Forest Therapy Guide Training
United Kingdom - Cohort 42
Fully Registered - Accepting Wait List
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.
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.
Dartington Hall is the largest medieval manor in western England. With over 800 acres of verdant forests, abundant wildlife, and clear rivers, it serves as a wonderful backdrop for Forest Therapy Guide training. The training will be held on the Dartington Estate and no commuting will be necessary unless you are staying off-site. There may be one day when the group travels to a nearby location.
Private Student Accommodation:
Private, locking room with sink and access to shared bathrooms. Lodging includes breakfast only though other meals are available for purchase on site. Participants can book and pay directly through Dartington Hall. Reserved rooms for Perry (the private student accommodations) are £35 a night and include breakfast. Smoking is prohibited in accommodations. Towels and bedding will be provided. Check in on the first day will be at 2:00pm and check out on the last day will be at 10:00am. Participant s may store their bags in the meeting room on the final day after checking out.
There is also camping available. To inquire about camping, contact Dartington Hall directly. At the campsites, there will be hot and cold water, toilets, and pay shower facilities available. Electricity (available on accessible pitches only) costs extra but is available as well.
Reservations for rooms and camping can be made at reservations@dartingtonhall.com once you have confirmed your enrollment into the program. Please make sure to let them know that you are part of the ANFT group.
- Several restaurants are on-site at Dartington Hall with a range of dietary options. For more info visit https://www.dartington.org/visit/food-drink/
- Cooking: There is no place on site where guests can cook. Cooking is permitted at the campsites but you must bring your own equipment
- The town of Dartington has a small convenience store
The nearest airport is located at Exeter, which is around a 30-40 minute drive. The nearest rail station is at Totnes, approximately 1.5 miles from Dartington. This is also a bus that serves Dartington Hall from Buckfastleigh and Totnes. Guests who have booked accommodations at Dartington Hall will be able to validate their vehicles at check-in.
Dartington Hall offers a helpful guide for getting to its grounds via bus, train, car, and bicycle. Click here
Our UK location is at Dartington Hall, the largest medieval manor house and property in the West of England.
Schedule for Live Events
Tuition
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 NowTrainers
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.
Entrenadores
Amos Clifford is the founder of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs and author of the best selling Your Guide to Forest Bathing (Conari Press 2018). A student of Buddhist philosophy for over 20 years, Amos founded Sky Creek Dharma Center in Chico, California, where he emphasized the importance of meditation practice in wild places. Amos is also widely known for his work in restorative justice. He is founder of the Center for Restorative Process, where he has led the inquiry into how the principles of restorative justice can inform ways to heal the broken relationships between humans and the more-than-human world of nature. Amos holds a BS in Organization Development and an MA in Counseling from the University of San Francisco. Amos has been the primary developer of ANFT's acclaimed training programs.
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.
Vicky Kyan is the first ANFT Certified Guide, Mentor and Trainer in the Southern Hemisphere. She is a strong advocate for the practice of Nature and Forest Therapy, and for the promotion of trainings in the South Pacific. She is largely inspired by her local ocean beach, seashore and estuary ecosystems, where she has pioneered this work since her Guide Training with ANFT in North California in May 2015.
Vicky operates a small Homestay holiday retreat, where she offers ‘Wellbeing Wanders’ Nature and Forest Therapy guided experiences. When she is not travelling she uses her Pacific Island home as a base for mentoring ANFT trainee guides and building network with nature connection contacts both nationally and around the world. She is also an active member of the ANFT International Training Team and travels to trainings around the world.
