Join us for the year-long Ten Directions Certificate in Ecotherapy.
Applications for the 2025/26 course, which starts on 1st September 2025, are now open.
We also run many stand alone workshops.
The Ten Directions Certificate comprises:
An online learning programme which lasts for five months, delivered blog-style through a private forum, offering daily nature-based tasks for you to do in your local area (100 activities in total)
Seven online workshops, delivered on Zoom, as part of the above learning programme, totalling 38 hours of training
A pass to attend a further 52 hours of live workshops which you choose from a selection of events listed on our Eventbrite page.
Two optional camping retreats (Fri-Mon) at Abbey Wood: our woodlands in the Scottish Borders. These can be attended instead of the 52 hours of live online workshops (mentioned above) if you are looking for a more in-person training experience. (You can also attend just one of these to ‘mix and match’.) These retreats happen in early September 2025 and Summer 2026.
One year is given to complete the requirements of the Certificate
Optional second-year Diploma for those wanting to deepen their practice
More Information.
Ten Directions is a year-long ecotherapy training course that prepares you to practice ecotherapy with others.
In our online learning programme, you will complete five nature therapy exercises per week (Monday to Friday) over a period of five months, and share your experiences in our forum, with tutor feedback and support.
This nature therapy course also offers the chance to attend a total of 90 hours of ecotherapy workshops (with a few UK-based in-person options available), provided by a range of tutors who teach ecotherapy skills from many different angles. 38 hours of these workshops accompany the online learning programme and they are only available to those who sign up for the full course. You are then given a pass to attend a further 52 hours of workshops on the topics that you are interested in (avoiding the topics you aren’t), creating a tailored experience. Everything from working with groups to eco-art, storytelling, spiritual topics and ecopsychology is covered. You can choose to attend our intensive retreats in the Scottish Borders alongside online workshops or instead, with just a small extra cost for meals. It is, however, possible to do the course entirely online, as many international students do. If you are looking for nature therapy certification online, you might find that our Ten Directions course suits your needs.
If you do not want to work towards the full certificate, you can attend most of our workshops on their own. This can be useful if you are interested in ecotherapy for your own development, or if you would simply like to bring certain elements of ecotherapy into your current work. These workshops are listed on Eventbrite.
There is an optional second year of training – the Diploma – for those who want to deepen their practice, and you can find out more about that here.
This page provides everything you need to know about our ecotherapy training options, so keep on scrolling down to find out more.
What Does it Cost? What are the Payment Options?
If you would like to book the entire year for the ecotherapy certification, comprising of the online learning programme plus a total of 90 hours-worth of live workshops, this costs £1840 (please check the current exchange rates if you are outside of the UK). To sign up for the full course and pay in advance, please fill in the online application and we will invite you to one of our online recruitment events in the summer. The fee covers all aspects of your learning (although if you choose to attend in-person UK events, you may need to occasionally pay a little bit extra towards food at events or accommodation etc).
To book our other workshops and seminars, simply go to Eventbrite (there is no need for an interview for those).
You can choose to pay in two instalments of £920: one in August 2025, and the second instalment in January 2026.
You can also pay in ten monthly instalments of £185. Prices for our shorter workshops and seminars can be found (and booked) via Eventbrite. If you sign up for the full course, you get a free pass to do 52 hours-worth of these workshops (as well as the other 38 hours of workshops that come with the core learning units). This price covers everything, except for small extra costs for camping and food contributions if you choose to attend an in-person retreat as part of your training.
Fees for the full course are payable in advance and are non-refundable once the course starts. We are, however, here to answer all of your questions before booking, to ensure that you know you’re signing up for the right course before committing!
Why ecotherapy?
Mental health is a function of our ability to connect. Working in the environment, whether locally in urban or suburban settings, or by taking clients further afield, brings positive benefits, exposing people to new and challenging situations, and opening them up to experiences which support change at all levels of psychological functioning. Ecotherapy invites us to discover our place in the ecosystem and develop a healthier relationship with the environment. Our ecotherapy training programme prepares you to be a facilitator of nature-based change. We use both terms ‘ecotherapy’ and ‘nature therapy’ on this page. These terms both refer to the same thing; working with nature to improve the wellbeing of humans and the wider ecosystem.
Who is it for?
The Ten Directions Programme, which started in 2011, offers a thorough introduction to working with nature. The programme is suitable for qualified counsellors to go on to take their practice outdoors but it is also suitable for people working with community groups or in outdoor contexts who want to develop their skills in a more therapeutic direction. The course presents a theoretical model grounded in ten modalities of working, and aligned with the Other-Centred model taught on past Tariki training programmes (which grew out of Buddhist psychology).
Some people take this course simply for their own interest or to support their wellbeing. We welcome applications from people who are simply interested in exploring the beautiful field of ecotherapy for themselves, who may not have a professional career in mind. However, we are clear that this is a professional training course, and not group therapy.
Do I need experience?
Whilst students should generally have relevant experience, their backgrounds vary, and in practice students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and include qualified counsellors and psychotherapists, people working in education or outdoors activities, workshop leaders, artists and forest school leaders. This creates a rich melting pot of ideas and our nature therapy course is as much a learning community as a fixed programme. Ecotherapy is a very broad field—as such, so is our course material. Pick and mix the classes that suit you.
The beauty of ecotherapy is in its flexibility. People from all kinds of backgrounds join our courses and go on to run diverse and wonderful ecotherapy groups based on their learning and their experience in other areas of their life.
It is important to note that ecotherapy is not a branch of psychotherapy (although many people do blend ecotherapy with their psychotherapy training). If you wish to practice psychotherapy and counselling outdoors, you will need to have already taken training in one of these fields or to take
one alongside Ten Directions. Ecotherapy is a different field and broad in its applications. The course will help you to find a way of working that suits your interests and experience level. In particular, Year Two allows you to develop supervised practice under the guidance of course staff whilst expanding your range of skills.
What can I do with this qualification?
People who join Ten Directions ecotherapy course come from a variety of backgrounds and many have skills in related fields already. Some are qualified counsellors and go on to take their practice outdoors. Many are not, but build on other kinds of therapeutic, educational, environmental or community-based skills and develop practices and skills in ecotherapy.
Is the course accredited by any particular body?
The issue of accreditation is complex as there are still many different views on what ecotherapy actually is. After much debate, Tariki Trust had decided, at this time, to offer fully independent courses which proudly incorporate innovative, creative and spiritual approaches into our work. At this stage, we are not convinced that any relevant body exists to offer meaningful accreditation for ecotherapy programmes, especially as ecotherapy is such a broad and eclectic field; so the answer to this question is ‘no’.
The Model
Created by psychotherapist and author Caroline Brazier, the ten directions taught on the programme fall into five pairs or dimensions. These dimensions form the basis of the five core learning units which make up our five-month-long learning programme. They broadly reflect the therapeutic container, core principles of the model, the personal relationship to the environment, the collective relationship, and our physical engagement with the world. Within these we employ therapeutic and creative methods, practical learning, and discuss issues of professional boundaries, safety and organisation. Although the course theory draws strongly on Buddhist Psychology, our students come from a wide range of diverse spiritual, agnostic and atheist backgrounds (as do our tutors). We also host workshops inspired by other spiritual practices, such as Earth-based spirituality.
The Ten Directions
The Ten Directions are covered in our online learning programme (two ‘directions’ are covered per month-long unit). They are:
UNIT ONE (September) Establishing the Container: Embodied Contact & Sacred Space
UNIT TWO (November) The Theory base: Therapeutic Triangle & Object Related Identity
UNIT THREE (January) Personal Process: Conditioned View & Encounter
UNIT FOUR (March) Myth and Ritual & Creativity
UNIT FIVE: (May) Vibrancy & Embedded Living
If you do not want to commit to a full year-long course:
Most of the seminars and workshops offered on Eventbrite are open to people who are not enrolled as students unless otherwise stated. If you attend any of these as a 'one off' and decide to enrol subsequently, these hours can be discounted from the cost of the Certificate (if you enrol within three months of attendance).
Course Delivery
This ecotherapy course is delivered primarily through experiential work out of doors, reflective process, and theoretical integration. The five core online units explore different dimensions of the model, using a series of online learning exercises which are delivered in a private blog-style forum. Students are encouraged to respond in their own unique way, for example by posting a short paragraph describing their experiences, a voice clip, sharing photograph collages, videos, poetry, art—whatever feels right for the student. Some tasks require students to respond in particular ways, but we generally like to keep it flexible.
This is an experiential and creative nature therapy course, rather than an academic course. There is some reading required for the course, although this is minimal and designed to support your experiential work. We use the Mighty Networks platform for our students which most people find to be slick and enjoyable to use. It can be downloaded as an app and used whilst students are out completing their exercises.
The exercises are shared daily in written format, with accompanying AI voice files for those who take in information better through listening. They are practical and mostly involve going outdoors to reflect and connect within the locality where the student lives. The programme is not academically demanding but requires personal reflection and the development of creative awareness and competency.
The Ten Directions programme has always been international in its outlook and welcomes students from around the world. We have trained students from across Europe, Oceana, North America and Asia, as well as the UK (where we are based). Because much of our teaching is online (and the course can be done entirely remotely), students from overseas can participate fully and complete the certificate without needing to travel. For students in the UK, there are options to attend in-person training events too. (Please bear in mind however that our Zoom workshops may not be held at sociable times in your timezone if you live far away from Europe!)
You are given one year to complete the 90 hours of live classes required for the Certificate. We also ask that students complete the online learning programme during the five months of the year when the tutors are actively delivering those learning units, rather than falling behind and completing them retrospectively.
For those wishing to continue their ecotherapy training, our second year Diploma will allow a full integration of the work.
The Online Learning Programme
The Ten Directions online learning programme consists of five units, each lasting for one month, which cover the core theory of the programme. This theory roughly follows the five sections of the course text book, Ecotherapy in Practice, which was written by Caroline Brazier (who created much of the course content). On each day that these units are delivered, students receive a short written blog-style post introducing the day's theme with instructions for the day's activity. There are five exercises per week during the five months of the learning programme.
Students are asked to complete the learning programme within the time frame prescribed. The intention is that through the daily practice of these activities, students build a regular relationship to the outdoors, so they are discouraged from stockpiling exercises and getting behind. We have a flexible approach to how students complete the exercises—the most important thing is to make time each day for nature.
Applications.
To apply for the Certificate programme, please fill in our online application form. There is no need to apply if you wish to attend our workshops and seminars listed on Eventbrite. If you have any questions about the course before applying, please email stephen@tarikitrust.org and he will happily answer any questions that you have via email. Full information on the course content is further down the page.
2025/26 Programme
You can read all about the course tutors on this page.
Unit 1—Online Study: Embodied Contact & Sacred Space
Starts on 1st September 2025 for four weeks.
The first (optional) in-person retreat will be held at our small woodlands in the Scottish Borders from 5th-8th September 2025. Please email Stephen for more information if you would like to attend.
The accompanying online workshop (for all students) is from 10-4pm (UK timezone) on Saturday 20th September 2025.
How do we create a safe, supportive atmosphere for therapy to take place? In any therapeutic method the therapist and the environment in which the therapy takes place each play an essential part in ensuring that the client feels contained and safe enough to address their issues. When working out of doors, creating the therapeutic container can seem more difficult since the space is more open, and may be unpredictable, interrupted by unforeseen eventualities. In such circumstance, containment is provided by the presence of the therapist or facilitator and by features of the particular space in which the work takes place. This first unit of the programme focuses on the fundamental principles which create the therapeutic container.
Firstly we will explore how the therapist can develop groundedness and embodied presence, offering a solid support to the process, and developing awareness through the body sense. With mindful presence we give confidence to those with whom we work and are more able to offer empathic connection.
Secondly we will explore the dimension of sacred space through the mindful relationship to the working environment, an attitude of reverence and bare awareness, and through the selection and creation of particular working spaces.
A second online workshop will accompany this unit, looking at ‘Professional Issues in Ecotherapy’. It will run from 10-4pm on Saturday 4th October ‘25. Details are below…
Ecotherapy is practised in a wide variety of settings. The term ecotherapy can be applied to a large range of different activities, offered by people with different backgrounds and qualifications. Finding your way of working in the field can therefore sometimes be rather confusing and challenging.
This workshop therefore offers a space to students and graduates of the Ten Directions programme to explore what it means to be involved in ecotherapy and your own route into the field and look at some of the steps which you might want to take to best equip yourself. We will identify aspects of good practice and where there may be gaps in your skills profile for the things which you hope to offer.
On this workshop we will look at:
· The field of ecotherapy
· Your own route into ecotherapy and your personal skills bank
· Networking and collaboration
· Use of supervision
· Responsibilities: risk assessment, safety, good practice etc
· Further skills and training which might be helpful
Unit 2—Online Study: Therapeutic Triangle & Object Related Identity
Starts on 3rd November 2025 for four weeks.
The accompanying online workshop is from 10-4pm (UK timezone) on Saturday 15th November 2025.
Other Centred Approach provides a model based on Buddhist psychology which underpins the Ten Directions programme. This model emphasises an understanding of the way that mental processes are conditioned by perceptual phenomena, and in particular how the worldview is distorted to support a sense of continuity and familiarity. This second unit will explore two key elements in the methodology, showing how these can be used in the outdoor situation.
The first element concerns the nature of the therapeutic relationship. In Other Centred Approach the relationship between the practitioner and the client is primarily collaborative. The therapeutic relationship is therefore described as triangular: being made up of the three elements of client, therapist and 'object world' (in this case elements in the environment).
The second element is object-related identity. As the 'object world' is viewed, so the mind state changes and we develop a sense of ourselves and the world based on experience. Exposure to the natural environment is a potent positive conditioning factor, a fact which in itself provides an argument for environmentally based therapies. The perception of objects is influenced by personal constructs and triggers memories, and particular phenomena have particular effects. Investigating the way experience is conditioned by the past and how new experiences can change deep-seated patterns can form the basis of exploratory work.
Unit 3—Online Study: Conditioned View & Encounter
Starts on 2nd February 2026 for four weeks.
The accompanying online workshop is from 10-4pm (UK timezone) on Saturday 21st February 2026.
It is common for therapy to focus on personal process. This unit, based on a model drawn from Buddhist psychology, explores the way that personal conditioning factors lead people to see the world in particular ways, and how this can influence their experience outdoors. It will also look at ways to help people to move beyond these conditioned reactions by using encounter, investigation and direct observation.
Working outdoors can provide a canvas on which the life story is projected and so we may come to understand the psyche better by appreciating the associations which people have for elements in their surroundings. The natural environment is evocative. It often reminds us of childhood. There can be positive memories of adventures and holidays, but also fears and traumas arising from bad experiences. As we take people outdoors, early memories may be triggered, which might be exciting and creative, or frightening and painful. In our work, we may need to help people to face emotional material which has been long buried, and give space for sharing these early stories.
In this unit, conditioned view is paired with encounter, and the attempt to see beyond the surface associations to a clearer experiencing of things as they are. The challenge we face is to see objects in their own right, stripping away personal investment and acknowledging their 'otherness'. Working outdoors can enable more direct encounter with these things. We can meet plants, animals, earth and sky in a fresh way, and in doing so, ground ourselves in our existential reality.
Unit 4—Online Study: Myth and Ritual & Creativity
Starts on 16th March 2026 for four weeks.
The accompanying online workshop is from 10-4pm (UK timezone) on Saturday 28th March 2026.
Whilst our relationship to the environment can be a very personal one, often related to the particular experiences that we have had growing up and subsequently, our responses to nature and the ecosystem are also strongly conditioned by the culture which we live and collective patterns of thinking and valuing that are around in society. These collective ways of viewing the world are often more powerful than we realise, as we tend to take for granted the culture of our parents, friends and neighbours. We live shared stories and assume them to be the truth about things.
This unit investigates the way that mythology, metaphor and ritual influence our relationship to the environment and lead us to see things through particular lenses. We explore how myth provides an enriching influence and can be used in positive ways to give meaning to experience and to provide metaphors for the personal. We also look at stories and myths from different cultures and the alternative views which they can offer.
We will explore the role of story, ritual and embodied drama in therapeutic process in the outdoors and look at the ways that it can become an inspiration for creative activities. Many of the daily exercises involve using different media to express the personal and collective experience of being outdoors.
Unit 5—Online Study: Vibrancy & Embedded Living
Starts on 4th May 2026 for four weeks.
The accompanying online workshop is from 10-4pm (UK timezone) on Saturday 9th May 2026.
Our relationship to the environment is not simply theoretical or psychological. It involves our whole being. This is why environmental therapy is particularly beneficial to mental health. As ecotherapists we cannot separate our work from the global context in which we are all living. People's individual choices all impact on the environment and this in turn influences our individual psychology, as it also affects the collective well-being of humans, animals and of the planet. At the same time, we are caught in the mythologies of our time which tend to force us into human-centric positions, denying our place as part of the ecosystem of the planet.
This unit explores the influence of different philosophies on our relationship to the planet. It looks at our collective behaviour and ways in which this shapes and is shaped by the culture. It looks at the struggles with power and powerlessness in these matters and their roots in our psychology. Eco-anxiety, in part fed by our culpability in destructive behaviours and, in part, rooted in our powerlessness as individuals to protect what we relate to so deeply, can be debilitating for many engaged with environmental concerns. We can feel depleted and defeated.
In balance with this, the concept of vibrancy is used in this unit to explore our energetic relationship with life. Our energy levels are related to our mental states. They are also related to our active or inactive engagement with our surroundings. We may withdraw and experience depression and low energy or we may engage and become enthused or agitated. Outdoor work can reflect or challenge our patterns of response. It may involve strenuous activity or more gentle reflection. We can challenge ourselves and explore our physical limitations or we can find stillness and calm in the midst of turbulent emotions. This unit will include investigation of these matters and will also address issues of safety, ethics and responsibility.
A second in-person intensive retreat will be held at our small woodlands in the Scottish Borders in summer 2026. This entirely optional event will only be open to students enrolled on the course and also past students: it will not be open to the public. Dates will be announced to enrolled students once the course begins.
The final event is an online Farewell Ceremony for students on Thursday 30th July 2026 from 2-3pm (UK time).
What Our Students Say
“Getting to work with like-minded people from across the globe has been inspiring. Also, the variety and creativity of experiences has helped to expand my own imagination for all that can be done with Ecotherapy. It was better than I expected. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to others. Both my working life and my professional life have already changed. Ecotherapy will be a part of everything I do from now on.”
– Participant on the 2022/23 Ten Directions Certificate
“I started this course not to become an ecotherapist but because I was in a state of despair throughout the covid crisis. I took the training to nourish myself. It did that...and so much more! Now I also want to be an ecotherapist. I look forward to implementing my learnings into my current practice and then deciding where to from there. I cannot recommend the ecotherapy training at Tariki Trust enough. Connecting with nature through the daily activities, the other participants and the wonderful trainers was exactly what my soul needed.
— Participant on the 2021/22 Ten Directions Certificate
“I had no real idea of what it would bring, but I have been blown away by the depth but also the subtlety of the teachings. I loved doing some of the more hands-on things, making the mobile or mandalas. But also getting really up close with things I thought I knew. Learning to see the details. Looking back at paths travelled to encourage a perspective shift. The online days we all spent together. And much more. I loved the way it was delivered. A balance of seminars and exercises. I think it flows beautifully. Really just thank you. I have loved being a part of this and am quite sad that it is over.”
– Participant in the 2022/23 Ten Directions Certificate
“In my personal life, I am already reducing my consumption, reusing and recycling more. In my work, I am about to announce an online workshop series based on some of the learning I've taken from the course, based on connecting to our sense of place.”
– Participant on the 2022/23 Ten Directions Certificate
“Tariki Trust's Ecotherapy course is the best course I've ever studied, for a mountain of reasons. Firstly, the kind and wonderful facilitators; you have deeply inspired me - thank you. And, our group was full of truly amazing people; I feel so grateful to have shared this experience over the past year with such wonderful human beings. Everyone in my family knows how much this ecotherapy course has meant to me; many have said they believe, and see, that it's been transformational and life enhancing for me. I agree.”
— Participant on the 2021/22 Ten Directions Certificate
“I really struggle to public speak, though for me personally this safe and supportive group has really helped me with that. I've absolutely loved the breakout room exercises. Although we were coming up with ideas for exercises that will go on to benefit people in a therapeutic environment, we always seemed to really have fun whilst doing so. Always lots of smiles and laughter within the groups!
— Participant on the 2021/22 Ten Directions Certificate
Below are a series of photos from in-person Ten Directions ecotherapy events that have taken place in the UK….
The above photos and collages were taken at numerous Ten Directions training weekends and retreats held at various locations in the UK. Thanks to Yasemin Aslan, Caroline Brazier, Harriet Sams, Sam Lewis, Stephanie Whitelaw, Luna Zeng, Stephen McCabe, Jim Morgan and Vanessa White for the photographs.
Ecotherapy Books by Caroline Brazier (the Course Founder)
‘Ecotherapy in Practice’. This book accompanies the Ten Directions course.
‘Acorns Among the Grass’; a collection of inspiring ecotherapy experiences.