Academy of Applied Forest Therapy

Take the practice into the people, professions, and places you already serve.

Applied Forest Therapy carries relational forest therapy beyond the standard walk. It is the craft of adapting the practice with care — for particular people, particular settings, and particular moments in a life — and delivering it well in the real world.

Who it’s for

• The guide building a practice. You are starting or growing your work as a guide, and want to widen who you can serve and where.
• The licensed professional. You already practice in a licensed profession and want to integrate this work into it, within your existing scope.
• The professional without licensure. You work in a role that isn’t licensed, and want to bring this practice into it responsibly.
• The guide serving without a business. You simply want to keep serving people well, deepening your practice with no commercial aim.

The curriculum

The curriculum moves in three parts: shared foundations, then applications for specific populations and life situations, then professional practice.

Part I — Applied Foundations

• Module 1. What Applied Forest Therapy Is
• Module 2. Ethics, Safety, Inclusion, and Fit
• Module 3. Principles of Adaptation
• Module 4. Designing Programs for Real-World Delivery

Part II — Population and Life-Situation Applications

• Module 5. Older Adults and Aging Populations
• Module 6. Adults with Mobility Limitations, Pain, Illness, or Fatigue
• Module 7. Accessibility and Disability Inclusion in Practice
• Module 8. Neurodivergent and Sensory-Sensitive Adults
• Module 9. Trauma-Aware and PTSD-Aware Guiding
• Module 10. Grief, Loss, and Life Transition
• Module 11. Burnout, Caregiver Strain, and Helping Professionals
• Module 12. Veterans, First Responders, and High-Stress Populations, Law Enforcement
• Module 13. Urban, Indoor, and Low-Access Contexts

Part III — Professional Application

• Module 14. Working with Organizations and Partners
• Module 15. Facilitation for Complex or Mixed-Need Groups
• Module 16. Session Architecture Lab
• Module 17. Capstone Integration Project

Three ways to take it

• The full pathway. Move through the whole curriculum toward full certification in Applied Forest Therapy.
• A specialty certificate. Complete a focused set of modules to earn a certificate in a particular area of application. The specialty areas are still being decided.
• Single courses. Take individual modules on their own — and if you continue, they can count toward a pathway later.

Not sure yet? Join a monthly open call — an unhurried conversation about what this path asks and offers.