• Do I need to be a psychotherapist or counsellor to participate?

    Absolutely not! Our courses are for anyone interested in working with the therapeutic potential of outdoor experiences - from urban parks to designated wilderness. People from lots of different backgrounds participate including healthcare practitioners, outdoor leaders, social workers, youth workers, rangers, conservationists and educators - as well as those interested in commissioning or referring into therapeutic outdoor programmes.

  • Do I need any prior experience before I take a course?

    No! Memberships take you through a carefully sequenced series of courses that build into a solid foundation of learning. They are ideal for anyone interested in ecotherapy, regardless of professional experience.

  • Do programmes provide personal therapy?

    No. ecoSelf LEARNING is for those seeking to work therapeutically outdoors and is not intended as a personal therapeutic intervention.

  • Do I need any qualifications to work as an outdoor ecotherapist?

    It all depends on where you want to work and who your clients are.

    For example, if you intend to work in a garden, city park, rural farmland or at a local beach, then you do not need any outdoor leadership qualifications. However, if you want to work in environments that are unfamiliar to your clients, then you do.

    Similarly, if you want to offer personal development and general well-being programmes, then you don't need to be a qualified counsellor or psychotherapist. However, if you want to offer psychotherapy and work with clinical psychological issues, then you do.

  • Do these courses qualify me as an outdoor leader?

    No. These courses do not qualify you as a professional outdoor leader, which usually requires specialist training and assessment in your home refion/nation.

  • Do I get a certificate?

    Yes. Each course offers you a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) certificate for the number of notional study hours for that course. You can download the certificate on course completion. However, there are currently no governing bodies or professional institutions anywhere in the world for ecotherapy practice. Any qualification claiming to be more than a simple record of learning should be treated with suspicion - and certainly doesn't constitute a formal or official qualification.

  • Can I practice as an ecotherapist once I have completed a training programme?

    You can practice as an ecotherapist right now! There are no formal or official pathways to becoming an ecotherapist and no regulated registration bodies. However, it would be unethical to practice without being confident that you can do so without causing harm to others or to yourself. And it would be unprofessional to practice without being sure you can offer your clients a positive, helpful and safe experience. A big reason why ecoSelf learning exists is to help you navigate through this very fluid situation to become a safe and effective practitioner.

  • Do courses include interaction with other people?

    Yes! Every course has a discussion thread for participants to interact. We also have the Fire Circle, our global online community of ecotherapy practitioners. And you can email us anytime!

  • Can I enrol a group?

    Yes! You can enrol groups, for example if you would like to train your staff team. Find out more on our Group Training page (the link is in the footer!).