FOR OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PROFESSIONALS
Professional learning and practical resources for occupational therapy practitioners who want to deepen their clinical reasoning, expand the possibilities within their practice, and explore how occupation, relationship, regulation, sensory-motor development, environment, and nature can come together to support meaningful participation.
Whether you're simply curious about nature-based occupational therapy, wondering how to begin, or ready to deepen an already evolving practice, there's a place to begin here.
You don't need a nature-based practice, acres of land, or an entirely new way of working to begin.
Maybe you're simply curious about what nature-based occupational therapy actually looks like.
Maybe you're ready to begin but aren't sure what you need to consider or where to start.
Maybe you've already started taking therapy outside and want to move beyond simply doing indoor activities outdoors.
Or perhaps you've been practicing this way for years and are looking for deeper professional learning, clinical reasoning, and resources to support your continued growth.
Start where you are.
Each of the free trainings below offers a different place to begin.
This is for you if you are curious.
A personal place to begin.
I didn't begin my career as a nature-based OT.
My own practice evolved gradually as I began asking different questions about childhood, occupation, environment, and participation.
In this free training, I share the journey that took me from traditional occupational therapy practice toward creating nature-based therapeutic experiences for children—and some of what I've learned along the way.
You don't need to change your entire practice to begin.
Sometimes it starts with curiosity about what else might be possible.
Nature-Based OT: What Is It, Where and How Do I Begin?
A practical place to start.
Curious about nature-based occupational therapy, but wondering what it actually looks like or what you need to consider before getting started?
In this free introductory training, we'll explore what nature-based OT is, the many places it can happen, and some of the practical considerations for beginning responsibly.
We'll consider how the child, occupation, natural environment, and your occupational therapy reasoning come together while exploring place, access, practice foundations, and the importance of keeping meaningful occupation at the center.
You don't need to own a forest.
You don't need an entirely new collection of activities.
And you don't need to have everything figured out before you begin.
You need a place to start and a clear way to think about what you're doing and why.
A different way of noticing what's already there.
What if nature isn't simply a beautiful setting for therapy?
What if it changes what becomes possible within the occupation itself?
In this free mini-training, we'll explore a subtle but important shift from bringing a predetermined activity outdoors to noticing the materials, movement, sensory experiences, challenges, relationships, and occupations already emerging around us.
We'll consider what it means to collaborate with nature while remaining grounded in the child's goals, interests, occupation, and our occupational therapy reasoning.
Because nature-based practice isn't simply about where therapy happens.
It's about expanding what we notice and what we recognize as possible.
Root your practice. Expand what you notice. Discover what becomes possible.
The Rooted Practice is where the ideas introduced in these free trainings become deeper professional learning, practical application, and continued clinical reasoning.
It's an evolving professional learning membership for occupational therapy practitioners who want practical nature-based resources and support understanding the reasoning underneath what they do.
Inside, we explore the interconnected influences on participation—including occupation, regulation, sensory-motor development, relationship, environment, and nature while continuing to ask:
What am I noticing?
Why might it matter?
And how might I respond?
The goal isn't to give you another practitioner's practice to replicate.
It's to help you continue developing your own.
Inside The Rooted Practice, professional learning and practical application come together giving you opportunities to deepen what you understand, try what you're learning, reflect on what happens, and continue growing your own clinical reasoning and practice.
Explore professional education related to regulation, sensory-motor development, postural control, autism and motor development, sleep, emotional development, nature-based practice, clinical reasoning, and more.
Access therapeutic activities, practical tools, intervention possibilities, HOW trainings, ready-to-implement therapeutic nature camp curricula, and resources designed to help move learning into practice.
Use Rooted Reflections, case examples, and clinical reasoning tools to consider not only what you did—but what you noticed about the child, occupation, environment, relationship, and yourself as the therapist.
Become increasingly grounded in knowing when to structure, when to follow, when to challenge, when to adapt, and how to recognize the therapeutic possibilities already present.
Not so you can practice like me.
So you can become more grounded in your own practice.
Nature-based occupational therapy can happen in a forest.
But it can also begin with a tree, a patch of grass, a puddle, a garden, a container of water, a collection of sticks—or simply a willingness to look at the environment differently.
And nature doesn't replace occupation-specific intervention.
If the goal is handwriting, we support handwriting.
If the goal is dressing, we need opportunities to get dressed.
If the goal is toothbrushing, we work on toothbrushing.
The question becomes:
What does this child need for participation and what experiences, occupations, relationships, or environmental possibilities might help support it?
Sometimes nature may be part of that answer.
Sometimes it won't.
Our occupational therapy reasoning helps us know the difference.
And when nature does have something to offer, we can become better at noticing it.
That's where the possibilities begin to expand.