Let’s collaborate to bring forest therapy to your organization or group

I love to collaborate with organizations, businesses, and other groups to bring forest therapy to your staff, clientele, or constituents. Here are some of the organizations for whom I’ve guided forest therapy since 2021:

Testimonials:

“Sarah is a brilliant forest therapy guide. She is intentional in her approach, very flexible and responsive, and enormously skilled in this work. We feel so fortunate to work with Sarah to provide forest therapy experiences for our team and our community. Every time we partner with Sarah, we receive such positive responses from participants as they experience nature in new ways!”

  • Catherine Game, Execute Director, Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

"Sarah's inclusive and welcoming approach to forest therapy is a perfect fit for our partnership together. SUM works with groups on comprehensive approaches to beneficial time spent outside, and it's great to be able to work with Sarah to incorporate forest therapy into that. Looking forward to more sessions together!"

  • Josh Ellis, Executive Director and Co-Founder, SUM

“I cannot recommend Sarah enough, the entire process from start to finish was effortless. Sarah was quick to respond to any questions I had and made scheduling our walk very easy. She always offered up more information than asked for in anticipation for things I might need clarification on which showed her experience and overall professionalism. Leading up to the walk, Sarah was great at communicating what was needed and what to expect that I could share with patrons who registered for the walk so that everyone was fully prepared.

During the walk, Sarah made everyone feel comfortable and relaxed. She did a fantastic job of making people who were unfamiliar with Forest Bathing feel confident in her wisdom and practice. After the walk I received feedback from many patrons expressing their gratitude to the Library for hosting Sarah and their wishes to have her back again. Overall, a 10/10 experience, Sarah was friendly, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to work with, the Morton Grove Library will be happy to host her in the future.”

  • Cailyn Heintzelman, Morton Grove Public Library

“The forest therapy walk was a special opportunity to connect with nature, myself, and my community. It helped me feel more spiritually attuned to the themes Passover and more present in my ritual observance of the holiday. I appreciated Sarah's warm and down to earth presence- she held the space with compassion - gently pushing and guiding us, while also providing room for individual needs and accommodations. It felt like time slowed and reality sort of shifted towards a deeper sense of purpose for the hour and a half that we were together. I am super grateful to Sarah for facilitating this program for our community!”

  • Ariel Wolgel, Director of Experiential Learning at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue

Types of organizations that can benefit from forest therapy:

  • public-facing organizations like libraries, park districts, etc. that want to add an in-demand program to your public programming without burdening existing staff

  • universities, colleges or schools that want to offer this experience to their students or staff

  • churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious homes looking for another way to help their members find the divine

  • Veterans Affairs hospitals or groups looking for a supportive, healing offering

  • wellness centers, yoga and meditation studios, and other mind-body healing groups looking for a unique offering for their clientele

  • support groups for addiction, chronic illness, etc.

  • organizations that want to offer a supportive, stress-relieving staff bonding experience, or to ground and center staff as part of a staff meeting or retreat

  • any group or organization wanting to add value to your staff, clientele, or constituents

For more about forest therapy, see About Forest Therapy or Benefits of Forest Therapy.

Logistical Considerations

Group size:

Ideal group size is 5 to 12 people, but I can go up to 15-20 people depending on a few factors.

Location:

We can work together to find a location that works for us both. I have several sites that I am familiar with in the Chicago area (see here), but I’m open to exploring a new site. (There may be an additional fee for new sites.)

Cost:

I like to be flexible in my organizational pricing depending on your budget. Send me an email with some basic details, and I can give you a quick ballpark and we can go from there!

Duration:

I like to set aside a minimum of 90 minutes, and up to 2.5 hours, for a group forest therapy session, to give everyone time to really relax into the experience. I am open to shorter or longer experiences, with some caveats!

Physical requirements / accommodations / inclusion:

I like to work to be able to include anyone and everyone in my forest therapy offerings! We don’t cover a lot of ground, and we don’t move fast, so it’s very inclusive of people of a range of physical capabilities. I do like to ask people ahead of time if they have specific needs or accommodation requests so I can make sure everyone is comfortable and able to participate. This also allows me to let people know what to expect and how to prepare. I have an online registration form that can be adapted for your group, or if you prefer to do the sign-up/registration on your end, I can work with that too! Also see more about my approach to inclusion and belonging here.

Weather:

A light rain in warm-ish weather won’t stop us, but if conditions are forecast to be miserable or unsafe, we can reschedule for a mutually convenient date.

Liability Insurance and Permits:

I am covered by liability insurance, and am aware of some of the permitting requirements and different sites. We can discuss this on a case by case basis, as needed.

I do my best to make it a smooth process from beginning to end, and I cherish my partner organizations — I would love to hear from you! If you want to learn more about me, see About Your Guide.