Guide Training Immersion 4-Days
USA, Vermont – Basecamp at Beaver Falls – August 2024
- August 25, 2024
- to
- August 29, 2024
- Fully Registered - Accepting Waitlist
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
Basecamp at Beaver Falls
- Venue Website Link
Basecamp at Beaver Falls is a 40-acre private retreat space located in the rolling hills of Southern Vermont. The land is a mix of open field and meadow with a pond and a river that runs through the pine and hemlock forest. The trails are wide and flat.
Amenities include a sauna and a large outdoor hot tub that sit next to a swimming pond. There is also a river that runs through the forested area with accessible places to dip in. There are multiple lounging areas inside and out.
Accommodations include rooms and cabins and camping. All beds come with linens (blankets, pillows, sheets). All rooms & cabins share a bathroom. The main house has multiple single stall bathrooms with showers.
Campers and folks staying in the cabins will have access to the bathrooms and showers in the Main House. There are also multiple outdoor showers and an outhouse with a flushable toilet and industrial sink in the camping area. The camping area is steps away from the main house.
Lodging
NOTE: 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. For this venue, only those who are enrolled in the immersion training program will be able to stay as guests at this venue. You must stay on site at Basecamp.
Per Person Accommodation fee for 4 nights & 4 days including ALL meals starting with dinner on Sunday, August 25th and ending with lunch on August 29th. Includes snacks and beverages, coffee and tea.
̶P̶r̶i̶v̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶R̶o̶o̶m̶s̶ ̶(̶s̶h̶a̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶a̶t̶h̶)̶ ̶$̶8̶0̶0̶ ̶-̶ ̶$̶9̶0̶0̶ ̶(̶l̶i̶m̶i̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶v̶a̶i̶l̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶)̶
Shared Room (shared bath) $600 (limited availability) – only one left!
Camping (shared bath) $550 (unlimited availability)
For questions regarding accommodations, please, email Tam at tamwilley@gmail.com
Meals
ALL meals, snacks, coffee and tea are included in the accommodations price starting with dinner on Sunday, August 25th and ending with lunch on August 29th.
Transportation
2.5 hr from Logan International Airport in Boston, MA
1.5 hrs from Albany International Airport in Albany, NY
1.5 hrs from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT
Schedule Details
Arrival
Check-in is between 3-5pm on Sunday, August 25th, 2024. Dinner is at 6pm. Programming begins with an Orientation circle on Sunday evening at 7pm.
Departure
Programming ends by 2pm on Thursday, August 29th, 2024. If you are booking flights, please make sure your departing flight leaves no earlier than 5pm to give yourself enough time to commute to airport without leaving the program early.
General Notes
WIFI
Wifi is available in the main house at Basecamp at Beaver Falls.
AT&T phone coverage is good in most areas but Verizon has spotty reception.
COVID Policy
Participants will need to have a negative COVID test before entering the venue premises, within 24 hours of the start of the event. This can be an at-home-test and needs to be sent to the trainers. The training team will be in touch the month before the immersion to let you know what the specific COVID protocol will be during the immersion. The policy will likely mirror whatever the local policy is at the time of the event. Much of the immersion will take place outside and everyone will have the option to wear a mask whenever they wish to do so. Please be in touch directly with the trainers for this immersion if you have any additional questions.
Venue Policy: No smoking or vaping allowed on the property or in the Premises. No illicit drugs, firearms or pets are permitted on the premises.
Deposit and Cancellation Policy: Cancelation Policy for Basecamp Lodging 45 days or more prior to the start of your course you may request a full refund of your accommodations minus a $50 administrative fee 44 days or less prior to 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.
Trainers
- Nadine Mazzola
- Nadine Mazzola is a guide, trainer, mentor with ANFT and founder of New England Nature and Forest Therapy Consulting based in Acton, MA. She also wrote the book “Forest Bathing with Your Dog”, which won a bronze medal in the “Best First Book - Non-Fiction” category from the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards. The book combines the practice of forest therapy with our practice of walking our dogs and elevates the depth of both. Nadine has been guiding forest therapy walks since 2015. She has been featured on PBS Windows to the Wild, ABC’sChronicle and in the Boston Globe and Boston Magazine. Nadine has a business and marketing background and was formerly a world professional pocket billiards player competing on the Women's Professional Billiard Tour. Also, an artist, she facilitates expressive arts classes often incorporating elements of forest therapy throughout.
- 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.
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.