Train with EcoWisdom to become a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide
The Nature and Forest Therapy Guide Training is a comprehensive virtual certification program designed to equip participants with evidence-based therapeutic methodologies grounded in the social model of disability. Three academic studies have been completed that document physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing benefits of this training. Throughout the program, you will learn from a team of expert educators (link) including a former professor of disability studies and an award winning environmental educator, engage in peer discussions and mentorship, and cultivate a deep, healing connection to the nature around us.
This is a 6 month program (240 hours total, 5-10 hours per week) with classes 2-3 Saturdays per month that is delivered in English. You will have access to program resources for up to 1 year after graduation.
Training Modules Include:
- Forest bathing
- Nature connection practices
- Land Based Philosophies and Spiritualities
- Ecology
- Forest medicine research & citizen science
- Definition of self-care & holistic wellbeing
- Community capacity building & peer-support
- Reciprocal care – individual, community and earth
- Mindfulness meditation & neuroscience
- Diversity, equity, inclusion & accessibility
- Spirituality & ritual
- Embodiment, art, & poetry
- Mindful self-compassion
Testimonial from a Community Nurse
The EcoWisdom nature guide training is individualized and flexible. As students, we are encouraged to use the mindful nature connection practices learned to care for ourselves and ground our work as forest bathing program facilitators. This accessible training is an initiative to nurture collective mental and physical wellbeing within a non-judgemental, welcoming, online, international community! Together, we come to understand what nature teaches us about diversity in its many forms as we develop self-compassion and empathy for other beings whether human, tree or animal. We learned how to design and facilitate effective accessible forest bathing programs that are inclusive and relevant to people living with disabilities, chronic illness, and seniors. With this training, I have better managed health crises, made life-altering decisions to improve the quality of my life and become in touch with what really matters. I have also co-facilitated numerous Accessible Nature Wellbeing Programs online and in-person to serve the disability community and beyond. – Linda McGowan, Peer Support Leader, Community Nurse, Mount Everest Trail-Rider & Author
Testimonial from a Public Health Outreach Worker
This training has helped me explore therapeutic nature engagement in new and
fascinating ways. Learning how to develop and implement a full Accessible Nature
Well-being Program has certainly been a great tool for me to offer the different
communities, groups and businesses I work with. In addition to my one-to-one
coaching clients, I am incorporating mindful nature connection practices, grounded in
neuroscience, into my work within public health. For example, I have used what I
have learned to support people who are in medical isolation within a hospital setting –
caring for houseplants, offering guided nature meditations and using the wisdom and
universal language of nature as a source of metaphor, meaning and validation for
patients and their unique experiences. Participating in the EcoWisdom Community
Gatherings throughout the training and afterwards, has helped me to continue to
develop creative, innovative and impactful applications of nature therapy for my
clients. – Erin Oluyemi, Health Life Coach & Public Health Outreach Worker
Testimonial from a Spiritual Companion
I appreciate Ecowisdom’s inclusive and holistic approach to wellbeing. I felt empowered to engage in the training using my strengths and interests. For me, that included deepening my personal practices of self-care and self-compassion, exploring the overlap between experiences in nature and the spiritual journey and being able to integrate my learning using different forms of creative expression. The training has allowed me to confidently offer accessible forest bathing programs to a variety of groups, both outdoors and indoors. I find that people are delighted to learn that they can participate in nature connection regardless of mobility impairments or other forms of disability. Nature is such good medicine. In this training, we learned how mindful nature connection practices can calm our nervous system and expand our ability to be more resilient -an essential capacity as we cope with social injustice, eco-anxiety/grief, trauma, etc. I witness this when I offer forest bathing programs to environmental activists. They appreciate that feeling more peaceful, grounded and connected helps them to sustain their engagement and also influences the approach they bring to their activism. The EcoWisdom nature guide training offers powerful gifts to society and the earth. – Beth McKinlay, Educator, Spiritual Companion/Director & Climate Activist
Testimonial from a Physiotherapist
It has been a privilege to complete this training with EcoWisdom and remain a member of the EcoWisdom Community. I am now registered with ParksRX to issue green prescriptions and have also integrated what I have learned into outdoor pole walking physiotherapy in urban ravines, parks and along beach boardwalks. As a
result of this training, I have expanded the range of services I can provide to my clients. I have assisted EcoWisdom co-founder, Dr. Kari Krogh, with in-person forest bathing programs and the online Accessible Nature Wellbeing Programs. She is an exceptional facilitator and I highly recommend this comprehensive training. – Rosemary Anderson, Physiotherapist & Green Prescription Provider
EcoWisdom firmly believes that caring for and connecting with nature should be available to all. Our EcoWisdom certification not only leads to a solid foundation in nature and forest therapy practices but also equips guides to adopt an inclusive approach with their peers, colleagues and program participants. Our approach is individualized, the cohorts are deliberately kept small, and we aim to build community so that collaborations extend beyond the training period.
Scholarships are often available to participants who belong to groups that have been historically marginalized due to disability, race, and/or sexual/gender identity, and to those who are committed to using mindful nature connection programs to advance social or environmental justice and community resilience. We welcome conversations about accommodations that will support your full participation in our programs and training, including discounts for completed on-demand courses and ANWPs.
Want to learn more? Check out these links!
