Key Information

Important Dates and Times for this training

  • Course dates

    April 1 to September 1, 2027

  • Weekly live calls days and time

    Thursday evenings, specific time TBD

  • Language

    American Sign Language

Check Your Time Zone

Check your local time for live sessions for this cohort

Online Forest Therapy Guide trainings offered by the ANFT include live sessions that are scheduled for different time zones. Please check your local time for live sessions.

What you will be able to do

Grow into a guide who makes nature accessible to everyone.

  • Lead accessible forest therapy walks

  • Facilitate the ANFT Standard Sequence of invitations, offer invitations beyond words

  • Create spaces of belonging

  • Bring this work into your community

Pricing options

Secure checkout. Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal accepted, in USD. Wilderness First Aid certification is arranged and paid separately.

Trainers for this course

Summer Crider

Summer Crider is a cultural studies educator, certified Forest and Nature Therapy guide, and founder of Wild Cypress, dedicated to creating inclusive, healing experiences for Deaf, Disabled, and marginalized communities. With a background in Expressive Arts Therapy, Educational Media, and Cultural Studies, they combine academic depth with entrepreneurial creativity as a self-taught business owner, filmmaker, and media consultant. Raised in the cypress swamps by a family rooted in environmental conservation, Summer developed a deep relationship with silence and nonverbal communication, inviting others to reconnect with nature, each other, and themselves through wonder and sensory awareness. Wild Cypress partners with ANFT to support Deaf and hearing guides on their certification path, incorporating culturally responsive approaches that restore harmony and embrace communication beyond words.

What to Expect

What your training will actually be like

  • 4 Day in Person Immersion

    April 1-4, 2027 at Wildflowers Meadows, Melrose, FL

  • 6 Months Online

    April 4th to September 1st - Weekly live sessions with your trainers and fellow cohort colleagues

  • Estimated Weekly Time Investment

    8 to 12 hours each week between live meetings (on Zoom, which are recorded in the event you miss them), online course work (such as reading, videos, quizzes), and field work in nature (practicing invitations, sit spot, and walks)

Course Curriculum

What you will learn during your training

Module 1 — What is Relational Forest Therapy?
You'll begin at the root of it all by learning about the story of how this practice came to be, and the values that hold it together. You'll learn to see any forest trail, garden, or local park with new eyes, discovering what makes a place ready to hold the kind of experience you'll soon be guiding others through.

Module 2 — The Standard Sequence & Liminal Space and Time
Here you'll learn the framework and methodology at the center of every walk you'll ever guide: a simple, elegant structure that opens space for relationship with the more than human world of nature.

Module 3 — Threshold of Incorporation
You'll learn the art of closing a walk well,  including how to safely forage, brew, and serve tea as a way of bringing people gently home. It's one of the most beloved parts of the practice, and you'll leave this module ready to hold it yourself.

Module 4 — To Be a Guide
This is where the vocation becomes real. You'll come to understand what it truly means to guide,  not as an expert with answers, but as someone who opens the door and lets the forest be the therapist.

Module 5 — Language for Relational Forest Therapy
Words shape experience more than we realize. You'll learn how to craft invitations that open possibility rather than close it down  and you'll leave with a complete, confident introduction ready for your very first walk.

Module 6 — Co-emergence and Landscapes of Invitation
You'll discover how to let invitations arise naturally from the moment, rather than forcing them and you'll walk away with a rich library of tried-and-true invitations from guides before you, ready to use right away.

Module 7 — Sharing and Deep Listening
At the core of forest therapy guiding is the art of deep listening. You'll learn to hold space for others to be truly heard, a skill that will change not just how you guide, but how you show up in every relationship in your life.

Module 8 — Senses, Pathways to Relationship with Nature
You'll be invited to rediscover senses you may have forgotten you had, and to guide others in doing the same. This module is where the felt, embodied heart of Forest Therapy really comes alive.

Module 9 — Bioregional Learning& Relationship
You'll trace the hidden water lines connecting your own sit spot all the way to the sea — a beautiful way of discovering that you already belong to something much bigger than yourself.

Module 10  — Edges and Headroom
You'll come to see discomfort as an ally, not an obstacle, and you'll gather the research and language to speak confidently about the healing power of this work to participants, to skeptics, to anyone who asks.

Module 11 - Health Science in Forest Therapy

You will learn about the Health Science that supports this practice, how to find it and to follow the threads of your own curiosity. You will have access to a significant amount of research on the health benefits of this practice, both for humans and for forests.

Module 12 - Developing your Guiding Practice

You will learn and be inspired to reflect on how to develop your guiding practice into. Business, a community offering or how to integrate it into your existing work

What students are saying

What this transformational training can open up for you

Dr. Susan Schatz

Luna Moth Cohort

"I felt like my stress was a tightly clenched fist. After just a few days connecting with Nature [during the immersion], I could feel my heart and my fist start to come alive, to unclench and open. Nature is full of spirit. That truth hit me, inspiring me and allowing me to see my own spirit as a seed. I began to see my beauty, and the beauty of the nature and people around me.

Kali Doubledee

Luna Moth Cohort

Many people in the Deaf community experience language deprivation. It can be hard for them to express themselves. Using art and nature can help develop their ability to creatively express themselves without limit.

Meredith Burke

Luna Moth Cohort

Training with a group of other Deaf signers, I felt I could relax. There was an immediate understanding, having navigated similar experiences. I didn’t feel like I had to explain myself. They already understood.

FAQ

  • What exactly do I achieve at the end, and what is ANFT certification?

    When you complete the training, you become a Certified Forest Therapy Guide through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs (ANFT), which is recognized as one of the founding, most established certification bodies in the field. In practical terms, you'll leave with: ANFT Certification, which allows you to use the title "Certified Forest Therapy Guide" and practice professionally under that credential. Listing in the ANFT Guide Directory, connecting you to a global network of guides and to potential clients searching for someone in your area. Proficiency in the ANFT sequence and methodology, the walk structure and set of invitations that guides use to open a relational, embodied experience of nature for others. Membership in a living community of practice — ongoing peer connection, continuing education opportunities, and a lineage of guides who support one another well beyond the training itself.

  • What does it cost in total, including things not in the price above?

    Part 1 - Online: Tuition for the 6-month online certification training is US $3,350.00 Students may opt to select a payment plan for tuition if full payment cannot be made upfront. Payment plans are for $560 per month over six months, $3,360.00 USD total, with the first payment of $560 serving as a deposit that will confirm your enrollment and reserve your space in the course. Part 2 - In-Person: The tuition for the four-day immersion is $495. It does not include travel, lodging, or meals. You will have two years from the completion of your core guide training to do the immersion. Payment for the immersion is made only upon registration for the immersion. There is no payment for immersion necessary at the start of Part 1, the 6-month online training.

  • How much time per week does the online part take?

    8 to 12 hours each week between live meetings (on Zoom, which are recorded in the event you miss them), online course work (such as reading, videos, quizzes), and field work in nature (practicing invitations, sit spot, and walks)

  • Do I need prior experience, or a background in therapy or nature work?

    There are only two requirements for joining: an ability to communicate semi-fluently in the language the course is being offered in and an enthusiasm for nature.

  • What is the refund and cancellation policy?

    Please view our full Payment, Transfer, and Refund Policy here: https://anft.earth/payment-refund-policy/

  • What happens if I miss a live session?

    Main live sessions are recorded. You can make-up less than half of those session and still be eligible for certification.

  • Can I work as a guide anywhere in the world after this?

    Yes! We have guides internationally who work in their own communities and travel to others to guide walks all over our beautiful Earth.

  • Who do I contact if I have a question before enrolling?

    Please reach out to [email protected] with any specific questions.