This course is part of the educational requirements to become a certified Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Group Facilitator. Most of the educational material in this course is reproduced in the Facilitator Manual for the Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Program. The Facilitator Manual contains the complete text from the Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Workbook, plus tips, suggestions and instructions for facilitating the 12-Week Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Program. A copy of this manual in pdf comes with the materials and documents for this course on the Course Documents page.

FORMAT OF THE MINDFULNESS-BASED ECOTHERAPY PROGRAM

The Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Program is a 12-week program that meets once per week for one hour, with an optional 30-minute discussion period at the end of the class. The question-and-answer discussion period at the end of each class is optional for two reasons: 1. Making it optional empowers attendees to decide for themselves whether or not to stay for the discussion; 2. Making it optional allows Facilitators to determine who is engaged and who is not engaged, so that they may focus more attention on those who choose not to stay for discussions. Note that not staying for the discussion isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Doing some of the deep inner work in Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy will require a lot of inner processing, and some people may not feel like talking much after completing the exercises.

The Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Workbook is the manual for students. It is available at most major media outlets. If you have already taken the prerequisite for this course, Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy in Clinical Practice, then you already have a pdf copy of the workbook. A pdf copy of the facilitator manual is included with this course.

The Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Workbook is divided into 13 chapters. The first chapter offers an overview of the program, and the remaining chapters each cover one of the 12 sessions in the program. The workbook contains more material than could possibly be covered in each one-hour session, so facilitators may wish to assign the reading materials as homework for each session.

There is a homework assignment for each session. These homework assignments should be reviewed at the beginning of the session so that Facilitators may check to see if students are integrating the materials properly.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES

The materials for each session in the workbook also include at least one optional activity. This optional activity may be completed by students on their own, or it may be done at the facilitator’s discretion if time permits. Some of the optional activities require an outdoor setting and should of course only be used in such a setting if the locale used for workshops is available. For example, “The River” activity from Session 5 requires that there is a river or another body of water nearby during the session. If you don’ have access to a river, you would not be able to do that activity, and would need to plan accordingly.

Note also that each session contains more material than could be practically completed in a one-hour session with a group of more than five people or so. If you have a larger group, you may wish to extend the time frame as needed to accommodate the activities, or you may use your discretion to eliminate some activities so that you will have enough time to complete all the exercises in your chosen time frame.

If you have taken the Ecotherapy: An Introduction course through the Mindful Ecotherapy Center’s website, you may have already done some of the optional activities in the workbook.

ABOUT THE LOCATIONS USED FOR THE MINDFULNESS-BASED ECOTHERAPY PROGRAM

Since this program is about utilizing the healing power of nature to make personal change, it is best conducted in an outdoor setting. While some of the sessions can be conducted indoors (especially the earlier sessions dealing with the skills of mindfulness), I prefer to do them all outdoors if possible. Outdoor environments have been demonstrated to produce changes in consciousness not readily available in indoor settings (Van den Berg & Ter Heijne, 2005), so to my way of thinking holding them indoors defeats the purpose. Of course, there will be times when the weather doesn’t cooperate, and during those times it’s a good idea to have a backup plan or to schedule a rain date if you have to cancel. I’ve found that many parks have some sort of shelter that may be used for such purposes. There’s something soothing and meditative about holding a session outdoors under the cover of a shelter as the rain gently patters on the roof.

Because of the outdoor nature of this program, a little finesse is required in planning and scheduling. Since it is a twelve-week program, if you hold sessions once a week you will have covered an approximate three-month span of time. This means that you will have to be aware of local weather patterns when planning your program. The home of the Mindful Ecotherapy Center is in the southern Appalachians of upstate South Carolina. While starting a program in October might be great for taking advantage of the cooler temperatures and the colorful falling leaves, starting such a three-month program at that time would mean that we would be finishing in late December or early January when the weather is freezing outside. Alternately, starting a program at mid-day in the spring might be great, but if we continue to meet at noon for three months, we’ll be experiencing the midsummer heat of the Deep South.

If you’re new to your local area and aren’t sure about the weather patterns, you may wish to consult with the locals in order to determine the best times for your program.

In the past I’ve also done this as a week-long intensive program, doing one session in the morning and one in the afternoon. This allows the entire program to be completed as a one-week retreat; however, I wouldn’t recommend trying to do more than two sessions per day in an intensive format. This is because some of the sessions, if done properly, can be quite intense. People need time to process what they’ve experienced, and doing more than two sessions per day doesn’t allow for such time.

A final word of caution on choosing a location: Safety first! Be aware of any dangerous wild animals that might inhabit the area you’ve chosen. Also note any dangers from the terrain, such as high waterfalls, slippery trails, etc. and have proper liability insurance should accidents happen. You may wish to consult with an attorney to have a waiver drawn up limiting your liability in case of accidents.

Also be on the lookout for dangerous plants like poison ivy, poison oak, stinging nettles and poison sumac. If you don’t know what these look like, consult with someone who does and have them check out the area ahead of time.

If you plan to have any children at your events, caution them about eating the plants. You might also have to warn some adults in this regard. Sometimes participants expect you to be an expert on the local flora and fauna. If you are such an expert, that’s fine. But if you aren’t, it’d be advisable not to allow your participants to eat anything they might find on the trail.

Be aware of potential allergies that your participants might have. Keep a first aid kit with an epi pen and allergy medicines, but be aware of local liability laws regarding distribution of medicines. It may be helpful to ask your participants to be aware of allergens and to plan accordingly.

Finally, I would highly recommend taking a basic first aid course before facilitating any of these programs, or have someone with first aid training available, and have a plan for emergencies when they arise.

Above all else, a good facilitator is one who has experienced the program. If you can attend one of our annual trainings, it is recommended that you do so. If you don’t have the ability to travel to our locations, the facilitator training is also available online at www.mindfulecotherapy.org.

If nothing else, at least work through the program yourself using the workbook or the facilitator manual so that you have a good understanding of what your participants will experience as they attend.