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Sacred Ground, Sacred Self: Adventure-Based & Attachment-Focused EcoTherapy Strategies for Trauma
Using nature itself—along with props, metaphors, sensory-based tools, and creative experiential practices—participants learn how to turn natural environments into powerful therapeutic spaces that promote nervous system regulation, emotional safety, and connection.
Why Nature-Based Therapy?
Working outdoors creates opportunities that are difficult to replicate in traditional clinical spaces. Natural environments offer:
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Immediate grounding and sensory regulation
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Enhanced engagement for resistant, dysregulated, or stuck clients
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Opportunities for attachment-focused experiences
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Increased creativity and therapeutic flexibility
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Reduced burnout and revitalization for clinicians
Sacred Ground, Sacred Self is built around the belief that fun, connection, and authenticity are clinically meaningful—and that nature itself is a co-facilitator in trauma-informed care.
What Expect From the Training
Sacred Ground, Sacred Self
Adventure-Based & Attachment-Focused EcoTherapy Strategies for Trauma
Instructor:
Tony Parmenter, MA, LCMHC, ICAADC, EMDRIA Approved Consultant
Level:
Beginner to Advanced clinicians
CE Approval:
15 Continuing Education Hours (Pending EMDRIA + Vermont OPR)
Course Overview
This 15-hour experiential workshop supports trauma-informed clinicians who wish to bring their work outdoors. The program blends polyvagal-informed mindfulness, Adventure-Based Counseling theory, attachment-focused metaphor, and Ego State Therapy to help clinicians safely use nature to enhance treatment outcomes.
Participants will learn to:
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Use natural environments to support grounding and stabilization
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Understand how nature impacts nervous system regulation
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Create engaging, fun, and safe trauma-informed interventions
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Incorporate spontaneity and creativity into therapeutic work
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Facilitate both individual and group nature-based exercises
This training emphasizes the importance of fun, attunement, and creativity in healing — both for clients and clinicians.
Learning Objectives
Participants will:
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Learn how nature-based activities support grounding and effective coping.
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Develop a polyvagal understanding of how nature influences nervous system regulation.
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Gain foundational knowledge of Adventure-Based Counseling and EcoTherapy principles.
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Understand how fun, novelty, and play support therapeutic engagement and integration.
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Use creativity to generate personalized nature-based interventions.
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Learn 12 attachment- and nervous-system-focused outdoor activities to bring directly into trauma-informed practice.
Pathway to TF-EMDR® Training
Upon successful completion of Sacred Ground, Sacred Self, EMDR-trained clinicians meet the prerequisite to advance into the TF-EMDR® Training pathway.
This course establishes foundational skills in nature-based EMDR resourcing, metaphor, somatics, and polyvagal awareness that prepare clinicians for the more advanced TF-EMDR model.