Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT)

Nature and Forest Therapy Expert Guide Training

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 CALL

October 16th, 4:00 am PST

Forest Therapy Training Worldwide - Online and In-person

The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) has been training guides for over a decade. We care for everyone’s wellbeing: People and Nature. ANFT has had more impact and influence for planetary health than any other forest therapy training organization. The work of each guide we train sends positive ripples into their communities and landscapes.

Uniting a global community bound by passion & expertise

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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.

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Enrollment Open

Start Date & Language

Live Calls (Times in PST)

Enrollment Open

Start Date & Language

Live Calls (Times in PST)

Enrollment Open

Start Date & Language

Live Calls (Times in PST)

Nature Needs You

There is hope. You are needed now. Follow the call of your heart. 

Experience a 5 minute Forest Therapy Break

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Develop a Rich Array of Skills & Knowledge

Journey toward skills and knowledge through 14 modules, over 120 lessons

Join 14 live calls presentations from your trainers and cohort

Participate in small group discussion calls guided by ANFT trainers

Read the latest edition of our landmark manual

Learn from our top experts through 30+ short videos on different topics

Learn by completing 40+ assignments/ self exploration activities

Experience 20+ nature connection activities

Learn the research papers and studies

Test your growning knowledge through "Fun Facts and Reflections"

Experience Remote Forest Therapy walks guided by trainers

Guide your own walks and debrief them

Join the largest forest therapy guide's community worldwide

What will you say after you have earned your ANFT Forest Therapy Guide certification?

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