Rooted in nature. Grounded in science. Designed to transform lives, starting with your own.
Six months of live online learning, plus the required 4-day in-person immersion you book at a location of your choice worldwide. Cohort 173 is led by Amanda Yik and Makiko Sugishita.
BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY → Not sure yet? Talk to a trainer first →Modern life moves fast. Screens replace presence. Stress becomes the norm.
Many people feel a quiet but persistent sense of disconnection: from nature, from others, and from themselves.
At ANFT, we believe this disconnection is not just personal, it's collective. And it can be healed.
Forest therapy is a guided, relational practice that restores connection between people, place, and the living world around them. As a certified guide, you'll learn how to create spaces where transformation can unfold naturally.
Cultivate deep sensory awareness and learn to facilitate slow, attentive experiences in natural settings.
Develop facilitation skills that foster meaningful relationships between people and the living world.
Guide evidence-based practices shown to lower cortisol, blood pressure, and anxiety through nature immersion.
Experience profound shifts in how you relate to yourself, others, and the more-than-human world.
ANFT pioneered Relational Forest Therapy™ and has been training Forest Therapy guides for over a decade. The work of each guide we train sends positive ripples into their communities and landscapes.
6-month online training (October 6, 2026 to March 30, 2027), plus the required 4-day in-person immersion.
October 6, 2026 to March 30, 2027. Standard Sequence, Way of the Guide, Language for Relational Forest Therapy, practice walks with trainer debriefs.
Holding space, crafting invitations, guiding the Standard Sequence.
Working with diverse groups, trail safety, expressive arts activities.
14 modules · 120+ lessons · 14+ live calls · plus practice walks and debriefs.
Here's a realistic projection of how quickly Forest Therapy work can recoup your investment.
Estimates based on average industry rates. Your actual results depend on your market, marketing efforts, and pricing decisions.
Amanda's deep connection with nature has supported her through life's many challenges, including multiple career transitions and critical illness. She felt called to be of service to the earth in 2006, but it took her many years and a winding path before encountering Forest Therapy, a practice that deeply resonated with her calling. Having trained as part of Cohort 18, Amanda has been an ANFT Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide since 2017, when she founded Shinrin-Yoku Hong Kong, through which she has offered more than 200 forest therapy and nature connection experiences, on- and off-line, to support busy urbanites on bodyful and soulful journeys of homecoming through reconnecting with nature. Amanda is particularly called to support people in transition and those facing chronic stress, and she collaborates extensively with the corporate sector, environmental and conservation organizations, the social service sector and educational institutions. Amanda is honoured to be a mentor for guides-in-training, and the first Asia-based ANFT trainer. She is also an International Coach Federation Certified Professional Coach for Transformation and long-time yoga, mindfulness and tai chi practitioner.
Makiko is a Forest Therapy Guide and Therapist based in Yakushima, Japan, where the world's first nature and forest medical research activities were conducted. She is the first dual-certified Forest Therapy Guide in Japan, holding both the ANFT certification and that of the Forest Therapy Society of Japan, and became an ANFT trainer in 2024. Since 2020 she has guided around 1,000 people, and she is founder and CEO of KaleidoForest Co., Ltd. She brings more than 20 years of international health work with JICA and United Nations organizations, improving health for vulnerable populations in Africa and Southeast Asia, and holds leadership roles across sustainability and education, including as ESD global advisor for the Yakushima School Board and as a board member of the Yakushima Onoaida clinic. She holds degrees from Kansai University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pittsburgh.
Across the world, our graduates describe this training not just as learning, but as a profound shift in how they relate to themselves, others, and the living world.
This training has fundamentally changed the way I see and experience nature, and consequently how I see myself and all beings. As a Child & Family therapist, it gave me the knowledge, tools and confidence to support my clients in ways I never could before.
A beautiful course, rife with meaning, and something that has changed me in both complex and subtle ways. Rediscovery of the lost parts of yourself isn't always electric, sometimes it's quiet and soothing… a river you always knew you were made of and can just jump back in again.
I come from a technical background: IT, Project Management, Process Engineering. This course allowed me to slow my pace and change my way of thinking. Our instructors guided us through a lot of material with a gentleness and kindness that totally amazed me.
I noticed a healing taking place around belonging. Spending time in the forest feels like coming home. I've been feeling a sense of belonging around work, and around what I consider are my unique talents and gifts.
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This is a six-month commitment. You don’t have to decide today, and you don’t have to decide alone. Join a live conversation with ANFT Trainers: what this training asks of you, what it offers, and whether it’s the right next step. It’s not a sales presentation, it’s a conversation, and you can ask anything.
No sessions are scheduled right now. Write to us at info@anft.earth and we’ll tell you when the next one opens.
Free · No commitment · About 60 minutes
We intentionally keep our cohorts small to preserve depth, quality, and personal attention. Training begins October 6, 2026. Spots are limited.
Reserve Your Spot →ANFT publishes its Payment, Refund and Transfer Policies in full before you enroll. Review them and the cohort schedule, then apply with confidence.
This is more than a certification. It's an invitation to reconnect, to serve, and to be part of a growing global movement.
Enroll Now and Begin Your Transformation →