Collaborations with the Natural World
A 5-Day In-Person Training for Counselors and Healers
Learn and Practice Therapeutic Nature-Based Theory and Skills in a Wilderness Setting
42 NBCC Credit Hours Available
June 27 - July 1, 2026
Collaborations with the Natural World gives you the opportunity to learn and practice a wide variety of therapeutic nature-based theories and skills in an outdoor setting.
After this Somatic Nature Therapy Institute training, you’ll be able to confidently and competently incorporate nature connection into your healing practice.
This experiential, five-day, 42 contact hours, in-person training focuses on ways that you and your clients can work in partnership with the natural world to address anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other life challenges.
You’ll also be able to collaborate with nature to help your clients develop self awareness, self-esteem, and self-compassion. You’ll explore the power and practice of mindfulness-based sensory awareness, nature-based parts work, ceremony and ritual, experiential facilitation skills, and much more! You’ll also learn the essential skills you need to facilitate ecotherapy, or nature-based therapy–outside or indoors—in a safe, effective, and ethical way.
This training will inspire, deepen, and transform your relationship to yourself, your work, and ultimately to the natural world!
Who This Training is For
Collaborations with the Natural World is for counselors, coaches, educators and healers who want to use nature-based therapy skills with those they serve. The nature-based interventions you’ll learn in this training can be applied indoors, outdoors, and even online as you support clients' learning and growth. You’ll deepen your confidence and therapeutic skillset, increase value for your clients, and elevate therapeutic outcomes.
What You’ll Get From This Training
A basic understanding of the core principles of nature-based therapy
An overview of the professional fields of wilderness therapy, adventure therapy and ecopsychology and the different ways they are being practiced
Many practical tools, experiential exercises and interventions that you can immediately utilize with clients and students of diverse ages and backgrounds
Theory and practice in creating relevant, nature-based interventions for specific therapeutic or educational goals
Lived experience and practice of what it means to collaborate with the natural world
A roadmap for incorporating nature-connection safely and ethically into your work
Inspiration and clarity for your next steps in collaborating with the natural world as healer
Training Details
Next Training: June 27 - July 1, 2026
Location: Location: In the mountains 45 min west of Boulder, CO on private land (at 9,200 feet above sea level)
Prerequisites: Introduction to Nature-Based Interventions is recommended, but not required.
Food and Lodging:
There are several hotels, Airbnb’s, and campgrounds near the property. If you’re interested in this option, please let us know and we can help with recommendations.
Price:
Regular rate $1,795
Early bird rate $1,650 (must register by 04/27/26)
Pre-season holiday special rate $1,475 (must register by 01/31/26)
Training Outline
Day 1: Overview, nature-based interventions for orienting and connecting, introduction to the fields of ecopsychology and wilderness, adventure, and nature-based therapy, wanders on the land, relationship with nature and ecological identity
Day 2: Nature as resource, the role of mindfulness in nature-based therapy, sensory awareness tools, facilitation skills, clinical considerations in creating interventions, rituals in nature
Day 3: Nature-based parts work, conversations with the natural world, professional issues and considerations, personal integration plans
Day 4: Ceremony, ritual and rites of passage, practices of mirroring, council, and personal ceremony creation
Day 5: Facilitation skills and practice, professional issues and considerations, personal integration plans
What People are Saying About Collaborations with the Natural World
Continuing Education Details
Clinical learning objectives:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Describe the foundational principles and core approaches within nature-based therapy
Differentiate between the fields of wilderness therapy, adventure therapy, and ecopsychology, and articulate key applications of each in professional practice
Demonstrate a range of practical tools, experiential exercises, and interventions that are adaptable for clients and students across diverse ages and cultural backgrounds
Design nature-based interventions aligned with specific therapeutic or educational goals, integrating both theoretical and experiential frameworks
Engage in direct practice of co-creating with the natural world, deepening one’s personal and professional understanding of nature as collaborator
Identify key ethical and safety considerations for incorporating nature-connection practices into clinical, educational, or coaching work
Clarify individual intentions and next steps for integrating nature-based practices into their unique professional path
Registration process: To register for the program, please click the apply button and schedule a Zoom call with our Program Director. The purpose of this call is to answer questions you may have about the program and to help determine if the program will meet your training goals.
Cancellation policy: We offer full refunds until four weeks prior to the program start date, excluding the deposit of $595. For participants who paid in full, a deposit of $595 will be deducted from the refund. Between two and four weeks prior to the program start date, we will refund all but 50% of the payment amount. If it is less than two weeks prior to the program start date, there is no refund. Regarding all payment plans, our policy is that if circumstances arise that require you to exit the training during the course, while we sympathize with your situation, we require you to fulfill your financial commitment.
If the program is canceled for any reason, your deposit and any other fees will be returned.
Attendance requirements for receiving CE credit: You must attend at least 60% of the live sessions in order to receive any CE credit for the program. Attendance will be recorded each day of the program.
Continuing education (CE) credit: Somatic Nature Therapy Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider(™), ACEP No. 7785. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified on the program’s specific webpage. Somatic Nature Therapy Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
If you attend all live sessions for this program, you will receive 42 NBCC credit hours. You are responsible for confirming with your state licensing board if they accept NBCC credit hours for continuing education.
American Disabilities Act: If you require special accommodations to attend any of our programs, please contact us at Info@somaticnaturetherapy.com.
“Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are.”
About the Training Creator and Your Facilitator
With several decades of experience in outdoor education, therapy, teaching, and rites of passage guiding, Katie Asmus, MA, BMP, LPC, the founder of the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute, is an expert facilitator and educator on nature-based therapeutic interventions.
Katie started her career as an instructor for Outward Bound and after becoming a clinician, began training outdoor educators and facilitators how to identify and address trauma and panic responses among students on wilderness trips.
Katie also has had a 20-plus-year career working with therapy and coaching clients and teaching graduate-level wilderness therapy, adventure therapy, ecotherapy, and somatic therapy at Naropa University and Prescott College.
She is a skilled facilitator, educator, speaker, and therapist who has trained practitioners internationally in somatic and nature-based interventions for working with trauma, attachment, and nervous system regulation with a strong emphasis on parts work. Katie also focuses on incorporating ceremony and rites of passage into healing work in order to honor life transitions. She has developed a number of professional trainings for helping professionals in these areas, has presented internationally for over 20 years, published a variety of writings, and has been a frequent guest on podcasts and as a speaker in international communities. She is passionate about sharing the many ways nature connection can be woven into the therapeutic process and empowering practitioners to lean into the inherent wisdom of the natural world.
Apply for Collaborations with the Natural World
To get started, click the link below to book time with our program director. On the call we'll share more information about the training, answer any questions you have, and collaboratively determine if it is the right fit for you. From there, we will send you enrollment and payment details.
For questions or if you’d like more information, reach out to us.
Learn more about all of our Wilderness Therapy and Nature-Based trainings for counselors, coaches, educators, and healers.