FOREST THERAPY GUIDE TRAINING

Weeklong Intensive: 11-18 October 2020 Practicum Ends: 1 May, 2021
The world's most experienced forest therapy guide trainers invite you join a growing global movement and an activist community that is making a difference by rebuilding the relationships between people and all other beings.

What is Certified Forest Therapy Guide Training?

This six-month training begins with a week-long immersion, which is followed by an at home field practicum consisting of a series of structured assignments completed over six months. During the practicum trainees are supported by mentoring via phone or Zoom and by monthly group conference calls with other participants in their cohort. Completion of a final project is required for certification as a Certified Forest Therapy Guide (CFTG).

The Association's Forest Therapy Guide training draws on the latest medical research, new developments in the field of nature connection, and ancient traditions of mindfulness and wellness promotion. In this training you will learn skills that are applicable in any forest ecosystem or bioregion. They can be adapted to other natural settings besides forests, and are also effective in human-built environments such as city parks and botanic gardens. They can be readily integrated with health promotion, psychotherapy, social work, recreation, nature education, employee wellness programs, conservation efforts and many other specialties.

In this training, you will learn:

The Standard Sequence of Guided Forest Therapy Walks
Professional standards and competencies: what a Forest Therapy Guide should know and be able to do
The pedagogy and fundamentals of nature connection
Nature and forest therapy research and effects on health care and well-being
Our framework for the Way of the Guide, wisdom on the inner aspects of the art gained through decades of experience
The leadership skills and style of the Guide archetype
Creating space for others to find their own authentic nature connection
Accelerating connection to deep mindfulness and bodyfulness through simple sensory invitations
What makes a good setting for forest therapy
How to facilitate restorative human connection through storytelling and witnessing
Our theoretical framework of deep nature connection through embodiment, liminality, reciprocity and relationship
Sequencing forest therapy invitations for maximum impact and benefit
Expressive arts activities for forest therapy
Somatic techniques for embodied awareness
Our aim is simple: to train competent guides. However, many participants report that this training profoundly affects many aspects of their lives.

Tuition

Tuition for the six-month Guide Training and Certification Program is $3,570 USD. This includes the week-long intensive training, six months of mentored practicum, and one year of membership to the Association which includes a public directory profile with access to a member only website of resources to deepen and support a guide's practice. It does not include travel, lodging, ground transportation, or meals. Full tuition must be paid before the start of training.

New Early Bird Tuition for 2020

The Early Bird rate is $3,170 USD and is available up to 6 months before the start of the training. Payment must be received in full by the early bird deadline, or the regular tuition rate will apply.
Early Bird Special for 2020 trainings that begin before June, 2020. Register and pay in full by January 1, 2020 and receive the early bird rate.

Payment and Refund Policies

Apply 

Registering for a training begins by completing an application which may take 20-30 minutes. This application is a way for us to get to know you and to determine if we think you will make a good forest therapy guide. Once your application is received, our admissions team will review it and, if you are accepted into the program, send an acceptance letter within three weeks. This letter will contain all the information for next steps, including a registration link to reserve your space in the training. To promote an optimal learning environment, we generally cap enrollment at 21 participants per training. Applications we receive after we have filled the training will be placed on a waitlist. If an accepted applicant drops out, we will contact the next applicant on the waitlist until the training is full again.

APPLY NOW

About NaturMed Hotel Heckenmühle

Our small country hotel is located directly opposite the renowned spa park, Bad Endbach, and is surrounded by beautiful meadows and sited right on the edge of the forest. From here you can directly embark on cycling or walking adventures, visit the outstanding local municipal spa on foot, or make outings to beautiful places in the locality.

LODGING
Participants can choose from a variety of rooms listed below. All rooms are equipped with shower / WC, balcony, cable lV, telephone and safe for your personal valuables . Bathrobes are ready for you. Prices include breakfast,Wi-Fi, parking, use of indoor swimming pool,sauna, steam bath and bathrobe. All prices include VAT. On the day of arrival your room will be available between 1PM and 8 PM. On departure day we ask you to vacate the room by 11:00 am. For a binding reservation,a deposit of 1day will be charged.

Price includes lodging, 3 meals and the use of indoor swimming pool, Finnish Sauna and Infrared Sauna. Daily prices are as follows :

Double room: 3 different room categories for 93 EU (approximately $106.20 USD including tax), 98 EU ($111.80 USD including tax) and 109 EU (approximately $124.12 USD including tax) per day/per person.

Single room: 104 EU per day (approximately $116.73 USD including tax).

Obligatory"Kurtaxe" (cure city tax) is not in this price included. City tax is 1,8 EU per day for a double room and 1,2 EU per day for a single room. Drinks and wellness applications are not included in these prices.

MEALS
Three meals a day are included with the cost of accommodations :

Continental breakfast

Lunch: Is usually 1 course: It's either a salad plate with chicken, pasta or filled pasta cases etc.

Dinner: Salad buffet, appetizer, main course, dessert.

TRANSPORTATION
The NaturMed Hotel is located about 30 km from Marburg, Gießen and Wetzlarin the valley floor of the Salzbode,directly at the edge of the forest. You can reach us via a direct motorway connectionand by public transport (train connection to Marburg or Herborn,then by bus to Bad Endbach. The venue offers a transfer service from Marburg,Wetzlar, Gießen and the airport to Frankfurt Airport (which is an hour and a half drive away).

NaturMed Hotel
Heckenmühle Teichstraße 17
35080 Bad Endbach
Germany
https://www.naturmedhotel.de/
Eylem Yilmaz, Manager at info@naturmedhotel.de or 02776/91460 (phone) or 0160/93521171(cell)

Trainers

Our trainers are among the most experienced guides in the world and each one undergoes a rigorous training process beyond their certification as guides. The trainers listed below are subject to change based on trainer availability. No matter which trainers you work with, you will be taught by the best in the field.

Geeta Stilwell
Geeta is a certified Forest Therapy Guide based in Portugal and the founder of the company Renature where she creates and facilitates restorative programs that promote wellbeing and health through Forest Therapy, nature connection practices, clean eating and self-care. She works all over the world with various populations that range from the general public, corporate senior and junior teams, schools, families, mental health populations and individuals recovering from situations of excess stress and resulting depression and anxiety. Her passion is to bring human beings back to nature and support the reconnection to the restorative potency of the natural world. She is trained in Forest Therapy, Embodied Mindfulness and Conscious Resting, Council and Active Meditation Techniques, and in the field of Healthcare as a Pharmacist. She holds a Masters in Business Management and is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.