The Nature Praxis: Ecotherapy Facilitation Essentials

A practical, reflective and empowering intensive for people who want to facilitate therapeutic outdoor experiences. Build the skills to design and lead safe, responsive ecotherapy sessions while working with groups, uncertainty and nature itself.

The Nature Praxis: Ecotherapy Facilitation Essentials is a seven-day residential intensive for people who want to create safe, meaningful and responsive therapeutic experiences outdoors. The course combines concise theory with practical exercises, personal reflection and group learning. Participants explore what ecotherapy is, why nature can support healing and development, and how an ecocentric perspective changes the role of the facilitator. The Ecological Self provides a foundation for understanding people as part of a wider living system rather than separate from it.

The learning journey follows the Medicine Wheel. East introduces orientation, context and foundations. South focuses on energy, action, craft and experiential-learning processes. West explores feeling, flow, adaptation and session design. North brings framing, safety, professional practice and preparation for a Solo Night. The Center supports integration, empathic communication, group management and the way forward.

Participants learn how to sequence experiences using the Ecology of Adventure and Kolb’s Learning Cycle. They work with practical frameworks such as the four faculties of the ego and the Flower Facilitation Model, and practise methods including Sitting Place, sensory awareness, Tree Finding, Fox Walk, reflective drawing, journaling, a Silent Night Walk and a Solo Night.

Safety and ethics are treated as essential facilitation skills. The program covers Challenging by Choice, trigger awareness, trauma-sensitive framing, outdoor risk management, boundaries and the limits of practice. It also develops empathic listening and an understanding of group-development phases, helping facilitators respond to both the needs of a group and the unpredictability of outdoor settings.

Daily movement or meditation, morning circles, practical sessions, Sitting Place work and evening circles create a rhythm of experience, reflection and application. The journey ends with integration, gratitude and a clear personal direction for applying the learning.

DAY 1

Arrival & Orientation

Meet in Chiang Mai; travel to Chiang Dao; get to know the location; opening circle at the bonfire.

DAY 2

East: Breath, Air & Orientation

Medicine Wheel, ecotherapy context and paradigms, why nature supports healing, Ecological Self and the foundation of Sitting Place.

DAY 3

South: Energy, Action & Craft

Ecological realism, experiential-learning techniques, sequencing, Challenging by Choice, Tree Finding and reflective drawing.

DAY 4

West: Feeling, Flow & Adaptation

Fox Walk, session design, four faculties of the ego, Flower Facilitation Model, trauma-sensitive safety and risk management, journaling and Silent Night Walk.

DAY 5

North: Framing & Professional Practice

Framing, asking at the Sitting Place, professional samples, preparation for and participation in the Solo Night.

DAY 6

Center: Integration & Group Process

Answering and reflection, empathic listening, group-development phases, Throwing Stick and evening open space.

DAY 7

Way Forward & Departure

Personal way forward in ecotherapy facilitation, expression of gratitude, lunch and departure.

What's Included

• Full ecotherapy facilitation and all learning activities

• Workbook / learning journal and training materials

• Use of group outdoor and safety equipment required for program activities

• Mandatory online preparation meeting

• Transport from/back to the meeting point in Chiang Mai to training location in Chiang Dao

• Each day breakfast, lunch and dinner

• YEP Academy accident insurance during program activities (coverage up to USD 5,000)

• YEP Academy CPD certificate upon successful completion

Not Included

• Travel to and from the official meeting point

• Visa costs and personal travel / health insurance

• Outdoor equipment: tents, sleeping bag, sleeping mat

• Personal outdoor clothing and personal equipment listed in the packing list

• Optional individual follow-up coaching