Guide Training Immersion 4-Days
USA, Maine – Casa Portal – August 2027
- August 15, 2027
- to
- August 19, 2027
- Enrollment Open
An opportunity to connect with other guides from other cohorts and learn from the shared experiences.
If you have completed at least module 4 and submitted the corresponding assignments, of the six-month remote Forest Therapy Guide Training you’re eligible to apply. Completion of this immersion and the six-month training fulfills the requirements for full Certification. When space is available, ANFT-trained guides who have completed training in any past cohort can also participate. Please note that priority goes to students who need to take the immersion to get fully certified. Therefore, when you apply, you’ll be put on a waitlist until three weeks before the start of the immersion.
A 4 day in-person gathering, with 1 or 2 trainers, and people from different cohorts where you will have the opportunity to apply what you learned, experience in-person forest therapy walks and simply connect and share experiences and stories with other guides.
In this immersion, you will:
- Get a hands on experience of what you learned
- Get to know trainers personally
- Get to know other guides and connect
- Learn from shared experiences with other guides
- Deepen into the practice
- Get the opportunity to ask specific questions that might come up
Once you complete this four-day immersion, your certification will be moved from provisional to permanent. You have two years after you complete the six month core training course to complete an immersion. It will help to give you a sense of the community of guides that has grown and is active throughout the world.
About the Venue
Casa Portal
Casa Portal is a 100-acre private retreat center tucked away on a sheep farm in Jackson, Maine, dedicated to slow living, community, and harmony with nature. Nestled among woodlands, streams, meadows, orchards, and sheep pastures, it offers space to reconnect through slowing down, simplicity, and silence. Here, the natural world sets the rhythm—inviting you to enjoy the sweetness of doing nothing. Cool off in the private swimming pond or sit with the flock of Navajo Churro sheep in one of the vast pastures or wander along a woodland trail among the pine, birch, hemlock, maple, fir, beech, spruce and century-old heirloom apple orchard. Casa Portal is home to a thriving habitat of endless wildflowers, herbs, and abundant wildlife, including birds, deer, bees, wild turkeys, working sheep flocks, and the occasional moose. The great lawn offers a front-row seat to the stars, moon, and sunrise.
Accommodations include shared rooms in the “casa”, the heart of the farm, a welcoming 1840s farmhouse with a screened porch, library, sunroom, living room, and a dining area where the in-house chef serves daily seasonal farm-fresh meals, with much of the ingredients coming directly out of the lush gardens on the land along with bioregional produce from nearby farms. Enjoy the newly renovated barn studio, woodland campsites, and private cabins nestled throughout the landscape, among transportive “portals”. All rooms are simple, comfortable, and thoughtfully furnished. Bedding and towels are provided for all guests. There is no air conditioning; fans are provided. All bathrooms and showers in the guesthouse are shared private single stall full bathrooms. There are also outdoor showers as well as multiple outhouses on the property for anyone to use. Campers have full access to the bathrooms and community lounge spaces in the guesthouse as well.
Lodging
This is a small private venue with limited accommodations, therefore it is not possible to accommodate additional family members, spouses, children, friends, or other guests who are not enrolled in the immersion training program. ONLY immersion participants can stay as guests at this venue. ALL immersion participants are required to stay onsite.
Accommodations are priced per person and include lodging, farm-to-table chef prepared meals, nonalcoholic beverages and snacks for the duration of the immersion.
Guest House Shared Twin (2 twin beds): $900.00
Guest House Shared Triple (3 twin beds): $800.00
Guest House Private Queen: $1,200.00
Shared Twin Cabin (2 twin beds): $800.00
Camping (Bring your own camping gear): $600.00
All bathrooms and showers in the guesthouse are shared private single stall full bathrooms. There are also outdoor showers as well as multiple outhouses on the property for anyone to use. Campers have full access to the bathrooms and community lounge spaces in the guesthouse as well.
Meals
Full-service seasonal chef prepared meals are included with accommodation costs (includes vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options). Tea, coffee, water, and assorted snacks are available throughout the day. There is a guest refrigerator for guests to use for any special guest items.
Transportation
Located in Jackson, Maine. Twenty minutes from the coastal town of Belfast and one hour from Acadia National Park. Plenty of parking onsite with lots to see and do along coastal Maine.
40 minutes from Bangor International Airport in Maine.
2 hours from Portland International Airport in Maine
3 hours from Boston International Airport in Massachusetts
Bus Transportation:
There is regular bus service from Boston to Portland to Belfast (Coastal Route) or Bangor.
The Bangor bus is non-stop and has more scheduled trips. See Concord Trailways: https://concordcoachlines.com/bus-routes/
Local Shuttle Service between Casa Portal and Bangor and Belfast ***Must be arranged in advance***
Brad’s Cab Text 207-659-1704 – Brad & his team usually respond within 48 hours. This is the high season so he might take a moment to respond. Always good to text all your information when contacting him.
ABC Taxi: (207) 659-4455 – Additionally, here is a very comprehensive list of car services from Bangor Airport: https://flybangor.com/airport-information/ground-transportation/
Schedule Details
Arrival
3pm on Sunday August 15, 2027
Departure
2pm on Thursday August 19, 2027
General Notes
Connectivity and Other Notes:
There is cell coverage on the land. All major carriers come in clearly.
Venue provides star-link internet at the main guest house. Cabins and camping are off grid and powered by solar.
Venue Policies:
All guests are required to stay on property and no outside guests are permitted on grounds without prior approval.
Pets, firearms, illicit drugs, smoking, vaping, and alcohol are not allowed on the premises.
We ask that all guests take proper precautions before staying at Casa Portal and disclose any pertinent health information to your group leader ahead of time and have health insurance coverage up to date. Casa Portal reserves the right to ask you to leave if it is putting the staff and group in a harmful situation.
31 days or more before the start of your course you may request a full refund of your accommodations minus a $50 administrative fee
30 days or less before the start of the immersion, refunds are no longer possible unless your rooming reservation is refilled, in which case you may request a refund minus a $100 administrative fee
Tuition
The tuition for the four-day immersion is $495 (USD). Wait to pay until you are ready to register for a specific immersion. You will have two years from the completion of your core guide training to do the immersion.
Immersion tuition does not include transportation, lodging or camping fees and food. These expenses are separate from the program costs for the four-day immersion and are the responsibility of the trainee.
IMPORTANT: Please wait until you receive enrollment confirmation before booking travel and lodging.
Tuition figures are subject to change.
Training Team
- Tam Willey
- Tam Willey (they/them) is a certified forest therapy guide, trainer and mentor with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and founder of Toadstool Walks, a guiding practice based in Boston, Massachusetts. Tam trained with ANFT in 2017 as part of cohort 15 and began mentoring and training new guides shortly after. Tam is co-founder of Acorn Programs, a business and practice development program for guides seeking support in bridging the gap from training to building a guiding practice. Tam has been self-employed since 2005 and brings over 15 years of experience with marketing, promotion, website management, administrative organization, content creation, bookkeeping, tax-filing, and overall personal professionalism. Tam’s guiding practice is informed by their background as a local handy person, children’s woodworking instructor, custodian, skateboarder, musician, artist, mentor, and their queer and gender expansive lived experience, serving and uplifting LGBTQ Folks through BAGLY, The Theater Offensive’s True Colors, Black and Pink, and The Venture Out Project. Tam has guided forest therapy in collaboration with The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, The Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Mass Audubon, Peabody Essex Museum, Speak For The Trees, Boston Harbor Now and more.
- Caitlin C. Williams
- Caitlin C. Williams brings more than two decades of experience in nature mentoring, human development, wildlife tracking, wilderness survival, environmental science, and naturalist skills. She works in partnership with organizations offering deep nature experiences, skills for development of an ecological self and tools for ecological restoration. Caitlin is Adjunct Faculty at Weaving Earth: Center for Relational Education. She has been a mentor and guide with ANFT since the first training in 2014.
Certification Pathway
STEP 1
6-Month Remote Training
You will start with a 6-month remote training, covering the content on live calls with the support of your trainers, fellow students, a very user friendly learning platform, many self exploration and nature connection activities that are done outside. After completing this training you get a provisional certification as a Certified Forest Therapy Guide. To view the available trainings scroll down
STEP 2
4-Day In-Person Immersion
After completing module 4 you can apply to attend a 4-day in-person immersion, for hands on forest therapy guiding experience with trainers and fellow students. You have two years time to complete this step.
STEP 3
Get Your Certification
After completing the 6-month remote training and the 4-day in- person immersion, you will receive your permanent certification as an ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Guide and be part of the largest Forest Therapy Guide Community Worldwide.