Guide Training Immersion 4-Days
USA, Oregon – Buckhorn Springs – September 2025
- September 14, 2025
- to
- September 18, 2025
- 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
Buckhorn Springs
A 124-acre inholding of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in the Ashland Mountains in Ashland OR. An enchanting place where one feels connected to the land beginning with Indigenous People who gathered on this ground for peace and healing centuries ago. Buckhorn Springs provides a unique environment nestled in its own small valley with old oaks, ponderosa pines and tall aromatic cedars.
A healing mineral spring fed creek runs through the property and is easily accessible for a refreshing dip. An open protected meadow, is a safe environment for wild turkeys and deer.
At night, the little light makes it the perfect place for stargazing in the meadow.
Buckhorn Springs is a gentle, magical place, that holds participants in a very special way.
Lodging
Retreat Accommodations include 4 nights of lodging and the celebration dinner on the evening of day 3. Participants have to stay on-site, no offsite lodging.
Option 1
Private room / in-house bathrooms (bathrooms are shared with 1 other person at the most) US$ 850 per person
Option 2
Private room / shared bathroom in community bathhouse (separate building) US$730 per person
Option 3
Shared room bunk beds / shared bathroom in community bathhouse (separate building) US$620 per person
Once you have received the confirmation from ANFT, please contact admissions@anft.earth for the reservation of your accommodation.
Meals
Each cabin or house has a fridge and either a kitchen or a kitchenette. There is also a very spacious kitchen in the main house that can be used by everyone.
Participants are responsible for cooking and buying their own food. We will have a 2-hour lunch break for enough spaciousness.
Celebration dinner on the evening of day 3 is included in the lodging rate
Transportation
Buckhorn Springs is a 25-minute drive from Ashland.
The closest airport to Ashland is Rogue Valley International Medford Airport (https://jacksoncountyor.org/airport)
From this airport, it will take you 35 minutes to get to Buckhorn Springs.
Schedule Details
Arrival
Check-in after 4:00 pm.
Introduction Circle at 7:00 pm
Departure
The program ends by 12:30pm.
General Notes
Cancellation Policies
Cancellation before 60 days prior to event: 100% refund
Cancellation between 59-30 days prior to event: 50% refund
Cancelation under 30 days prior to the event: No refund
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
- Jackie Kuang
- Jackie is a trainer and the Business Director for the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs. She’s 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.
- Darlene Rooney-Keller
- Darlene is an ANFT Forest Therapy Guide, mentor and trainer living in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Longmont, Colorado. In 2018, she founded Nature Heals Forest Therapy where Darlene works in partnership with local organizations including Chautauqua Experiences, Dunton Hot Springs, Krupnic Counseling and many private groups. Darlene also deeply values creating her own unique offerings to support her community in having opportunities to deepen their practice of Forest Therapy. She offers seasonal immersions, retreats, couples walks,1-1 walks and more. Darlene is passionate about Forest Therapy and the opportunity to hold space and support people in connecting with a deeper part of themselves through awakening their relationship with the Natural World. Darlene’s intuitive and heart-centered guiding supports people in opening and relaxing into their heart’s intelligence and healing power of this beautiful practice of connecting with the Natural World. Darlene has been serving her community through the healing arts of massage therapy yoga and meditation for over 25 years. Living in the Rocky Mountains, she is grateful for the abundant opportunities to be outdoors connecting with the land, supporting her in finding balance, grounding, self care and inner peace.
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.