Wild at Heart
Mindful Somatic Ecotherapy Training
Empower your professional journey with our immersive 11-day training designed to integrate mindfulness, ecotherapy, and somatic approaches in a natural setting.
Building Trust
Enhancing Resilience
Therapeutic Processing
Integration & Meaning
About Our Program
The Mindful Somatic Ecotherapy Training program is a comprehensive 11-day course aimed at professionals in supportive roles or those who aspire to be in supportive roles. Our goal is to equip participants with the skills to conduct mindful somatic ecotherapy sessions outdoors. The training is structured around the four therapeutic stages and weaves throughout it the three stages of traditional Rites of Passage in relation to the Four Shields. We draw from a variety of modalities including Mindfulness, Ecotherapy, Somatic Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Nonviolent Communication, Creative Arts Therapy, and Hakomi. This transformative journey invites you to deepen your connection with nature while enhancing your therapeutic practice. Engage with a community of like-minded individuals and explore the profound healing potential of the natural world. Each day is designed to foster personal growth and professional development, ensuring that you leave with not only knowledge but also practical skills that can be applied in your work and life. Join us in this unique experience that blends ancient wisdom with modern therapeutic practices, and discover the power of mindful somatic ecotherapy.
The nature based approach in this training is deeply rooted in a rich tapestry of wisdom from remarkable figures such as Dave Talamo of Wilderness Reflections, Jonathan Gustin from The Soul Purpose Institute, Steve Foster and Meredith Little of the School of Lost Borders, Marshall Rosenberg, the visionary founder of Nonviolent Communication, SN Goenka in Vipassana Meditation, and Jon Young, a masterful storyteller and tracker and Bill Plotkin from the Animus Valley Institute.
The Four Modules
Module 1: Basecamp (Creating Alliance and Trust)
The Basecamp module is dedicated to fostering deep, trusting, and secure relationships between our clients and the natural world, as well as with ourselves. We achieve this through the practice of somatic nature awareness skills, therapeutic language, and the nurturing of a loving presence. Basecamp invites both our clients and ourselves to engage in a safe and enriching connection with nature, guiding them toward a more nurturing relationship with the environment and themselves.
Module 2: The Foothills (Supporting Resilience and Resourcing)
The Foothills is dedicated to equipping our clients as they journey into their internal wilderness with a strong sense of security and trust. As their guides, we aspire to ensure that together—our clients, ourselves, and the collective wisdom we share—we possess all the essentials in our backpacks to explore the inner wilderness, navigate the unknown, and venture into uncharted territory with intention and choice.
This module centers on recognizing, celebrating, and highlighting the wisdom of our body and mind to naturally regulate itself, the supportive role of nature in this process, and the gentle somatic and needs-based language we can use to support a grounded and fully resourced therapeutic transformative journey.
Module 3: Into the Wilderness Therapeutic Processing
The Wilderness module fosters the development of the essential skills and artistry needed to safely, therapeutically, somatically, and mindfully guide individuals through the vital journey of exploration, acknowledgment, and healing of the wounds, grief, and impacts shaped by life’s experiences. In the wilderness, we assist our clients in engaging mindfully and somatically with the unknown, the mysteries, the often painful memories, and the pathways where they may have lost their direction. As Ecotherapists, we draw upon the groundwork we have laid in the foothills, to facilitate a transformative therapeutic experience during these critical threshold moments.
Module 4: Back to Basecamp (Integration and Meaning)
Back to Basecamp is dedicated to cultivating and enhancing the art that intricately weaves a transformative integration of our clients’ often challenging and therapeutic journeys. In this module, we learn to guide them on a grounded and actionable path toward healing, integration, wholeness, courage, and growth. Subsequently fostering a deep remembrance of the regenerative, resourcing wisdom inherent in both their wild hearts and the wild heart of the land.
What is Provided
Accomodation
Shared bunk room accomodation is available in the lodge however most people choose to camp in their own tents and enjoy the immersed experience of morning birdsong, the rustle of the wind in the trees and the quiet of personal space.
Gluten Free Plant Based Lunch and Dinner
One on One Ecotherapy Session
We warmly invite each participant to experience a transformative 45-minute Ecotherapy session with our highly skilled facilitators or our highly trained assistants. These enriching sessions can be scheduled for the day you arrive or in the restful afternoons after the days program concludes. This is your opportunity to immerse yourself in the profound benefits of Mindful Somatic Ecotherapy.
Four Post Program Montly Support Group Calls
We will gather 4 times over 4 months in groups to support the ongoing practice and integration of Somatic Ecotherapy into your current practice or to begin a new practice.
Transport to and From Thames to the Camp
If needed we will provide scheduled transport from Thames township to the camp on the first day, (which is a 45min drive from Thames), and the final day.
Buses from Auckland aiport run daily via Manakau City to Thames. If you are flying please check the bus schedule to align your flights.
We will also try our best to provide a platform for particpants to carpool if possible.
Participant Requirements
Linen and Bedding
Tent and Mattress (for tent campers)
Snacks
Teas and Milks
Breakfast
Camp Chair (preferably low to the ground)
Personal Toiletries
Comfortable Clothing
Weather-Appropriate Gear
Journal and Pen
Reusable Water Bottle
Flashlight or Headlamp
Insect Repellent
Sunscreen
Hat and Sunglasses
Yoga Mat (optional)
Musical Instruments (optional)
Personal Medications
Program Financial Investment
Early Bird if Paid in Full by November 30th $ 2750.00
We are excited to announce two exclusive scholarships, each providing a generous $500 discount off the original price of $2950.00.
The criteria for the scholarships are based on persons financial situation. For more information contact Toni
Bring a friend and receive a 20% discount. Just let us know the name of the friend you have invited.
If Paid after November 30th $ 2950.00
PAYMENT DETAILS
Submit Payment to:
Account name: Restorative Relationships
Account Number: 01-0322-0212196-01
Reference: [your name]
Code: Wildatheart
Cancellations: If you need to cancel your participation within three months of the program start date, we will gladly offer you a 50% refund. However, please note that we cannot provide any refunds for cancellations made less than two months prior to the event start date, unless the event itself is canceled by the organizers.
Training Dates and Venue
March 2nd to 12th 2025
Venue: Kauaeranga Outdoor Education Centre, Thames, NZ
Check out the Camp Here
Arrival Times on the 2nd: Between 1 pm and 4 pm. Our Opening Ceremony begins at 5 pm with Dinner at 7 pm
Departure Times on the 12th: 3 pm to 5 pm. Our closing ceremony will be at 2 pm. We will be inviting people to stay until 5 pm to help clean up if that suits them.
Meet The Team
Toni McErlane
Facilitator – Somatic Ecotherapist, Counselor, Mediator, Nonviolent Communication Facilitator
Tim Heetkamp
Facilitator- Psychologist & Ecotherapist.
Mel Auld
Assistant – Ecotherapist and Life Coach
Holly Bracknall
Assistant – Ecotherapist, Rites of Passage Guide, Counselor in Training
We are excited this year to have Tim Heetkamp join the facilitation team and bring with him his gentle and humble wealth of experience and knowledge in both the therapeutic and eco-therapeutic processes and perspectives. Tim brings both a practical and spiritual approach to his work and is dedicated the supporting the reintegration and remembering of our precious and reverent connection with the whenua.
Our assistants Holly and Mel add a vibrant, respectful, and playful component as well as being highly skilled in Ecotherapy and practiced in the art and skill of holding an unconditional loving presence. They both have dedicated a significant portion of their lives to embracing and immersing themselves in nature-based practices and ceremonies.
And myself, Toni (Guide name Rata). I have dedicated a large portion of my therapeutic professional life in the last decade to the dream of inviting ourselves as therapists to take the therapeutic process outdoors. To invite a remembering of our ancestral connections to the land and to reignite and rekindle the deep knowing and wisdom that is always accessible to us for healing, wholing, and growth.
You will find more information on each member by clicking on their name below
What Our Participants Are Saying
“My ecotherapy experience was one of spirit-firing sacred mystery, reverent communion with beings both human and non-human, and profound visions, insights and personal transformation.
A place where song emerges from deep below, where communion with nature took me to a place of deep soul discovery, release and knowing, and where I felt so loved, nourished, honoured and at peace, at home.
I stretched and danced beyond the edges of what I thought possible in terms of my connection with self, others and the natural world. I laughed, cried, slept soundly, dreamed intensely, experienced spiritual world visions and feelings, sung around the fire and formed connections that run deep.
An experience like no other I’ve ever felt, my hosts gently weaved their energy into resonance with mine and others, holding a sacred and potent ceremonial space, creating a rhythmic flow and providing wise and gentle guidance.
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“I can highly recommend the Ecotherapy training with Toni, Bren and Paris. Their deep relationship with the natural world is obvious from the land they have established themselves on, the environmentally friendly calibre of the facilities, and the running of all sessions (except if it’s raining too hard) outdoors around the firepit, beside the prayerstick. They have between them a great depth of therapeutic training and experience and they have fully committed to sharing this to the highest level of excellence, while each also bringing their personal style and flair. The traianing manual is clear and succinct and the training programme carefully structured. Each step/task builds steadily upon the previous ones, with enough time for questions/clarification and integration. I have learnings and insights from this course that will stay with me for the rest of my life”
Join Our Next Training Session
Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to enhance your professional skills and personal growth. Sign up now to secure your spot in our upcoming Mindful Somatic Ecotherapy Training.