Nature and Forest Therapy Expert Guide Training
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Start In-Person First
Forest Therapy Guide Training Programs Worldwide - Online and In-person
The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) has been training Forest Therapy guides for over a decade. We care for the wellbeing of all beings: People and Nature. ANFT has had more impact and influence on planetary health than any other forest therapy training organization. The work of each guide we train sends positive ripples into their communities and landscapes.
Choose the best option for you
Become Part of the Movement that is Helping Others Discover The Healing Power of Nature
Forest Bathing
Forest bathing is not the same thing as hiking or a simple walk in the woods. The destination in forest bathing is “here,” not “there.” The pace is slow, not fast. The focus is on connection and relationship. The heart opens.
Immerse your senses in that ambience of the forest. Walk slowly and notice things. Feel the touch of the breeze on your skin; notice the sounds of the brook and the birds and the movement of trees in the wind. Let what you notice find its home inside you; give it hospitality. You are home.
From "Your Guide to Forest Bathing" by M. Amos Clifford
Forest Therapy
"The Forest is the Therapist, the Guide opens the Doors." — This is the motto we work and live by. We believe that the forest and nature in general carries the wisdom and offers the healing that each person needs.
As guides we work in partnership with the forest. We support others as they awaken their senses and slow down to become fully present in and with the forest. Guides are not therapists. Support for wellness, personal development, and perhaps healing comes to participants from their interaction with natural environments. The sole aim of guided activities is to create and sustain safe, meaningful, and relational contact between participants and nature.
From ANFT Forest Therapy Guide Training Manual
Relational Forest Therapy™
There are two strands of forest therapy. One is founded in research oriented to public health. The other, pioneered by ANFT, is called “Relational Forest Therapy™.”
We find ourselves in expanded webs of interbeing, in which the other-than-human beings we encounter in the forest become less like objects, and more like friends and family. Relational Forest Therapy™ will help you remember who you are. You were born to take your place in the great work unfolding every day, everywhere. Training as a guide is a way to help you prepare to step up, accept your calling, and find your joy through skillfully bridging the human-built world and the wild world of nature.
Embedded in this expanded community, we experience greater degrees of freedom in how we explore the world, and in what we are able to learn about ourselves.
Upcoming Trainings
Start In-Person First
7-Day In-Person Training + 4 Months Online Integration
- Cohort 166
Enrollment Deadline
- 13/06/2026
- 7:00 am
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Tuesday
- 4:00 pm
to
- 6:00 pm
- Cohort 167
Enrollment Deadline
- 23/07/2026
- 7:00 am
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Monday
- 9:00 am
to
- 11:00 am
- Cohort 171
Enrollment Deadline
- 28/08/2026
- 7:00 am
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Monday
- 3:30 pm
to
- 5:30 pm
- Cohort 172
Enrollment Deadline
- 14/09/2026
- 7:00 am
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Thursday
- 6:00 pm
to
- 8:00 pm
- Cohort 176
Enrollment Deadline
- 02/11/2026
- 7:00 am
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Wednesday
- 4:00 pm
to
- 6:00 pm
Start Online First
6 Months Online Learning + 4 Days In-Person Immersion
Part 1
6 Months Online Learning
- Cohort 160
Enrollment Deadline
- February 4, 2026
- 4:30 pm
First Call Date & Language
- February 4, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Wednesdays
- 5:00 pm
–
- 7:00 pm
- Cohort 161
Enrollment Deadline
- February 12, 2026
- 2:30 pm
First Call Date & Language
- February 12, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Thursdays
- 3:30 pm
–
- 5:30 pm
- Cohort 162
Enrollment Deadline
- March 4, 2026
- 8:30 am
First Call Date & Language
- March 4, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Wednesdays
- 9:00 am
–
- 11:00 am
- Cohort 163
Enrollment Deadline
- March 23, 2026
- 4:00 pm
First Call Date & Language
- March 23, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Mondays
- 5:00 pm
–
- 7:00 pm
- Cohort 164
Enrollment Deadline
- April 23, 2026
- 3:00 pm
First Call Date & Language
- April 23, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Thursdays
- 4:00 pm
–
- 6:00 pm
- Cohort 165
Enrollment Deadline
- May 6, 2026
- 3:00 pm
First Call Date & Language
- May 6, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Wednesdays
- 4:00 pm
–
- 6:00 pm
- Cohort 169
Enrollment Deadline
- July 29, 2026
- 4:30 pm
First Call Date & Language
- July 29, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Wednesdays
- 5:30 pm
–
- 7:30 pm
- Cohort 170
Enrollment Deadline
- August 26, 2026
- 2:30 pm
First Call Date & Language
- August 26, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Wednesdays
- 3:30 pm
–
- 5:30 pm
- Cohort 173
Enrollment Deadline
- October 6, 2026
- 2:30 pm
First Call Date & Language
- October 6, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Tuesdays
- 3:30 pm
–
- 5:30 pm
- Cohort 174
Enrollment Deadline
- October 26, 2026
- 8:30 am
First Call Date & Language
- October 26, 2026
- English
Live Calls (Times in PST)
- Mondays
- 9:00 am
–
- 11:00 am
Part 2
4 Days In-Person Immersion
- Event Full - Registration Closed
Start Date & Language
- April 14, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- May 6, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- May 13, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- May 18, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Fully Registered - Accepting Waitlist
Start Date & Language
- May 20, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- June 7, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- August 16, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- September 4, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- September 16, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- October 6, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- October 11, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- October 19, 2026
- Español
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
- Enrollment Open
Start Date & Language
- November 25, 2026
- English
Check-In (Times in PST)
–
Want to know more about the training?
TRAINING WALKTHROUGH CALLS
Talk to those who have been there from the beginning. Trainers who have guided in forests throughout the world. Guides who have met and managed a myriad of situations encountered on the trail. People who know this practice in their heads, hearts, and bones. Learn the details of ANFT’s acclaimed training. Is it the right training for you?
Next calls are:
NATURE AS MEDICINE TRAINING WALKTHROUGH CALLS
The Nature as Medicine Practitioner Training is designed specially for healthcare professionals and is open to any licensed healthcare professional. In this program, you acquire 2 certifications: you become a certified Forest Therapy Guide, and also learn how to incorporate nature into your clinical practice as a certified Nature as Medicine Practitioner. This program is accredited by Mass General Brigham, the teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and offers up to 86 continuing education credits.
Experience a 5 minute Forest Therapy Break
Nature Needs You
There is hope. You are needed now. Follow the call of your heart.
What will you say after you have earned your ANFT Forest Therapy Guide certification?
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"It's a great combination of reading, videos, assignments, Zoom meetings and walks. I also really appreciate the group/chorort that is formed as it feels very supportive to be able to share with others who in the same stage of learning. Having 3 different instructors, each bringing their own experiences, perspectives and thoughts to the training is also really valuable."
Jacquie
Read more -
I have to say my view of the guide has definitely evolved over time. I felt like I always understood the “Way of the Guide” and my role as guide, but it was not until I attended the Council of Waters and Trees in Estes Park Colorado that my understanding become evident. Amos spent some time discussing the archetypes of the guide, mentor, and healer and that took my understanding to a new level. I am still processing some of this. I have found the before my walks I check in with myself and review the importance of the “Way of the Guide” and the responsibilities that are now required of me by accepting that role.
Traci
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The training and practicum has changed my life. Thank you for bringing healing into people’s life and the planet. Deeply, deeply appreciated.
Maja PilsarRead more -
In my view ANFT training is a self-transformational process with a wide and heartful influence in every aspect of living. Loving yourself and all other beings in a more deeper and thruelly, gratitude way. This lead me to bring up the idea of my personal ecological self. What can I do to protect the world? This question is gaining more and more important in my life.... how to act, what to eat etc. Only people with a true deep nature connectedness lives respectfully and caring for each others for the best of every being.
Gisela ImmlechRead more -
The ANFT training opened my eyes. There is 'before ANFT' and 'after ANFT'. I will/can never go back to that previous state (of mind/body). Everything I experienced during this 6 months journey has a direct impact on my daily life, on the choices I make, the decisions I take, the course of life I imagine, the accents, nuances, priorities and so much more. You brought this to the surface. Awakening. Now I want to 'touch' others, particularly in their superiority as mankind, to make them understand we are equal to/part of nature and animals. All answers of our existence can be found nature.
Ann TilmanRead more -
From this training I have come to notice more deeply that I am with the nature, not in the nature.. and have realized that we human beings and nature beings we are equal when entering the more than human world. That is because I walk in Finland with the tourists or visitors around the world, we truly are equal... I understand the meaning of cultural repair more deeply too. I also feel more proud to help people around the world to connect with our pure and clean nature and air... and understand how important this movement is.
Mari RotkoRead more -
Remembering has been my biggest change. Remembering that as a child I loved to be at the park most days or exploring the local fire roads. Remembering that as a young adult I had a trail guide of the Santa Monica mountains and would try a new trail every week. Remembering that my weekday day off was often spent in the Berkeley hills. Remembering that when my son was little we would go to two parks a day, explore the beach tides or hang out in the redwoods. Remembering how much I enjoyed the years of botany and wildcrafting in the Santa Cruz mountains. Remembering how ever step I take on my FT trail brings all these experiences and more to life again!
Frank LeonardiRead more