It can be overwhelming when you start researching Forest Bathing courses. There are so many things to consider. And, I am pleased to say, there also are good courses out there to choose between.
To help you navigate your way through evaluating the different Forest Bathing training programmes and to find the right one for you, we’ve put together a list of important questions for you to ask to ensure you can make an informed decision.
Questions To Consider When Evaluating Different Forest Bathing Courses
Here are 12 questions for you to ask when comparing the different courses available. Becoming a Forest Therapy Practitioner should be a special journey of self-discovery, so it is important that on top of all of the facts and practical considerations, you feel truly drawn to a Forest Bathing Guide Teacher Training course.
We want you to be excited about what your training will involve and what the future holds for you, once you are accredited.
And FYI, we can’t answer everything on here so I’ve recorded a short video/audio with answers to FAQs such as earning potential as a guide, level of nature knowledge needed and how to manage tricky customers. You can grab that here if it’s interesting to you
How much is the Forest Bathing Course?
I know from personal experience that money is a consideration when evaluating any program. Of course it is. So make sure you are clear on the investment amount, and that there are no unexpected additional extras. Also, ask about payment plans, payment terms, discounts, deposits and refunds.
In terms of the final figure, I would seriously caution against it being the primary deciding factor. There is so much more to consider and, as with most things, the cheapest is often not the best.
Our Adore Your Outdoors Forest Bathing Guide courses start from £1745, with payment plans available. We have a clear pricing structure for you to compare for our two different certification journeys (fully online or hybrid learning journeys). Get the info in the application pack.
How Long is the Course?
Forest Bathing Guide courses vary in length. This includes how many live and recorded sessions there are, how long they may be and how much time there is in between the sessions. Some courses also allow for more flexibility over how long they take to complete, than others.
The Adore Your Outdoors Certification Path is designed to be six months in duration. This allows you to build a deep personal connection with nature, essential for guiding others on their transformative therapeutic journeys. We don’t believe it’s possible to achieve all this in less than 6 months.
How will the Forest Bathing Training be Delivered?
Find out if the Forest Bathing Practitioner course is in-person, online and/or pre-recorded. It is quite normal for courses to offer a mix.
Consider your learning style, your availability, as well as your proximity to your training provider and their in-person sessions. What is viable for you to commute to? Or, will you require overnight accommodation whilst you attend?
For online sessions, find out at what times these will be held. Do the timings work with other work or family commitments, for example?
You may also wish to enquire if live online sessions are recorded for replay, should you miss them.
We offer both an exclusively online course, as well as a hybrid mix – online introduction plus in-person woodland immersion. The flexibility is important to us, however, we do encourage as many future practitioners as possible to join us for the in-person sessions, as previous students have said that learning with the group and leading the practice sessions with real customers are incredibly worthwhile.
How much Live Training is included?
Did you know that our Forest Bathing Guide programme includes 46 hours of live training split over 2 months (in English by a native speaker)? We also offer 1:1 mentoring sessions during the practicum part of the programme.
We hope this gives you a sensible figure to compare with other courses.
The reason we do so much live training is because the ‘classroom time’ is an entirely different learning experience each time we do it. And we believe it is more powerful than simply watching a video. In live sessions, there is an opportunity for not only group teaching but also break-out room discussions, Q&A, invitation role-play and whole-session practice.
We don’t believe that an instructor ‘talking at you’ for the entirety of the course is the best way to learn for many people.
What Types of Materials are Provided with the Forest Bathing Course?
Find out what supporting materials you will be offered to help with your learning. From workbooks, ‘done for you’ session plans and invitation recordings, explore if these are provided and how long you have access for.
We want our trainees to garner as much information as possible whilst they are with us, but also to have access to resources that they can continue to draw on for support long after certification. You will receive an extensive manual, a set of recorded invitations to refer back to, a beautiful box of Forest Bathing invitation cards, and for those who train in person, a set of photos to use in your marketing.
What Assessments and Coursework Need to be Completed?
No one likes homework, I know! However, a good course should include a certain level of work to back up the theory and teachings. A professional, high-quality course should also look to assess properly what has been learnt, to ensure these future Forest Bathing Practitioners are fit to lead their own sessions and guide others, by the end.
Explore what formats the coursework and assessments will take. They are not always just exams or tests, but diverse ways of showing what you have learnt. At Adore Your Outdoors our assessments include a mix of written, audio, video and sketch-based submissions. There’s no dissertation to write because we don’t think that’s the best way of assessing student skills and we appreciate that many people do not enjoy written work.
Do not shy away from having to complete an appropriate amount of coursework and assessments – this is what makes any training robust.
What Level of Support and Feedback is Provided?
We strongly recommend you enquire about how much support and feedback you will receive on any of the Forest Bathing courses you are evaluating.
One of the things we are most proud of is the level of detailed feedback we provide to all of our students. We want to show them how much we respect the work they are doing and the effort they have put in, it’s important to us that they all achieve an excellent level of guiding skills, so it’s in our interest to invest our time in them. I’ve now enlisted the help and support of my now-experienced very first trainees to assist with some aspects, ensuring I can give adequate time to the most valuable.
The 180 minutes of 1-1 mentoring we offer as part of the package are usually called off in 60-minute chunks towards the end of the training. Plus, students access support and feedback after certification with our ongoing monthly meet-ups.
How Big is the Class Size?
1-1 training isn’t appropriate as Forest Bathing is a group practice. Students support each other’s learning journeys and often stay in touch in the WhatsApp and Facebook groups long after the course has finished. However, you will also want to consider ‘how many is too many?’.
Again, to give you a ballpark figure, here at Adore Your Outdoors, each Forest Bathing course has a maximum of 9 participants.
This is a big enough group for discussion and sharing different experiences, but small enough for us to still offer a personal touch, bespoke advice and proper mentoring.
What Opportunities are there to Practise your Skills?
As with any new skill or qualification, learning about it or ‘doing it in the classroom’ is very different to actually doing it in real life.
You don’t want to feel thrown in at the deep end when it comes to running your first very own Forest Bathing Therapy session. Therefore, do find out if your chosen course offers a chance to practise what you have learnt and to run a session, with the support of your trainer.
The immersion week in the woods of the signature Adore Your Outdoors course gives you the chance to guide a real session for paying customers with us on day 6 of your learning. You also get to hone your skills with your fellow trainees and deliver a session for your training team and some guests on day 7. This is such an important opportunity. In addition, you also deliver 3 sessions with our guidance for your coursework.
Make sure that the opportunities you get to practice will be enough to give you the confidence to hit the ground running when you start running your own Forest Bathing events.
Who will be the Forest Bathing Trainer?
Do your homework when it comes to who is offering to train you and what their experience is. Obviously, it is important that you feel confident in their qualifications and abilities. If you can, book a connection call to speak directly to your teacher. Find out if you get on and you like the way they interact.
This is me, Sonya, and my background is varied, with experience working in a corporate environment, as well as therapeutic counselling, mindfulness and meditation. I did my training with the Global Institute of Forest Therapy who teach all over the world. Plus, I have been practising as a Forest Bathing Guide since 2019 and have won awards for my business too. When you work with me you get added ‘Sonya Sauce’ – courses that are unique in their approach to teaching the ancient art of Forest Bathing and Nature Connection.
However, I don’t present myself as the ‘ultimate expert’ or ‘the perfect Forest Bathing guide’. At the heart of it, I am a committed Nature Nerd… But also a practitioner who’s made mistakes along the way and overcome struggles. And I share all this with you to help you avoid the same mistakes!
Is the Course Accredited and what is the Certification?
I would highly recommend that you look to invest in an accredited Forest Bathing Training Course.
Some organisations differentiate between Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy, but for Adore Your Outdoors, they are one and the same. Our sessions are always therapeutic, they go deep and last three hours. To deliver these healing and nurturing experiences to your customers, you need to have taken a training course that teaches you about creating safe therapeutic containers and holding effective sharing circles; active listening, the power of the pause, … lots of the skills I learnt during my counselling years.
The Adore Your Outdoors course is a certified therapy course accredited by The Complementary Medical Association (CMA). Look for course reviews and testimonials. I am delighted to share that our courses consistently receive 5-star ratings and many students are successfully using their new skills already.
What is important to you?
This is my final question. Once you have evaluated all of the practical implications, facts and figures, you get to decide.
Do your values align with the course provider? What do you want the outcomes of the course to be? Do you like the sound of the course? Do all of the elements interest you? When you read about the opportunities, do you feel excited?
We have our own “Are you a good fit?” quiz in the application pack. It’s about you, nature and the drive to empower others on their own healing journeys. This is what is important to Adore Your Outdoors and our students.
Evaluating Forest Bathing Training Courses
Not all Forest Bathing courses are created equal! With the support from these questions to help you evaluate everything, you’ll soon find there are significant differences between the available programmes.
If, following evaluation of our training, you feel this is the right one for you, please get in touch.
