Ecotherapy Training Series for Mental Health Professionals
3-Part Workshop Series for Therapists to experience a nature-based journey into clinical integration, personal embodiment and tranSformational practice.
“The wild world is not outside of us—it is our deepest teacher, our co-therapist, and our reminder of who we are.”
This immersive 3-part training series is designed for therapists, counselors, and mental health professionals who are ready to expand their clinical practice with evidence-based, nature-centered healing methods. Whether you’re feeling stuck in a therapy room, craving deeper connection with your work, or seeking ways to ethically and confidently bring nature into the healing process—this series is for you.
Each level builds on the last, guiding participants through personal embodiment, skill-building, and eventually transformational facilitation in land-based therapeutic work.
About this Series:
Part 1: Bringing the Outside In
February 27 from 8-4 pm In-person
April 17 - May 8 from 11:30-1 pm Virtually
Level 1 introduces the foundations of eco-therapy with accessible, indoor-friendly methods you can immediately integrate into clinical practice. Therapists will explore the benefits of nature-based healing through sensory practices, evidence-based frameworks (e.g., DBT, MBSR, SE), and somatic reflection—no wilderness experience required. Learn how to use plants, natural metaphors, and environmental rhythm to support client regulation and your own professional resilience.
You'll leave with:
✔️ Your own “nature starter kit” and planning tools for indoor or outdoor integration
✔️ A clear working definition of eco-therapy
✔️ Tools for sensory grounding and seasonal rhythm regulation
✔️ Confidence in translating nature-based language into documentation and clinical models
Level 2: Stepping into the Wild Unknown
September 18 & 19 from 8-4 pm In-person
Outdoor Clinical Tools | Wilderness Ethics | Survival Wisdom as Metaphor
Level 2 brings therapy outdoors—into forests, parks, gardens, or local community spaces. Participants will learn how to co-facilitate sessions with nature as an ally while integrating core concepts from wilderness survival (shelter, water, fire, food, mindset) as therapeutic metaphors. You’ll explore eco-somatic regulation, trauma-informed outdoor practices, and the roots of ecological healing across cultures. This training empowers clinicians to feel safe, creative, and supported in natural spaces, and to bring clients with them—ethically and confidently.
You'll leave with:
✔️ Risk management tools and outdoor session frameworks
✔️ Survival-based metaphors for clinical use
✔️ Hands-on experience with fire rituals, water-based release practices, and plant medicine metaphors
✔️ A deeper sense of personal grounding and communal reciprocity
Level 3: Transformative Thresholds
Format: Multi-day immersion weekend retreat
Rites of Passage | Inner Wilderness | Guided Solo Overnight Experience
Level 3 is a rite of passage for the practitioner—blending clinical mastery, deep embodiment, and personal growth. This training invites you into Zone 3: the greater ecosystem of self, soul, and society. Through ceremony, group process, nature-based ritual, and solo reflection time on the land, you’ll explore how to guide threshold moments like grief, change, and rebirth—for both yourself and your clients. This is the culmination of your eco-therapy journey: grounded, ethically-informed, and soulfully equipped.
You'll leave with:
✔️ Capacity to hold space for transformation through nature-based ritual
✔️ Frameworks for rites of passage, the hero/ine’s journey, and eco-soul work
✔️ Experience facilitating and embodying group and solo outdoor healing
✔️ Clarity on your personal relationship with nature as a guide, mirror, and ally in your work
YOUR GUIDES
With deep roots in Hawaiʻi and decades of combined experience in mental health, wilderness immersion, and integrative healing, Dawn Martin and Sara Kuʻuipo Kunz don’t just teach ecotherapy—they live it. Dawn’s clinical expertise and leadership in trauma-informed, holistic care pairs powerfully with Sara’s dynamic background in storytelling, nature-based facilitation, and cultural connection. Together, they embody the spirit of this work—blending heart, science, and soul. Their passion is contagious, their presence grounded, and their facilitation a transformative invitation to reconnect with the land, ourselves, and the deeper rhythms of healing.
