Allison's research on "green motherhood," including a direct quote on the psychological strain mothers face from consumer-driven environmental pressure.
Tumbleweeds Magazine (New Mexico Parent) "Why Mothers Need Matrescence" A bylined essay by Allison on matrescence as a major developmental milestone, comparable to adolescence, requiring deep collective and structural support.
Kindred Magazine "Rooted in Care: Reimagining Motherhood Through the Wisdom of the Earth" A bylined essay by Allison published as part of Kindred's Mother of Medicine Special Issue for Mother's Day 2025, exploring how her bond with a juniper tree shaped a more rooted, regenerative vision of motherhood. Adapted from an early draft of what would become Mother Juniper.
Little Apocalypses: Essays on Motherhood, Climate Change, and Hope at the End of the World By Kaitlyn Teer (HarperCollins, 2026) Allison was interviewed as a source for this essay collection on motherhood and climate anxiety.
The Motherhood Project (Substack) by Cass Middleton On maternal ecodistress, matrescence, and the living world
Allison traces her research to a morning spent nursing her six-month-old while reading an IPCC report. She describes maternal ecodistress as a spectrum that runs from clinical impairment to long-term growth, and argues that a matrescence lens lets mothers’ climate emotions be supported as part of a developmental window.
The Good Enough Mother Episode 64: "The Ecological Awakening of Motherhood," with Dr. Sophie Brock Allison joins host Dr. Sophie Brock to discuss the ecological dimensions of matrescence, including how eco-therapy and attachment to the natural world can support mothers through identity shifts often described as the "mother wound."
The Becoming Podcast Lucy Jones on the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth + Motherhood Allison's research on the ecological awakening during matrescence is featured as a curated reading resource in the show notes for this episode. The accompanying conversation features author Lucy Jones exploring the deep emotional, psychological, and nature-connected identity shifts of early motherhood.
Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond "Maternal Eco-Psychology with Allison Davis," with host Rosie Rick Allison joins the show from New Mexico to discuss the ecological domain of matrescence, exploring how mothers can approach the challenges of early motherhood with a viewpoint of growth and transformation, and how reframing eco-related distress as resilience offers a path beyond the pressures of idealized "green motherhood."
Motherly "Becoming a Mother Helped Me Connect to the Natural World: Birthing an Ecological Self" Allison's 2023 research, developed with Aurélie Athan, is cited as a source for this personal essay on matrescence and the emergence of the "ecological self."
Maternal Ecodistress Toolkit
Allison narrates and serves as lead consulting scientist for The Story of Maternal Ecodistress, a video explainer and media toolkit produced as part of a Schmidt Sciences Catalyst Grant in collaboration with KHORA Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Built for journalists and science communicators, the toolkit translates the psychological and systemic impacts of climate disruption on modern mothering into a clear, evidence-based resource, complete with a press briefing, terminology guide, story hooks, and expert sources.
Reporters and producers covering the broader story of climate change and maternal mental health are welcome to use the toolkit as a primary reference.
