↓ A STORY FROM THE FIELD ↓
She'd been leading sit-spot for six years.
She was good at it — the kind of mentor who could coax a heron call out of a shy twelve-year-old, who knew which questions to ask, and when. She loved her work.
Then she noticed a change.
More of the kids were arriving with different needs. A bit more overwhelmed. Vigilant. Less focused. Less curious. A boy who shut down and checked out when the group transitioned. A girl who ran when the fire circle got loud. Parents who said things at drop-off like: "He does better in nature than anywhere else. Please just give him a chance."
She was still the same mentor. Her instincts were still good. But for the first time, her naturalist skills and care for the kids weren't enough — and she didn't know why, or what to do about it.
This workshop is for her.
There has been a big shift in
the kids coming through
your programs.
You've felt it. It looks like:
- More kids who struggle with transitions
Moving from one activity to the next used to be simple. Now it can unravel a whole morning. You haven't changed your program design but more nervous systems genuinely can't make that shift without support you didn't know they needed.
- More kids who can't play hide-and-seek games
Eagle eye and deer and fawn used to be easy go to games on your program. For some kids they still ar. But you're also seeing children who physically cannot stay in one place, who disrupt the whole group, who seem unreachable — and you're not sure if it's behavior or something else entirely.
- More kids whose parent's say "They do better outside."
You're becoming known as the place where kids who don't fit anywhere else actually thrive. That's a beautiful thing. It's also a responsibility — because "being accepting" and "having the tools to actually support" are two very different things.
- More kids who seem younger than their age
Children arriving with fewer baseline skills than the same age group used to have. Less risk tolerance. Less capacity for frustration. Less independence outdoors. Your mentoring strategies were built for kids who arrived with a certain developmental foundation — and more of them aren't arriving with it.
"You became a nature connection mentor because you believe nature heals. You're right. But sometimes nature needs a translator — and that translator is you."
Your mentors are skilled naturalists
They are creative nature craftertons. They know the land, the plants, the fire, the ecology. What they also need — is an understanding of the human nervous system.
Why a child bolts. What "shutdown" looks like and how it's completely different from defiance, even though they look identical from the outside. Why the same invitation that opens one child up, completely shuts another one down.
Neurodiversity isn't new. But the number of neurodiverse children in nature connection programs has grown significantly — and so has the number of children carrying developmental gaps from environments that didn't give their nervous systems what they needed early on.
These children are often extraordinary in a forest setting. But they need something different from your mentors than your traditional approaches provide — and right now, your mentors are improvising. Doing their best. Sometimes getting it right by instinct, sometimes accidentally making things worse without knowing it.
.
You will move between:
- Sensory-motor engagement
- Guided ecological observation
- Real-time reflection
- Clinical translation
The weekend structure supports embodied learning and real-world application, consistent with occupation-centered professional development standards!
Are You Ready
For a changing future?
NatureLed™ Future Proofs Your Practice.
RxOutside, LLC is an AOTA Approved Provider of Professional Development.
Individual professional development activities may be approved for AOTA CEUs.
This course is pending approval.
Core Practices You Will Experience
During the weekend you will be guided in the following exercises to re-engage with your environment:
Stillpoint™ — Anchored Observation (The Sit Spot Practice)
A repeated place-based practice for regulation, attention, observation and nervous system anchoring.
Environmental Listening™ — Bird Language & Ecological Cues
Using environmental signals to support safety, orientation, and awareness.
TrailSense™ — Pattern Noticing & Nature Tracking
Refining perception through pattern, trace, and change.
SenseScaping™ — Cultivating Sensory Richness Through Environment
Expanding sensory capacity through intentional engagement with place.
SenseMapping™ — Mapping for Orientation & Meaning
Developing spatial awareness and cognitive organization.
JOIN OUR NEXT COHORT
Step on the trail with us on
Friday, July 10 at 12 PM PDT
Don't miss the trailhead!
STEP ON THE TRAIL HERE >00
DAYS
00
HOURS
00
MINS
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SECS
Friday July 10, 2026: 11:30pm-1:30pm PDT
Saturday July 11, 2026: 8:00am-2:30pm PDT
Sunday July 12: 8:00am-2:30pm PDT
CLICK HERE TO SEE REGIONAL/GLOBAL TIME-ZONES (or see the "Days/Times under the FAQ on the checkout page).
*Prerequisite for Applied NatureLed™
Applied NatureLed™ 12 week mentorship begins in September and requires a foundational level of embodied experience and understanding.
Completion of Foundations of NatureLed™ is the standard pathway. Practitioners with prior relevant training or experience may request approval to enroll by demonstrating readiness for this level. Send inquiries to [email protected]
GLOBAL PARTICIPATION
We recognize that the scheduled times for this course may not be accessible for all regions.
If you are located in a time zone that is not well supported, please contact us at info@rxoutside.com to express interest in a regional cohort or to request special accommodations to participate (provided when possible). (Scheduled based on participant demand with a minimum enrollment.)
Course Details and Frequently Asked Questions
Who teaches the Next Generation OT?
Who is this program for?
How is this different from other Nature-Based Trainings?
What are the learning outcomes?
I work in a traditional setting (school, clinic, rehab unit). Is this still for me?
Instructional Methods and Contact Hours
OTPF Educational Categories
What is the educational level of this course?
Prerequisites
Accessibility & Participation
After I finish the weekend immersion am I on my own?
Certificates and Digital Badges
Refunds and Cancellation
Results Based Learning Guarantee
Disclosures
I’m Kathleen Lockyer
Occupational Therapist and Creator of the NatureLed™ Approach
Thirty years ago, before nature-based practice was a thing, Kathleen Lockyer wrote her senior thesis on the loss of biodiversity and its impact on human health. She began her career already asking the question: What habilitates humans and how does nature play a role?
Her vision was shaped by her father, who took her outside without agendas, by the teachings of Jon Young and Rosemary Gladstar, by a lineage of practitioners and thinkers who understood that the relationship between humans and the living world is not a tool or an optional recreational pursuit, but rather a biological imperative. It is, in the truest sense of the word, our most meaningful “occupation.”
She once asked her father what he had done to make her so “nature-connected.” He said: "I didn't do anything. You just came that way."
Kathleen believes we all come that way. Most of us simply weren't given the permission — or the guidance — to stay connected.
That belief is the foundation of everything she has built.
Practitioners who learn with Kathleen tend to say the same thing: that her warmth and realness make the hard stuff land without the weight, that her sessions feel like something deep within that they are remembering, and that for the first time in a long time, learning feels like coming home.
She has nearly 30 years of experience at the intersection of nature and OT. But that isn’t why people come to learn with her.
They come because Kathleen has a way of walking them to the trailhead and helping them step onto a path they have longed for — the way a really good grandmother opens the door and welcomes you in.
If any of this sounds familiar,
you're in the right place.
- Sensory-motor engagement
- Guided ecological observation
- Real-time reflection
- Clinical translation
