Counselling
For any counsellor who has a client suffering from an addiction or compulsion. Here is an effective, practical, and tested way of working with your client to identify and use (1) vicious cycles that could be driving their difficulties, and (2) virtuous cycles that could support their recovery.
Climate Change
For any person interested in climate change. Here you have:
- The vicious cycles driving climate change
- Evidence of global warming
- Support for Australia taking urgent action to limit climate change and becoming a renewable energy superpower.
Vicious Cycles and Systems Theory
Unseen vicious cycles often drive problems, i.e., people are often unaware of the cause-and-effect cycles that shape their lives, societies, and environment.
“Structures [feedback cycles] of which we are unaware hold us prisoner. Conversely, learning to see the structures within which we operate begins a process of freeing ourselves from previously unseen forces and ultimately mastering the ability to work with and change them.” (Senge, 1992, p 94)
Systems theory recognises amplifying feedback as a dynamic through which any system can transform itself: ecosystems, minds, and societies (Maruyama, 1968).
This insight gave this website its name, “Feedback Reigns”.
See: Systems Theory and Amplifying Feedback.
- Vicious cycles driving climate change.
- Vicious cycles driving personal problems
- Australia can be a renewable energy superpower.
- The massive cost of importing fossil fuels.
- Denial of climate risks
- A vicious cycle driving right-wing populism
- Climate change evidence
- Convergence: The basis for scientific confidence
Vicious cycles driving climate change.
This cycle is the Arctic ice-albedo feedback cycle, one of many vicious cycles driving global heating, bringing more extreme heat, fires, floods, and migration.
Vicious cycles driving personal problems
I worked as a problem gambling counsellor and developed a simple, practical way of working with clients: suggesting a vicious cycle that was driving the client’s presenting problem. In a counselling session with client Zed, I identified the following vicious cycle that drove his gambling.
- Here is a description of this client’s counselling session.
- These ideas have evolved into a framework for understanding behaviour, which could be useful for a wide range of client problems.
- See the counselling pages on this website.
Australia can be a renewable energy superpower.
Australia should exploit its advantages urgently to become a renewable energy superpower and limit climate change.
.
Australia glows orange on this map, indicating strong wind and solar resources relative to most developed countries. We also have abundant mineral resources, such as iron ore and lithium. So, Australia can take action on climate change and become a renewable energy superpower. This development would benefit our climate, industry, jobs, and prosperity. See Australia: A Renewable Energy Superpower
Image Source: The global map of wind and solar potential is from the “Beyond Zero Emissions” 2015 publication “Renewable Energy Superpower”.
The massive cost of importing fossil fuels.
.
Australia spends $61 billion annually on fossil fuel imports.
Expanding renewable energy and electrification would significantly reduce this enormous flow of money from Australia to countries such as Russia. It would also secure our energy supply, as we would no longer rely on easily disrupted fossil fuel imports. Australia has only a few weeks’ worth of emergency fossil fuel stored.
Denial of climate risks
The critical amplifying feedback cycle driving climate change centres on our leaders’ lust for power and wealth, and their denial of climate risks. This is an addiction to fossil fuels.
A vicious cycle driving right-wing populism
Climate action is needed to reduce mass displacement and migration. If we fail to limit mass migration, another vicious cycle is likely to accelerate climate change.
See: We need climate action to limit mass migration – and right-wing populism.
Climate change evidence
.
See Evidence of human-caused climate change.
Convergence: The basis for scientific confidence
.
See Convergence: The Basis for Scientific Confidence.
Site Author: Andrew Gunner
See my background.
Updated: 15 September 2026