If you work with children, teens, or adults in any capacity — this is for you.
Occupational therapists, counselors, teachers, outdoor educators, mental health providers, behaviorists, administrators, and parents: you are all welcome here.
If you care about restoring resilience, connection, and thriving, you belong.

Most forest school and outdoor franchise trainings give you a recipe.
The NatureLed™ Approach teaches you how to cook — with the wild ingredients of your own local landscape.

While other programs focus on getting kids excited to play outside (a beautiful first step), NatureLed™ takes you deeper:

You'll understand how outdoor experiences directly support neurodevelopment and therapeutic change.

You'll learn to form a reciprocal relationship with the forms, patterns, and rhythms of the natural world — restoring the original neural design humans evolved to thrive within.

And unlike most trainings that end when you pack up and go home, the NatureLed™ Certification continues to mentor, support, and walk alongside you through your first transformational year.

This is more than a course. It’s a journey — and you won't be traveling alone.

Your investment covers:

A powerful five-night in-person training (daily breakfast and lunch and 2 dinners), camping, and all activities)

Summer 2025 Cohort begins in beautiful Morro Bay, California on August 25-30.

A beautiful participant workbook and a copy of "Wild Inside."

A robust resource library

Eight months of mentorship, integration, and ongoing community support

Eligibility to apply for listing as a Certified NatureLed™ Practitioner upon completion

You are not just paying for a training — you are investing in a transformation.

 Human Development
Grounded in the most current research, you’ll explore how human interactions with nature have shaped the brain and body—and how to facilitate optimal development across:

• Gross motor and fine motor skills
• Attention and focus
• Emotional regulation
• Sensory processing
• Executive functioning
• Learning and conflict resolution

Sensory Development

• Learn what sensory development is, why it’s essential to understand in both children and adults, and how to effectively facilitate it through nature-connection experiences.

Emotional Intelligence & Behavior

• Discover what emotion is—and what it isn’t.
• Understand what behavior truly represents (and what it doesn’t).
• Learn how to resolve explosive or resistant behaviors with practical, nature-integrated strategies.
• Master tools to re-language, re-frame, and re-pattern anxious, aggressive, or challenging behaviors.

Regulation & Problem Solving

• Practice emotional and physical regulation techniques outdoors
• Learn how to de-escalate and resolve challenging behavior
• Learn collaborative problem-solving approaches that honor both the individual and the group
• Gain effective techniques for facilitating group dynamics

Advocacy & Translating Nature Connection

• Learn how to articulate the value of “nature connection” in ways that administrators, parents, and stakeholders understand and respect
• Receive an advocacy toolkit with research, talking points, and strategies to confidently approach your administrator, director, or supervisor to bring this to your work.

Core Practices & Therapeutic Strategies

• Discover the core routines, strategies, and activities of both developmental and therapeutic nature connection—and how to use them to build healthy behavioral patterns in children, yourself, and others.

Scope of Practice & Referrals

• Understand the limitations of what you—and your specific program—can provide, and how to recognize when a referral to a specialist or different program is necessary.

The Natural Learning Cycle

• Learn how to structure your program around nature’s learning cycle, supporting the brain and body’s innate drive to grow, integrate, and heal.

Neuroscience of Nature Connection

• Explore how the neurological system is designed by nature—and what simple, powerful practices can be used in any setting to strengthen and rehabilitate that connection.

Hazards, Risk & Safety

• Learn essential practices for assessing sites, managing hazards, and creating equitable, inclusive solutions that honor safety without sacrificing freedom.

Healthy Boundaries & Trust

• Understand how freedom and sovereignty are built through trust, connection, and healthy boundaries—for both individuals and groups.

… and so much more.

Prior to our onsite workshop, you will receive communication about our (private) learning platform. For the technologically adventurous, you can explore the platform prior to our in-person meeting and bring any questions with you. For those who feel a little intimidated by online platforms, no worries! There will be a time during our workshop that will be dedicated to making sure everyone is on board and comfortable with its use.

The platform has a smartphone app so you can use it anywhere!

Beginning the month after our in-person meeting we meet via Zoom, on the second Saturday and the fourth Wednesday. 
All sessions are recorded.

Participants are expected to attend 12 of the 16 live distance classes.
We do not meet in December or August.

Each month participants are given tasks, activities, and strategies to use in their current work and personal life.

Pre-recorded videos and/or "podcasts" are uploaded each month onto the program platform and can be listened to from your phone, or computer, anywhere you are.

A NatureLed workbook, and downloadable templates and reference materials, are used in conjunction with the online platform.

We may have guest speakers - they are always announced ahead of time and sessions are recorded.
You have the option to participate in up to 2 - distance - 1:1 mentoring calls with Kathleen.
Lifetime access to the online course for the life of the course. An RxOutside Learning Community, discounts on future webinars and classes, as well as ongoing and updated NatureLed™ resources.

Yes — and no.
You'll be guided every step of the way.

Because NatureLed™ is, by design, connection-centered and landscape-responsive, you will learn how to co-create your program with the land itself.
You'll also have the option to join our membership community ($49/month) where you’ll find templates, handouts, seasonal activities, live monthly Q&A sessions, and a steady stream of inspiration to support your journey.

Our goal?
Not to give you a script — but to help you become fluent in the language of nature connection.

A: If you plan to start or run an outdoor program with other people's children, (or people of any age) yes — you will need general liability insurance.
Don't worry. We’ll walk you through the basics, recommend resources, and help you navigate it confidently.

It’s much more manageable (and less scary) than it sounds.

A: Absolutely not.
There are nearly 8 billion people on the planet — and far too many are still disconnected from the natural world.
We need all hands, all hearts, all paths open.

We operate from an abundance mindset and a belief that your work is not just needed — it is essential.
Graduates become part of a living, growing network of mutual support and shared mission.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." — Shakespeare

A: In more ways than you can imagine.

The NatureLed™ Approach can serve as a powerful conceptual model of practice — one that breathes new life into everything you do.
You'll gain tools for sensory processing, emotional regulation, communication, and authentic engagement, rooted in the original therapeutic setting: the living world itself.

Occupational therapists are poised to become the nature connection specialists of the future.
Come join the vanguard.

A: Yes. And it might just transform the way you see your work forever.

NatureLed™ isn't just about taking therapy or teaching outdoors.
It’s about re-rooting your practice in human sensory intelligence, relational regulation, ecological belonging, and authentic connection.

Wherever you work — you’ll never see the world (or your students and clients) the same way again.

Yes — or your money back.

If you don’t leave with new insights, greater depth, and a renewed fire for what you do, we’ll refund your tuition (minus direct expenses).
We are confident you will see 'kids in nature' — and yourself — through a profoundly different lens.

Ideally, yes — bring your own gear if you can.
But if that's a barrier, let us know — we have (limited but comfortable) free gear to set you up.

And don't worry:
We are all in this together.
There will be friendly faces to help you set up camp when you arrive.

For the full immersion — we highly encourage camping.
Sleeping under the stars, waking to birdsong, feeling the heartbeat of the earth — these are not small details. They are part of the medicine.

But if camping feels like a cliff too high, don’t worry: we have local lodging options within walking distance to our site available (additional cost)
We’ll stretch you — but we won't throw you off the cliff!

And we pinky-swear to love you just the same as the campers. 

We believe you will — deeply.

But growth, like the first green shoot breaking through heavy soil, often begins with discomfort.

Stretching beyond old patterns can feel unfamiliar, even a little messy — and that's okay.
It's part of the living process of transformation.

If you’re feeling unsure, we invite you to schedule a free 15-minute call.
Kathleen will talk through your questions and dreams, and make sure this journey is the right one for you.

And know this: if you complete the retreat and genuinely don’t feel transformed, we will refund your tuition (minus direct food, camping, and gear costs).
We want every participant to leave carrying more light, more strength, and more belonging than they arrived with.

Not at all.
When you complete the training, you join a living, breathing community of NatureLed™ practitioners.

You’ll receive:

• Lifetime access to a private community forum

• Two months of free monthly group calls for ongoing mentoring

• Option to continue in our membership community (small monthly fee) for live support, new resources, templates, and tools

• Discounts on future courses, workshops, and 1:1 mentoring

• Surprise “gifts” and insider opportunities offered only to our alumni

You’re signing up for a course and joining a movement.

Not quite yet — but you're on your way.

Throughout the retreat and the mentorship that follows, you will be actively learning, embodying, and applying the NatureLed™ Approach in your work and life.
However, to honor the integrity and depth of this model — and to ensure you feel fully grounded and confident — public use of the NatureLed™ name and certification comes after completing your capstone project and receiving official certification.

This isn't about gatekeeping; it's about honoring the real journey of transformation you're undertaking.
NatureLed™ is more than a method — it's a living practice, one that deserves full embodiment before public declaration.

And trust us: by the time you cross that threshold, you'll be standing on solid, beautiful ground — ready to carry this work forward with authenticity, depth, and pride.

The NatureLed™ Certification Program offers an immersive 54-hour experience blending in-person training, live group mentoring, and self-paced online learning. Designed for professionals working with children, teens, and adults, this program provides a comprehensive foundation in nature-based practices that support sensory integration, emotional regulation, relational health, and neurobiological development. Participants engage in experiential activities, reflective group discussions, and applied learning projects based on the NatureLed™ Approach, culminating in a capstone project and certification to integrate this model into therapeutic, educational, or recreational settings.