A 4 day in-person gathering, with 1 or 2 trainers, and people from different cohorts where you will have the opportunity to apply what you learned, experience in-person forest therapy walks and simply connect and share experiences and stories with other guides.
In this immersion, you will:
Get a hands on experience of what you learned
Get to know trainers personally
Get to know other guides and connect
Learn from shared experiences with other guides
Deepen into the practice
Get the opportunity to ask specific questions that might come up
Once you complete this four-day immersion, your certification will be moved from provisional to permanent. You have two years after you complete the six month core training course to complete an immersion. It will help to give you a sense of the community of guides that has grown and is active throughout the world.
Located just 25 miles north of Boston in the historic town of Andover, Massachusetts, Rolling Ridge Retreat Center sits on Lake Cochichewick with a half mile of lakefront property and thirty-eight secluded acres of woods and rolling hills. Explore the double labyrinth nestled in the forest and the expanse of open space, hills, and trails. Part of the Merrimack River Valley, this watershed weaves together the rich histories and cultures of central-southern New Hampshire and northeastern Massachusetts with the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Maine at Newburyport just 25 miles east. 📍Pawtucket & Massachusett Land
Retreat Accommodations include 4 nights of lodging and all meals starting with dinner upon arrival and ending with lunch upon departure.
Option 1: $800.00 - Single Room with Shared Bath (limited availability)
Option 2: $650.00 - Shared Twin Room with Shared Bath
Day Use Fees with Meal Options:
Catering and Meals
Full service meals with vegetarian options and specific dietary accommodations will be catered by the chef and culinary staff.
Tea and coffee will be available throughout the day.
Guest fridge and microwave available at all times.
Dietary specifications will be collected by the venue in the month leading up to the immersion.
45 minutes north of Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts
45 minutes south of Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire
Arrival: Sunday, September 4th (Check in at 5pm followed by dinner and registration)
Program starts: September 5th in the morning
Program ends: Thursday, September 8th, 2022 by 2pm
Wifi is available in the meeting rooms at Rolling Ridge Retreat Center.
Cell phone coverage is good in most areas.
All attendees must book accommodations through a link that will be provided upon confirmation of registration with ANFT. For day-use attendees, please email the trainers to let them know which day use package you prefer.
Alcohol, illicit drugs, firearms and pets are not permitted on the premises.
Smoking is permitted in a designated area
Cancelation Policy for Rolling Ridge Accommodations
31 days or more prior to the start of your course you may request a full refund of your accommodations minus a $50 administrative fee
30 days or less prior to the start of the immersion, refunds are no longer possible unless your rooming reservation is refilled, in which case you may request a refund minus a $100 administrative fee
All participants for this immersion are required to be fully vaccinated and will need to email a photo of their vaccination card to info@acornprograms.com. The trainers for this immersion as well as the staff at Rolling Ridge are all fully vaccinated.
The tuition for the four-day immersion is $495. Wait to pay until you are ready to register for a specific immersion. You will have two years from the completion of your core guide training to do the immersion.
Immersion tuition does not include transportation, lodging or camping fees and food. These expenses are separate from the program costs for the four-day immersion and are the responsibility of the trainee.
IMPORTANT: Please wait until you receive enrollment confirmation before booking travel and lodging.
Tuition figures are current as of January 1 2021 and are subject to change.
Nadine Mazzola is a guide, trainer, mentor with ANFT and founder of New England Nature and Forest Therapy Consulting based in Acton, MA. She also wrote the book “Forest Bathing with Your Dog”, which won a bronze medal in the “Best First Book - Non-Fiction” category from the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards. The book combines the practice of forest therapy with our practice of walking our dogs and elevates the depth of both. Nadine has been guiding forest therapy walks since 2015. She has been featured on PBS Windows to the Wild, ABC’sChronicle and in the Boston Globe and Boston Magazine. Nadine has a business and marketing background and was formerly a world professional pocket billiards player competing on the Women's Professional Billiard Tour. Also, an artist, she facilitates expressive arts classes often incorporating elements of forest therapy throughout.
Tam Willey is a guide, trainer, mentor with ANFT and founder of Toadstool Walks based in Boston, Massachusetts. Tam has been guiding Forest Therapy since 2017 in collaboration with The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, The Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Mass Audubon, Peabody Essex Museum, Lesley University Holistic Psychology and Wellness, Boston University School Of Theology, and more. Tam designs and runs immersion retreats with The Venture Out Project and has been mentoring and serving LGBTQ Youth thru various programs in Boston for the last decade. Tam is passionate about the ways that Forest Therapy can support and broaden relationships through sharing and bearing witness in community with the natural or more-than-human world in a way that supports our remembering that we are not simply in relationship with nature but rather that we are nature.
Summer , as a certified Nature and Forest Therapy guide, works in partnership with Nature to provide opportunities to help humans re-connect with the Earth and themselves.
Born and raised in the cypress swamp of North Florida, Summer has navigated through various life experiences as a human being who happens to be deaf. After getting their degrees in Expressive Art Therapy and Deaf Cultural Studies, and certified in American Sign Language, Summer taught ASL, Spanish, and Deaf Culture in various high schools and colleges/universities for 15+ years. They also established a media consulting business, making educational films accessible to the sign language community.
After they experienced some challenges with severe anxiety, Summer found Mother Nature calling them back home. Summer decided to study Nature and Forest Therapy through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and eventually found a new purpose- assisting humans from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and languages to rediscover their connection with the Natural world through the healing practice of forest bathing.
Tamberly Kerr - Conway - PhD
Tamberly serves as an ANFT Certified Guide and ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Trail Consultant. Tamberly holds an MS and PhD in Forestry, with a focus upon Human Dimensions in Natural Resources, focusing upon diversity engagement, health and nature connections, forest health/human health relationships, and community empowerment in conservation.
Tahia Devischer - PhD
Tahia is a research and teaching fellow at the University of British Columbia. She holds a PhD in ecosystems science from the University of Oxford, and is a certified forest therapy guide with ANFT. She works at the nexus of urban forests, human well-being and climate resilience.
Tamberly Kerr - Conway - PhD
Tamberly serves as an ANFT Certified Guide and ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Trail Consultant. Tamberly holds an MS and PhD in Forestry, with a focus upon Human Dimensions in Natural Resources, focusing upon diversity engagement, health and nature connections, forest health/human health relationships, and community empowerment in conservation.
Tahia Devischer - PhD
Tahia is a research and teaching fellow at the University of British Columbia. She holds a PhD in ecosystems science from the University of Oxford, and is a certified forest therapy guide with ANFT. She works at the nexus of urban forests, human well-being and climate resilience.
Tamberly Kerr - Conway - PhD
Tamberly serves as an ANFT Certified Guide and ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Trail Consultant. Tamberly holds an MS and PhD in Forestry, with a focus upon Human Dimensions in Natural Resources, focusing upon diversity engagement, health and nature connections, forest health/human health relationships, and community empowerment in conservation.
Tahia Devischer - PhD
Tahia is a research and teaching fellow at the University of British Columbia. She holds a PhD in ecosystems science from the University of Oxford, and is a certified forest therapy guide with ANFT. She works at the nexus of urban forests, human well-being and climate resilience.
Tamberly Kerr - Conway - PhD
Tamberly serves as an ANFT Certified Guide and ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Trail Consultant. Tamberly holds an MS and PhD in Forestry, with a focus upon Human Dimensions in Natural Resources, focusing upon diversity engagement, health and nature connections, forest health/human health relationships, and community empowerment in conservation.
Tahia Devischer - PhD
Tahia is a research and teaching fellow at the University of British Columbia. She holds a PhD in ecosystems science from the University of Oxford, and is a certified forest therapy guide with ANFT. She works at the nexus of urban forests, human well-being and climate resilience.
Our Mission: Support planetary health by nurturing heart-centered relationships between all peoples and the More-Than-Human world of nature.
