Our Trainers

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). After studying Buddhist philosophy for over 20 years, in 2004 Amos founded Sky Creek Dharma Center in Chico, California, where he emphasized the importance of meditation practice in wild places. By 2008 he no longer identified as Buddhist, instead preferring the nameless and sometimes unnamable experiences he had in natural settings, and had been having since early childhood. This led to a deepening inquiry regarding relationships between humans and the more-than-human world. Between 2010 and 2012 Amos took his inquiry into wild places, and with the help of School of Lost Borders and Men of Spirit he had a year of intense wilderness practice, which led to the vision for the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs. Inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, Amos founded ANFT in 2012 and over the next two years developed what is now known as the “Standard Sequence” of the ANFT school of Forest Therapy. Amos holds a BS in Organization Development and an MA in Counseling from the University of San Francisco. He teaches about Forest Therapy and leads retreats internationally

Bansi was born in Kenya, where her early years were shaped by time spent in wild, open landscapes. Her journey later continued through the Australian outback, deepening a lifelong relationship with the wilderness as a place to recalibrate, rest, and heal.

She co-founded Wild Earth & Ocean, and has spent the past 18 years curating immersive safari experiences across Africa and beyond. Through this work, she has witnessed firsthand the profound and often transformative impact that nature can have on people.

This understanding led her to become a certified Forest Therapy Guide. She now weaves forest therapy into her offerings, supporting individuals to reconnect with nature and integrate nature-based practices into everyday life. Her work includes guided forest therapy experiences, as well as nature-based retreats and safaris.

Bansi holds a degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Sydney and has trained as a Pilates instructor, yoga teacher, and PADI Divemaster. Her exploration of grief as an essential and often unspoken part of being human led her to study Grief Ritual Leadership with Francis Weller, author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow. That learning continues to unfold.

She feels most at home in the quiet presence of wild places; walking slowly, listening deeply, and sharing space with the seen and unseen.

Caitlin C. Williams is an independent researcher and theorist in the fields of ethnoecology, applied human ecology, biophilia and human development. Caitlin’s considerable skills as a tracker, naturalist and survivalist inform her understanding of human systems and developmental milestones. Her knowledge of human development and learning informs her analysis of the cultural systems surrounding an ecology and a community. Having spent more than twenty years teaching the practical aspects of wilderness survival, placed based ecology skills and environmental science in conventional and alternative educational settings, Caitlin brings a unique perspective to her work with organizations offering deep nature experiences, skills for development of an ecological self and tools for ecological restoration, social justice and local action.

Caitlin is also a trainer with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy’s Guide Certification Program, as well as a consultant and contributor to the RxOutside: Nature Led ™ Approach to child development. She holds many certifications including Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, Wildlife Tracker and Permaculture Design. In addition, Caitlin continues to guide forest bathing walks and to teach bird language, wildlife tracking and wilderness survival skills locally, nationally and abroad and she occasionally applies her tracking and naturalist skills to scientific studies and conservation projects.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in love with the beach, the trees and the music, Carla Zorzanelli has gone from a very urban and anthropomorphic way of living to a path back to a deep connection to nature and the more-than-human world. After a master in Science at Schumacher College in the UK, she has focused on deepening her relationship to nature by becoming a certified Forest Therapy guide with the ANFT and, by researching and living into different topics like Rewilding, Deep Ecology, Shamanism, Ancient indigenous wisdom, Jungian studies and Regeneration, and has lived in a tent in the middle of the Savannah in Africa. Currently, she is bringing Forest Therapy to Brazil, where she actively guides groups. In addition, she offers nature connection courses to a variety of audiences. She is also co-founder of EcoUni, an ecological university that promotes regenerative learning with content focused on building an ecofuture and, lately, she has been giving support to the ANFT team by leading the social media strategy.

Christine Hoyer is a certified Nature and Forest Therapy guide based in Tennessee. She grew up exploring nature and national parks throughout the United States which lead to a career in wilderness management and over 17 years of trail experience. She was drawn to Nature and Forest Therapy as a way to deepen her own authentic connection to the natural world and holding that space for others to openly experience nature’s gifts and benefits has become just as important. She had stepped into the role as the advisor of the Trail Certification program for the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy to support the expansion of the network of trails and trail experiences.  She has been an active guide since 2019 and she also serves as a coach and junior trainer for guides in training.  Her passion lies in the belief that everyone has the capacity to awaken, re-awaken, explore, and expand their own connection with the more-than-human-world by simply being present and tuning in to what is being offered.

Giovanna Raineri was born and raised in Chile. Her love for nature and being outside led her to work as an outdoor guide for 10 years, having the chance to work and live at Torres del Paine National Park (Patagonia) and the Atacama Desert. She lived in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) for 8 years where she was in the hotel management and travel company and later she became an Ontological Coach spending 8 years working with people and organizations. She came across the concept of Shinrin-Yoku in 2014 while she was settling in her new place in a forest in the south of Chile. She kept looking for training until she found the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and immediately felt touched by the words: “The forest is the therapist, the guide opens the door”

Giovanna was trained in 2019 and certified in March 2020. She quit her job as a coach and she has been advocating full-time to Forest Therapy. She has been guiding and facilitating experiences since then. She works with Fundacion Bayos where she facilitates Forest Therapy for Families, teenagers and Children and she is also guiding experiences for a Lodge on the island of Chiloé

She is fluent in Spanish and English.

Jackie is a certified forest therapy guide trained in 2017 at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and has been guiding regularly in her communities ever since. She’s one of the first guides to pioneer guiding walks remotely via Zoom when the pandemic made guiding in-person unsafe for many months in 2020. Born and raised in China, Jackie came to the United States in 1990 to pursue her PhD in American Literature. She has had a diverse background in various fields such as teaching, translating, marketing, and practicing as a Certified Public Accountant. One of her greatest joys in guiding and training guides is witnessing the transformative impact on participants’ well-being on so many levels. She has co-led over 10 guide trainings worldwide as of 2022 and created a professional development course called Guiding Business Success for trained guides.

Katarina Cuk became the first ANFT-certified forest therapy guide in Slovenia, EU, trained in cohort 10 in 2017 in Northern California. She has been guiding forest therapy-related experiences from 2014 in the city forest of the capital Ljubljana and other regions of Slovenia. Passionate in bringing the forest and people back together, she has assisted in and co-organized two ANFT trainings in her home country, worked as a mentor for a few years and later became a trainer in remote training. She has led several courses and workshops of forest alchemy, nature meditation and similar nature connection modalities through her ‘Forest Stories’ (Gozdne zgodbe) brand in Slovenia, wrote the book ‘Our Timeless Nature’ (in Slovene) and continues to inspire people to work with and for nature and the MTHW for the benefit of all. She holds BA in translation studies, has worked on several psychology, spirituality and nature-related books as a translator and editor, and has also worked in green tourism for many years. Her last name Cuk means ‘little owl’ (Athene noctua owl species) in Slovene.

Ken Ouendag became the first certified Forest Therapy Guide in Vancouver, BC after training with ANFT in 2017. He currently lives in Calgary, AB and serves as the Praire Representative with the NFTC (National Forest Therapy of Canada). Ken works in the field of Recreation Therapy while studying for a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology. He has worked with adults and seniors in various health care settings and continues to advocate for people living in long-term care and hospital settings to have opportunities to go outside and interact with the natural world.

A representative of KaleidoForest Inc., Makiko Sugishita is a Forest Therapy Guide based in Yakushima, Japan—the first site in the world to conduct nature- and forest-based medical research activities.

She is the first dual-certified Forest Therapy Guide in Japan, holding certifications from both ANFT (Association of Nature and Forest Therapy) as well as the Forest Therapy Society. Since she moved to Yakushima in October 2020, she has guided over 1,000 people in her KaleidoForest “deep Shinrin-yoku” program. In 2024, she became a certified ANFT trainer to train guides at the global level.

Prior to becoming a forest therapy guide, Makiko was involved in various international projects for 20 years. She has worked with JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and various UN organizations, focusing on improving the health status of vulnerable populations, especially in Africa and Southeast Asia.

In addition to being a forest therapy guide, she is currently a designated ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) Global Advisor for the Yakushima Board of Education, giving lectures on sustainability topics for teachers and pupils alike. She is also a Board member of Yakushima Onoaida Clinic, which is run by her husband Dr. Sugishita—who himself is engaged in forest-based medical research activities.

She holds a B.A. in international law from Kansai University in Japan, an M.A. in Public Health (International Health) from Johns Hopkins University, and an M.A. in Economic and Social Development from the University of Pittsburgh in USA.

Ronna has been a professional award-winning naturalist, interpreter, and hiking guide in the Canadian Mountain Parks for 30 years. She is a yoga teacher of 25 years and has incorporated yoga, meditation, and coaching in nature.  The results have been amazing.  In her quest to understand why time in nature easily creates powerful experiences, she stumbled across the ANFT. In 2016 she became one of the first Forest Therapy guides in Canada and is now a trainer with the ANFT. Today she continues to guide in Banff and works with leaders, professionals, and executives from all over the world using nature as the teacher to create powerful reflections and transformation. She is the Chair of Nature and Forest Therapy of Canada, along with her team; she supports local guides and promotes Forest Therapy in Canada.

Based in Canada, Stana has been working for the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority for over twenty-five years as the Senior Conservation Educator.  Her passion is supporting people to build their relationship with all beings with their heads, heart and hands. Stana is a certified Forest Therapy Guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) in cohort 6 in 2016.  In 2017 she took on a mentor role and has been a train since 2018.  Through Cataraqui Conservation, Stana brings Forest Therapy walk experiences to all ages in the community from private and public organizations in all seasons!  She is a dedicated mindfulness practitioner and a recently certified Qi Gong Teacher.  You will most likely find her in the outdoors in her garden or in wild places often with her adventurous, Cockapoo pup, Theo, sometimes in the good company of her partner, Lachlan and occasionally with their 17-year-old son, Asher.

Tam Willey (they/them) is an international trainer and mentor of guides with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. Informed by their background as an artist, musician, local handy person, woodworking instructor, custodian, skateboarder, LGBTQIA+ youth advisor, community advocate, Tam is passionate about relational health, bioregional herbalism, community supported agriculture, fermentation, food reclamation, skill sharing, tech wellness, and rites of passage. Tam explores themes of belonging and attention through story and immersive ways of being together that support a culture of reciprocity and relational kinship, tending various community partnerships and collaborations across Turtle Island and more locally on the coastal Massachusetts wetlands of Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood of Boston where they have been deeply rooted, living and working in since 1998. From half day outings to multi-day retreats, Tam guides in various bioregions that include urban and remote wilder spaces. Tam got certified with ANFT in 2017 and has been actively guiding, training and mentoring guides ever since then. Tam holds CPR, First Aid, Wilderness First Aid, Mental Health First Aid, Wilderness Mental Health First Responder, and Nature Therapy Guide certifications. For more information about Tam, check out ToadstoolWalks.com

My name is Vicky Kyan (aka Vix) and I grew up on the edge of the Cotswold Hills in the West of England, exploring the valleys, fields, hills and woodlands of this beautiful part of UK as a child.

My love affair with Nature started here and exploded in my early adult life when I experienced the excitement and raw power of Mother Nature while travelling through Southern Africa and witnessing close encounters with its magnificent wild life . My passion for the ocean and island life emerged on further travels through SE Asia, Australia and New Zealand in my late 20’s and I was fortunate enough to land on Aotea Great Barrier Island NZ in 1986 – which has become my home for the last 35 years.

The richness of this fully off-grid rugged volcanic landscape, with its beautiful native forests and wide open surf beaches on the edge of the Pacific, its strong and creative community, and my full and colourful life journey informs all my work as a Guide, Mentor and Trainer with ANFT.

I am a mother of 3 adult children and am proud Grandmother of 3 little boys. I have been a teacher, coach, healer and care-giver in my past life and currently run a small Nature-based Homestay retreat through my business WaiOra Wellbeing for those needing R&R and TLC. I am honoured to walk the Way of the Guide as a trainer and mentor which feels like a completion of sorts as well as an ongoing adventure each day!

I trained with Amos Clifford in Cohort 2 at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park CA in May 2015 – and have wandered the Trainers pathway since October 2016. I am passionate about this work and growing a global network of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides around the world, as well as in the Southern hemisphere.

Personally I have taken ‘Forest therapy’ out of the trees and onto the beaches, pioneering the guiding of walks on the ocean shoreline and estuaries of my island home. My tentacles are reaching far and wide as I continue to nurture and grow on my own journey while supporting others to do the same all over the world.

I am deeply connected and grateful to both my Motherland and my chosen Homeland, and I’m passionate about helping people reconnect with themslelves, each other and the more than Human world through this work.

My bliss is in witnessing others stepping into their gifts and shining more fully, and I believe this is the way forward through these challenging times of global transformation on so many levels. I also ackowledge my teachers from the Human and More than Human world and all those whose shoulders I have stood upon and who have opened their hearts and minds with courage and joy.

Youmin is one of Southeast Asia’s pioneer ANFT certified forest therapy guides. She trained with Cohort 18 in 2017 and has since been offering the practice full-time. Together with her professional and academic backgrounds grounded in science and research, she excels in navigating the worlds of logic and quantification, as well as that of the subtler art of wellbeing. Having guided thousands of participants, Youmin has worked on various projects including designing bespoke journeys for global brands, wellness workshops for hotels and spas and MNCs, support programs for community groups etc. Her work has also been shared at various local and international conferences. Youmin founded Forest with You (formerly known as Xiu Nature Connections), an award-winning wellbeing entity based in Singapore. For the innovative and collaborative ways of bringing forest therapy into the urban landscape, the company was conferred the prestigious Singapore Tourism Board Awards: Outstanding Wellness Experience award for 2023 and 2024. As a trainer, Youmin has trained and mentored 16 cohorts of guides from all around the world. One of her greatest joys is supporting and witnessing each individual’s discovery of their unique stories and offering their gifts to the world as they embark on the journey. She is also a qualified educator, a Certified Shinrin-Yoku International Instructor, and is trained in Yoga Nidra, Yoga (200 YTT), Forest Therapy Trail Consultancy and Mindfulness. She holds a Master’s in Science (Life Sciences) and is fluent in English and Mandarin/Chinese. Youmin currently spends time in Singapore and Thailand.

Summer Crider is a cultural studies educator, certified Forest and Nature Therapy guide, and founder of Wild Cypress, dedicated to creating inclusive, healing experiences for Deaf, Disabled, and marginalized communities. With a background in Expressive Arts Therapy, Educational Media, and Cultural Studies, Summer combines academic depth with entrepreneurial creativity as a self-taught business owner, filmmaker, and media consultant.

Raised in the cypress swamps by a family rooted in environmental conservation, Summer developed a deep relationship with silence and nonverbal communication. Their work invites people from all walks of life to reconnect with nature, each other, and themselves—expressing the unspoken and healing through wonder, sensory awareness, and connection.

In addition to leading retreats and educational programs, Wild Cypress has partnered with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides (ANFT) to support Deaf and hearing guides on their certification path, incorporating culturally responsive approaches to forest bathing—restoring harmony, healing the spirit, and embracing communication beyond words.

Susan Abookire, BSEE, MD, MPH, FACP, is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and a senior executive with 22 years’ experience leading healthcare organizations. She has served as Chief Medical Officer, System Chief Quality Officer, and Department Chair of the Department of Quality and Patient Safety at Mount Auburn, a Harvard hospital, where she founded and led the award-winning quality and patient safety program. Dr. Abookire began her professional career as an electrical engineer in aviation systems design and brings a keen understanding of systems thinking and design to her work improving healthcare for everyone. 

A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Abookire trained at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and practices Internal Medicine. She received a master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health and teaches nationally and internationally. Certified as a Forest Therapy Guide, Dr. Abookire offers nature-inspired individual coaching, group coaching, leadership development, training and retreats to healthcare professionals. Her programs help professionals and patients by delivering tools for lifelong physical, mental, and cognitive wellbeing. Dr. Abookire has also developed a curriculum for Harvard Medical School residents that incorporates Forest Therapy into learning about healthcare systems and leadership. Her rich background and experience in systems design influences all her work, including supporting healthcare organizations looking for culture transformation.