Guide Training Immersion 4-Days
USA, Tennessee – Well Being Retreat Center – September 2024
- September 25, 2024
- to
- September 29, 2024
- Event Full - Registration Closed
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
Well Being Retreat Center
Well Being Retreat Center is nestled on 160 acres of land boarded by 2 miles of the Powell River in eastern Tennessee. The mission of the Well Being Foundation is to promote harmony with nature, wellness of the body, and peace of mind. This is a place where the sights and sounds of nature prevail and can be explored on a network of gravel roads, trails, or by just meandering on the land. It offers places to be down by the river’s edge, in among a vast diversity of trees and other beings, or up at the top of the hill with views of the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky.
All the buildings are built in a way that is light on the land and blends with the surroundings – cabins are built into the hillsides, some are earth-sheltered, and others were designed around standing trees. The open-air, covered pavilion, where we will gather and share meals, is at the river’s edge. The cabins, a fire pit, a labyrinth, and other facilities are spread out across this hilly landscape. There is a labyrinth up at the top of the property. You can explore the land along a network of gravel roads, trails, or by wandering on the land.
Lodging
Retreat Accommodation Fee includes lodging and all meals for the length of the immersion. All participants must stay on-site. No off-site lodging available.
This is a per-person fee that is in addition to the tuition paid to ANFT.
Lodging available includes shared and private cabins, cabinettes with shared bathrooms/showers, and camping.
The accommodations fee includes lodging and meals and ranges from $475-880 for the four-night period.
Retreat Center Cabins
There are eleven cabins and tiny houses. The cabins vary in size and are priced based on size and single or double occupancy. The tiny houses are priced as private cabins.
Cabinettes
There are six cabinettes. Full bathrooms with showers are a very short walk away in the Conference Building.
Camping
Camping is also available on a 1/4 mile of mowed (almost) level pasture directly on the banks of the scenic Powell River. Climate controlled bathrooms with showers are a short walk away at the Powell River Pavilion.
Per Person Accommodation fee (includes lodging/meals)
Camping $475
Cabinettes (single occupancy) $600
Shared Cabin (double occupancy bedroom) $615
Shared Cabin (single occupancy bedroom) $750
Private Cabin (double occupancy) $720
Private Cabin (single occupancy) $880
Meals
Meals are Included with accommodation costs. Full-Service vegetarian meals with vegan options will be prepared and served fresh from Well Being’s licensed commercial kitchen. Assorted herbal and other teas, coffee, water, and snacks are available throughout the day. Some of the lodging options include their own small kitchen.
Transportation
Located in Tazewell, Tennessee in the Cumberland Mountains in northeastern Tennessee – 50 miles north of Knoxville; about 1 1/2 hours from Knoxville, about 2¼ hours west of Asheville, NC, two hours southeast of Lexington, KY, three hours north of Chattanooga, TN and about 4 hours east of Nashville.
Schedule Details
Arrival
Start 3 pm, Wednesday, September 25
Departure
End 2 pm, Sunday, September 29
General Notes
All attendees are required to stay on-site and book their meals and accommodations through the Well Being Retreat Center. Pets, alcohol, illicit drugs, and firearms are not permitted on the premises.
Well Being Retreat Center can offer a full refund at least one month before, full refund minus $50 processing fee.
Cell phone coverage is spotty on the land. Verizon is the most reliable cell phone coverage with the strongest signal at the top of the hill near the Tiny Houses. At the top of the hill there is also a zoom room where wifi can be accessed through cellphone hotspot.
COVID VACCINE POLICY
All participants must test negative for COVID within 24 hours before entering the venue premises. Antigen at-home test kits are fine. We will not be collecting proof.
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.
Trainers
- 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.
- Christine Hoyer
- 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 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 apprentice 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.
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.