For therapists and mental health professionals
The next course takes place on 28th September
The Certified Outdoor Therapist Programme has been designed for qualified therapists such as psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, as well as counsellors and mental health teams, who want to harness the therapeutic power of the outdoors to support their clients.
✓ Take your therapy outdoors
✓ CPD Accredited & Insurable
✓ Study around work in just 2 hours a week
Throughout this course, you’ll find out more about the benefits to taking your therapeutic approach outside. These include reducing stigma and breaking down barriers for individuals who struggle with the face-to-face or office-based nature of therapeutic support, through to the physiological and psychological benefits of spending time outdoors for yourself and your clients. Our programme gives you all the development you need to start delivering effective outdoor therapy straight away.
Find out more about the course via email
Perfect if you're a:
Speech & Language Therapist
Occupational Therapist
Counsellor
Psychologist
CBT Therapist
Play Therapist
Mental Health Practitioner
If you're not sure, book a call with Georgina here!
If you're a coach or an outdoor instructor, we offer alternative programmes that suit you such as our Accredited Outdoor Coach Programme, Certified Outdoor Mental Health Practitioner Programme and our Level 4 Certificate in Outdoor and Adventure Therapy.
Gaining your certification as a Certified Outdoor Therapist opens up a wealth of new opportunities.
If you've been thinking about how to begin working in the outdoors, but you aren't sure how, this is the course for you.
At The Therapy Adventure Ltd, we believe in Doing Therapy Differently. On any given day, you’ll find our therapists delivering 1:1 therapy whilst whittling around the fire in our outdoor clinics, leading outdoor communication groups for children with complex needs in the woods or supporting autistic children at rock climbing walls.
Our Training is delivered by our Multi-disciplinary Therapy and Outdoor Mental Health Team including 5 Clinical Psychologists, a Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Family Therapist and Arts Therapist.
Therapist-led training
Multidisciplinary teaching team
Real clinical experience
CPD accredited
Insurable
Ongoing supervision
Starts: 28th September 2026
Study time: Around 2 hours per week
Duration: Typically completed over 8 weeks, with up to 2 years to finish
Study options: Online or Blended (includes the optional practical day on 10th October)
Live evening sessions: Recorded if you can't attend
Support: Course mentor, live sessions, learner community and post-qualification webinar
Costs Online: £475 or 12 monthly payments of £39.75
Costs Blended: £530 or 12 monthly payments of £44.50
This course is accredited by the CPD Group for 50 CPD hours.
You’re in safe hands enrolling on our Certified Outdoor Therapist Programme. Our Course has been accredited by the CPD Group, following a rigorous process.
Becoming a Certified Outdoor Therapist with an accredited programme demonstrates to schools, funders, clients, your workplace and parents that you are committed to continuing professional development and have received specialist training in designing and delivering outdoor therapy programmes, especially for clients who otherwise may not access support.
The accreditation process may sound daunting, but we make it as easy a process as possible. To gain accreditation you need to complete a short online exam and assignment. The assignment should be 1000-1200 words long and is designed to showcase your learning. The exam is 10 questions long and is not timed. We appreciate that there are many barriers to succeeding in exams. We can provide alternative assessment for those who are likely to struggle with an exam or written assignment.
Our team have worked with SJL Insurance to ensure that Certified Outdoor Therapists can gain insurance through them to deliver outdoor therapy clinics. You can also approach an alternative insurance provider. We provide a short insurance document that outlines what training you have received.
On completion, Certified Outdoor Therapists you will gain certification to state you are a Certified Outdoor Therapist and if you wish, you will be able to gain insurance that covers the delivery of outdoor therapy clinics using a range of outdoor activities but excludes use of fire and tools with clients. You may wish to also complete the Level 3 Forest School Leader qualification if you'd like to use tools and fire with a client group.
The Certified Outdoor Therapist Programme empowers therapists with the tools to take their practice outdoors, breaking down barriers to therapy for many marginalised groups.
The programme features three modules that make up the full course. All of our modules are led by a multidisciplinary therapy team and Outdoor Leaders.
This module explores what Outdoor Therapy is and the benefits of it.
Key Topics:
What is Outdoor Therapy and who it is for?
Inequality in Outdoor Therapy
The benefits of Outdoor Therapy
Nature connection and it's relationship to therapy
Breaking down barriers to therapeutic engagement
This module explores key concepts in Outdoor Therapy and delivering Outdoor Therapy.
Key Topics in Part A - Key Concepts:
Dyadic and Triadic Approaches to Outdoor Therapy
The Forest School Ethos
The Shoulder to Shoulder Approach
Key Topics in Part B - Delivering Outdoor Therapy:
Confidentiality in Outdoor Therapy
Creating Boundaries in the Outdoors
Key session management tools and managing the environment
Taking appropriate risks
Cultural and Diversity Considerations
Outcome Measurement
Using a strategy approach
This module teaches you the practical skills you need to delivery outdoor therapy, provides you with a range of case studies from Outdoor Therapists and provides you with an Activity Kit covering Nature Arts and Crafts, Mindful Movement and Mindful Bushcraft.
This day can be delivered in-person in Manchester or online.
Key Topics in Part A - Practical Skills:
Your Outdoor Therapy Kit
Selecting your site and creating a safe space
Creating shelter and using hammocks
Leave no trace principles
Communication Protocols for working outdoors
Safety, risk assessments and session modifications
In this section, you have access to training on a range of activities that you can deliver in the outdoors with minimal tools:
Nature Arts and Crafts such as using Clay, Stick Dolls, Leaf Crowns and more
Mindful Movement such as Walking, Hammocks and Bubbles
Mindful Bushcraft such as Lashing, Nordic Slinging Braids and Firelighting
You'll hear from Outdoor Therapists delivering their own outdoor sessions, what they look like, what we can learn from them.
Delivered by a range of Outdoor Therapists such as Neuropsychologists, Clinical Psychologists, Counsellors and Speech and Language Therapists and more.
In this section, you'll explore Piloting Your Programme and getting started.
Key Topics:
How and why we pilot
Creating a niche
Partnerships and Signposting
Ongoing Supervision
Learn from practitioners who are actively delivering therapeutic work in the real world.
Outdoor & Adventure Therapist and Speech & Language Therapist
Course Director with extensive experience delivering outdoor therapeutic provision and training practitioners.
Clinical Psychologist
Supporting therapeutic provision and helping learners understand how clinical psychology can be applied outdoors.
Clinical Psychologists
Providing specialist knowledge on psychological approaches within outdoor therapeutic practice.
Forest School Leader and Family Systemic Practitioner
Sharing Narrative Approaches we can use to support mental health and wellbeing.
Occupational Therapist
A specialist Occupational Therapist working with neurodivergent individuals.
Your course support team is made up of an experienced team with a background in therapeutic, technical and business support. Kate has recently joined our team as an experienced integrative counsellor.
Founder and Director of The Therapy Adventure
Working alongside a multidisciplinary therapy team, she develops the ideas that shape The Therapy Adventure’s work, designing programmes, qualifications, and services from concept through to delivery.
Becoming a Certified Outdoor Therapist is a new chapter in your career. As part of the Certified Outdoor Therapist Programme, you'll understand the Fundamentals of Outdoor Therapy, feel confident delivering outdoor sessions, be able to assess risk in the outdoors and have a number of nature-based activities that you can deliver in the outdoors.
During the course, you'll get access to three evening Application to Practice sessions of 1 hour long with Forest School Leader & Speech and Language Therapist. They're recorded for you to watch back later if you can't attend live. They include:
Simple Steps to Getting Started
Ethical Issues Relating to Outdoor Therapy
Using Nature as Metaphor
You'll hear from Family Systemic Practitioner and Forest School Leader Abbey Southall on Working with Children in the Outdoors and you'll get access to our Sample Programmes which provide a range of mental health and wellbeing strategies that you can use during your sessions taught by Clinical Psychologists.
You'll also benefit from Post-Certification Support on finding new opportunities as a Certified Outdoor Therapist.
Starts 28th September 2026
When you complete the Certified Outdor Therapist Programme course, you can choose to complete some of the course in-person or complete it fully online.
Starts 28th September 2026 with an in-person day on Saturday 10th October 2026.
You can choose to complete Module 3: Practical Skills for Therapists on our blended learning day.
The blended course costs £530 or 12 instalments of £44.50.
Starts 28th September 2026
When you complete the course as a fully online option, all elements are available via our online learning platform.
The online course costs £475 or 12 instalments of £39.75.
✓ Deliver therapy safely outdoors
✓ Complete outdoor risk assessments
✓ Adapt sessions to different client groups
✓ Use therapeutic nature-based activities
✓ Gain insurance
✓ Launch your outdoor therapy service
✓ Self-paced content released in fortnightly blocks
✓ A live online induction on Day 1 (recorded to catch up) and a welcome week to settle in
✓ Live Application to Practice sessions led by Outdoor and Adventure Therapist, Caspian and recorded to catch up
✓ Access to a course mentor and our multidisciplinary therapy support throughout
✓ Access to a private space to connect with your fellow learners
✓ Online Activity Kits with a range of activities you can deliver outdoors
✓ Case Studies recorded to understand more about how therapists are taking their practice outdoors
✓ Two digital manuals
✓ Post-Certification Support Webinar exploring how to market and use your new skills
✓ Access to the Outdoor Therapy Clinical Supervision Group
✓ An optional introduction to a specialist insurer
There’s no need to worry about a busy scheduling getting in the way of becoming a Certified Outdoor Therapist. We’ve tailored our programme to fit around your day-to-day commitments. Whether it’s the day job or looking after little ones, all our modules are self-paced. Typically, we recommend setting aside around 2- hours per week to complete the certification, but however you manage this is completely up to you!
We typically deliver the full course over a 8-week period, but this can be fast tracked to 6-weeks if so required. If this doesn’t work around your other commitments, that’s no problem. We allow up to 2-years for the course to be completed.
While our courses are built to your schedule, you certainly won’t be without help. You’ll be allocated a course mentor who you can go to with any queries along the way. We also offer community support via our sociable Facebook group and live study sessions, so you can study alongside peers.
Made up of short videos and a series of tasks on our online platform, the course is completed with a final exam and assignment (and don’t worry, if exams aren’t for you, we can look at alternative assessments). The course is self-paced and supported by our team, course mentors so that you're able to access the materials in your own time. Our Application to Practice sessions are held during the evening and recorded to watch back.
The programme is designed for qualified therapists and mental health professionals. If you're unsure whether you're eligible, you can take our suitability quiz or book a call with Georgina.
Yes. The programme is designed to fit around professional and personal commitments, with flexible online learning and recorded live sessions.
Yes. The programme provides an accredited and insurable pathway into outdoor therapeutic practice.
Both options include the same core learning. The blended option also includes an optional in-person practical day.
Most learners study for around two hours each week, but the programme is self-paced.
Absolutely. Georgina offers discovery calls to help you decide whether the programme is the right fit.
Outdoor Therapeutic Support is developing and quickly growing field.
The Outdoor Therapy Clinical Supervision Group provides Outdoor Therapists and Outdoor Mental Health Practitioners with a space to develop their practice.
All alumni of the Certified Outdoor Therapist Programme get access to Basic Membership of the Outdoor Therapy Clinical Supervision Group for ongoing group Clinical Supervision sessions.
Join the waitlist and receive:
Programme updates
Learner stories
Open evening invitations
Enrolment information
Behind-the-scenes content