Introduction to Ecotherapy Online Course
More Info Here
Embark on a journey to reconnect with nature while gaining valuable skills in Ecotherapy. Learn at your own pace, with guidance and resources designed to deepen your understanding of nature’s healing powers.
Online / In your own time – Coming Soon!
Advanced Ecotherapy Training Course
Myth and Ritual Training
More Info here
Explore the transformative power of myth and ritual in therapeutic settings. This course will guide you through ancient practices that foster deep emotional healing and connection with nature.
Online / In your own time – Courses Coming Soon!
Free Talk Tuesday 15th April 7pm AEDT
Email geoff@naturecalling.org for Zoom meeting details & invitation
Dr Geoff Berry
Australian Representative to the International Ecopsychology Society
Meet the Team
Dr Geoff Berry
Principle Teacher & Trainer
BIO
I’ve been training therapists for over ten years now, bringing ecopsychology, myth and ritual, symbol and metaphor to the game in a process of mutual evolution. I feel very privileged to have spent the same amount of time studying the ways people make meaning and helping people to unlearn some of the bad habits we get with modern socialisation. This way we can make space for mysterious, wonderful, synchronicities, realisations and access points to the sacred every day.
My PhD (Monash University 2010) asked ‘what went wrong with our relationship to nature?’ and the answer was that our consciousness was shifted out of relationship with the more-than-human world. My MA (Deakin University 2005) showed how our dreams act as underworld journeys and initiatory rites, linking us to mysterious realms of symbolic power, similar to ancient myths and shamanic journeys. As a PACFA and ACA Registered Academic, i also teach trauma informed practice, which i trained and worked in for over five years.
I have fun with these ideas, making sure those i work with find profound meaning in their own relationship to the sacred in nature, as well as enjoying a light hearted sense of fun. I have a long standing Zen practice, enjoy creating liminal spaces and threshholds for ecomythic rituals, like people most when we are in a circle in nature, and enjoy using online and other technologies to recreate the ancient Temenos, or sacred circle of teaching, sharing and learning.
Charlotte Brown
Ecotherapist & Teacher
BIO
Charlotte Brown is a PACFA registered psychotherapist who has spent over a decade working in nature based roles. Founder of Grounded with Therapy, her passion for nature inspired her to practice ecotherapy as one of her main modalities. She weaves in Internal Family Systems and Somatic Experiencing with a person-centred approach. Charlotte currently supports clients in rehabilitation programs at Byron based centres, using ecotherapy as a way to support long term change.
Additionally she lectures and co-facilitates on the ecotherapy module for students completing a degree in psychotherapy at Ikon Institute and co-facilitates the Advanced Ecotherapy Training Course with Geoff. Charlotte continues to learn; researching and gathering resources to understand the innate connection between self and nature and how this can support therapeutic outcomes.
Professor George Burns
Clinical Supervisor
BIO
effectiveness.
Eliza-Beth Brennan
Ecotherapist & Teacher
BIO
Eliza-Beth is an experienced Holistic Psychotherapist, Ecotherapist and Shamanic Practitioner. She is the co-founder of Holistic Soulscape a Holistic Therapies and Healing business operating out of a 5-acre property in Beechworth NE Victoria.
Her approach is integrative, incorporating her training in; Holistic Counselling & Psychotherapy, Holistic Ecotherapy, Transpersonal Coaching, Leadership, Shamanism, Ancestral Medicine and shaped by over a decade working in Outdoor Education. Her work is supported by her animal companions (dog, chickens, horses) and the native wildlife she lives amongst, offering inspiration for work which is nature-connected, soul-centred and spiritually guided.
Sil Nossiter
Ecotherapist & Teacher
BIO
Marion Miller
Mindfulness & Ecotherapy Coach
BIO
Marion Miller is a dynamic Melbourne Based Coach, Ecotherapist and MBSR Mindfulness Teacher with over two decades of training and experience. She holds qualifications in ICF coaching, PACFA licensed counselling, MBSR Mindfulness, and Ecotherapy certification.
Marion has a passion for wellbeing, creativity, and leadership and likes to move people beyond individualistic thinking to a more ecological worldview. Marion is our ‘Retreat Wrangler’ and is also the founder of marionmiller.com.au and theecoretreat.com.au
FAQ for the Advanced Ecotherapy Training Course
What is the time commitment for the course?
Geoff suggests you allow for 2-3 hours per week on top of the module sessions (which run for 2-hours, twice per month).
-
- Rationale: while the course is self-guided between the module sessions, you are provided with readings, videos, exercises and peer support sessions. A couple of hours per week will allow you to keep up and get what you need out of the course. (However, of course with more time, you can drop in deeper and explore the territory even more.)
- Included in the time commitment will be some prompts towards journaling explorations. These are not assessed, but good ways to ask yourself the questions pertinent to an exploration of the field; the general theme for these is, what deep work are we doing in preparation for guiding others along a similar path?
What is the time commitment for the online course?
The same, but there is no retreat included. Online participants attend all sessions, are given the same practical exercises, and are asked to upload their evidence of engagement with the processes. They get the same level of feedback to support their learning and the same opportunities to work with their peers in breakout groups, both during and between training sessions.
-
- NB: because online participants do not attend the retreat, they are given practical exercises to work on at home, which are similar to what we practice together on the retreat. As with the monthly engagement, some evidence of these sessions is requested in order for the participant to graduate from the course.
What are the assessments for the course?
- Journaling/artistic responses: participants are invited to upload something each month that reflects on the theme. These submissions are not assessed, per se (in the sense of pass/fail), but they are read/watched/listened to by an assessor, who will provide feedback to guide you towards further directions for your own exploration into the field of deep nature connection, healing, empowerment and flow.
- After Module 4, there will be a multiple choice quiz to check that participants can answer some general knowledge questions about ecotherapy. These will be the kinds of things that a practitioner should confidently understand in order to offer ecotherapy to clients. This will be a brief assessment and again is ‘competency based’ (not pass/fail, but prompts will be given for any incorrect answers).
- On the retreat, we’ll practice providing ecotherapy to clients with each other. We need to make sure everyone is building a skillset; this is where sharing experiences really helps, as participants bring different realisations to the game and we amplify our learning by digesting this variety.
-
How will I be assessed on the retreat?During the retreat, facilitators will be observing and reflecting on your participation, therapeutic skills and feedback provided from the nature dyad sessions. If we have any concerns about your capabilities we will talk to you individually. You will be provided with clear feedback and further opportunity to demonstrate any skills yet to be observed.
-
What assessment is needed if I can’t attend the retreat?If you are unable to attend the retreat component of this course you will be required to submit evidence of 2 ecotherapy sessions. This will be in the form of a recorded transcript, written time stamps of certain skills (1000 words minimum) , a client feedback form (provided by us) and a professional reflection on how you felt the session went (1000 words minimum – with references).
-
What happens if I don’t meet the assessment requirements?You will be provided with an opportunity to have one-on-one feedback with one of the facilitators. This will include clear direction on what requirements need to be demonstrated in order to pass the assessments and time frames for this to occur. We will work with you and have every intention of ensuring all participants leave with the skills and confidence to practice ecotherapy.
If there are any concerns that a participant is not getting everything they need from the course, they will be supported with extra guidance from the team.
What PD hours can be claimed for the course?
For PACFA:
- Full complement of PACFA CPD (Continuing Professional Development) hours for two years, based on the fact that PACFA count CPD requirements across the financial year, 01/07 – 30/06.
- For the first half of the year, this equates to 20 hours CPD Category A – your full requirement (active participant in online or in-person learning). That is, 5 months x 4 hours per month (2 x 2 hour online sessions, February to June)
- For the second half of the year, this also equates to 20 hours CPD Category A – your full requirement (active participant in online or in-person learning). That is, 5 x 2 hour sessions of online training = 10 hours CPD Category A; plus more than 10 hours CPD Category A in-person training at the retreat
- Source: PACFA CPD and Supervision Standards
- Supervision: tbc
- ACA Ongoing Professional Development policy: 10 points for the online training sessions (duration of 6 hours or more); 10 points for the Retreat (workshop, duration of more than one day). Source here.
Are payment plans available?
- Yes. You can choose to pay the full fee upfront for the advertised price, or pay in four instalments after the deposit (which attracts an admin fee).
- Example: Full price including retreat
- Upfront $5950 in total, or $500 deposit to secure place plus $5450 invoiced with 30 days to pay
- Payment plan: $500 deposit to secure place plus 4 payments of $1400 over 4 months (invoices sent monthly after deposit paid). Total cost $6100
- Example: Online only
- Upfront $3950 in total, or $500 deposit to secure place plus $3450 invoiced with 30 days to pay
- Payment plan: $500 deposit to secure place plus 4 payments of $900 over 4 months (invoices sent monthly after deposit paid). Total cost $4100
- Ikon Graduate with RPL:
- Upfront $2950 in total, or $500 deposit to secure place plus $2450 invoiced with 30 days to pay
- Payment plan: $500 deposit to secure place plus 4 payments of $650 over 4 months (invoices sent monthly after deposit paid). Total cost $3100
Can i practice as an ecotherapist with this qualification?
Yes! As long as you already have adequate counselling and/or coaching skills, which are a prerequisite for joining the course, and you complete all assessments, you can call yourself an ecotherapist at the end of this course.
How the Advanced Ecotherapy Training Course works
Geoff Introduces himself and his Ecotherapy journey
Prerequisites
What differentiates Ecotherapy from Rewilding?
What differentiates Ecotherapy from Deep Ecology?
Structure is at the heart of confidence
Check out our Youtube Channel
Don’t forget to “Like” and Subscribe!
Nature Calling's commitment to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders
The Nature Calling commitment to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders has a long and proud history. Respect for First Nations peoples is woven throughout the course and knowledge that Geoff has learned from mob on Country and through his studies is always acknowledged with the story and the people behind it.
Geoff has been a proud ally of First Nations peoples the world over all his life, but it was in the early 2000s, while studying for his Masters in dreams and myth, that Geoff first volunteered at ANTaR, Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation, in Melbourne (Naarm). He raised over 10K through a series of concert events under the title Come Together, which featured Aboriginal artists such as Vika and Linda alongside popular acts like Augie March and Shane Howard, in a celebratory atmosphere that welcomed large crowds of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. A live CD was produced out of these gigs, which was sold as another, ongoing fundraiser by ANTaR. All funds raised supported the successful campaign for the Yorta Yorta peoples to gain co-management of the Barmah-Millewa National Park.
Through his research for this project, Geoff came across the work of anthropologist John Bradley, who was living and working with and for the Yanyuwa people of North-East Arnhem Land. John was recording the Songlines, or more accurately the Country Lines, of the Yanyuwa, at their request, first in a hand drawn atlas and then in animated versions. Designed to bring generations of Yanyuwa together and pass on priceless knowledge of their Country, the stories also expressed a living, breathing, animate world in which humans related to the more-than-human with respect and reciprocity. This is what myth can really do – breath life into consciousness, so that we awaken to the spirit of place as part of a bigger picture, a whole cosmos of potential filled with relationships between beings, places and even elements. Geoff asked John if he could share his interpretations of the Yanyuwa Country Lines (not the stories themselves, which can only be told by traditional owners) with a wider audience and John asked the Yanyuwa elders, who agreed that he could talk about their stories with respect and honour.
More recently, having moved to the far south coast of NSW, Geoff found himself living amongst the Walbanja peoples of the Yuin Nation, and helped set up the South Coast NSW Aboriginal Elders, where he was the inaugural CEO before handing over operations to the Elders. Geoff has many stories of learning from ‘mob’ over the years and worked closely with Aboriginal families on the coast as part of his role in training people to care for traumatised children. He has also learnt from a Hopi spiritual leader and was befriended by Jerome Bernstein, famous for his work with Navajo or Dine people in the great Southwest of America. But that’s another set of stories (amongst others).
Nowadays, in his work training ecotherapists with Nature Calling, Geoff always pays respect to the Aboriginal peoples who cared for the Country they are working on over countless generations. The team at Nature Calling recognise the need for decolonisation, as a way of educating ourselves about Aboriginal land and the special relationship First Nations peoples have with it. Geoff is also quick to point out that we cannot let an Acknowledgement of Country become a token display but should engage in it to help us connect with our feelings for Country and its traditional owners in a real and respectful way. At Nature Calling events, we use a variety of Acknowledgments, which pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging, and celebrate Aboriginal connections to Country that are part of a deep history of identification with nature that is unbroken and unceded.
Geoff engages local Elders to offer a Welcome to Country whenever possible, while reminding participants that when this is not possible, we must remember that Elders have more pressing commitments to their own people and cannot always fit in sharing their priceless culture with non-Aboriginal Australians. In fact, he relates that Elders encourage all Australians to reconcile with the earth, to listen deeply to nature as a way of learning to understand a little of how Aboriginal peoples feel about their Country. This requires us to reconnect with the cultures of our own ancestors, as well as to tune into the land and waters and elements in the here and now, as two ways we can reconnect with Country, alongside paying respect to the traditional owners.
Questions
If you would like to know more about my services, please feel free to contact me at geoff@naturecalling.org
Address: Broulee, far south coast, NSW Australia.
Zoom: Geoff Berry
Availability: online anytime, unless I am out listening to nature calling