Alyse Rynor Claimed

My love of nature began just before starting grade school. We moved from New York City to the rural roads of southwestern Michigan, living amid the woodland forests and grassy, duned shorelines. The area captured my heart. It made me realize that nature was special. A few years later, we sadly left that place behind to move to Chicago.  I missed the connection, beauty, and peace I'd experienced there. That longing lingered for decades in my heart. 

Throughout the years, my undergraduate schooling trained me as a teacher. After marriage, children, and the challenge of divorce, I earned a  Master's in Social Work. I've been in practice for 30+ years. It was in 2007 that I opened Soul Choice Counseling, my private practice in Evanston, IL. My therapy practice takes a holistic approach, with certification in holistic nutrition and high-conflict divorce coaching for women. Yet, over the years, I constantly spoke to friends about my dream of leading groups of people into the forest to connect with the power of nature for healing. It was sometime around 2017 when I learned about a program that offered training to do that very thing.  Yet, with my busy therapy practice, I couldn't participate.

Then the pandemic happened. That brought me the gift of becoming a Certified Forest Therapy guide with ANFT.  By December of 2021, I fulfilled my dream.  Since my Certification, I've been regularly guiding forest therapy walks around the Chicagoland area (and in various parts of Wisconsin).  I often partner with local organizations and facilitate private walks for couples and friends, gatherings, workplace staff retreats, corporate events, and celebrations such as birthdays or retirement. My walks are open to adult women and men.  It feels so special to guide those who live in or around our large city. Spending two hours in a forested environment helps replenish and lower stress, which is much needed in today's busy world. Even though it is called Forest Therapy, and I am a therapist, I don't do therapy on the trail.  The forest is the therapist. I serve as the guide that opens the doors.  

When I'm not on a trail guiding or for my enjoyment, you might find me at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, putting my feet in Lake Michigan, or taking a long walk around Evanston with my life partner. In the summer, I enjoy canoeing and am very new at kayaking. Year-round, I relish a few hours with a good book on my couch amid the afternoon sun in addition to an occasional binge on Netflix or getting lost in a sea of YouTube videos. Dabbling in landscape photography is fun for me, as well as vacationing in Sedona, Arizona, or other natural places. An annual trip to my partner's off-the-grid cabin in northern Ontario, Canada's deep woods, is always a real treat. Spirituality is important to me, as I'm always curious about life. Writing is a hobby, too. I'm working on one book, but I hope one day to write about the importance of spending time in nature. I hold a philosophy about our connection to the more-than-human world as I  bring people to a natural environment. "When you greet the forest, you meet yourself."  You're invited to join me in doing that.