Let Leesa and Alana guide you through a 3 hour sensory and creative forest therapy experience at the 2025 Creative Mental Health Forum and Collective Care Retreat
“Our aim is to provide you with a mindful experience which connects you with nature as a healing companion in your daily lives for co-regulation.”
Join us for a guided Forest Therapy experience; a slow, guided, mindful immersion in forest like surroundings. This experience is designed for creative/experiential therapists, counsellors, psychotherapists, allied health professionals, educators, and arts and health workers at the 2025 Creative Mental Health Forum.
Image: Participants in a Forest Therapy experiential.
Immerse into your sensory experiencing
During the immersion, you are safely guided to quietly tune into each of your senses, follow your curiosity, restore awareness and connect to the present moment. Unlike a hike, the aim is to slow down your movement, so you may notice what you are experiencing. Slowing down can sometimes be a challenging experience and so your guide supports you in this process by describing physical, sensory or creative activities, which may be done during easy walking, standing or sitting. By immersing in the healing properties of the forest, research shows direct benefits towards our mental and physical health, especially stress related conditions.
Image: Participants in a Forest Therapy experience slowing down by covering their eyes.
Accessibility: Typically forest therapy is around a 1km to 2kms slow easy walk through nature with opportunities to sit and rest. Usually on a flat path, possibility of gentle slopes, there may be gravel, dirt, sand, grass or pathed paths.
Images: Slowing down can be assisted by processes such as art making or a cup of tea.
We are delighted to welcome Leesa Nash and Alana Stewart as facilitators at the 2025 Creative Mental Health Forum and Collective Care Retreat.
Image: Leesa out at work in a forest.
Introducing Leesa:
Leesa Nash works in partnership with nature as a Nature Mentor, Creative Arts Therapist and Forest Therapy Guide FTG. She worked for over 25 years in Community Arts, Education, Disability and Theatre, but ongoing chronic illness, impacted her mental health & wellbeing. She returned to nature for healing & immersed herself in long bush walks to slow down and reconnect with the natural rhythms of the wild world. She went on to gain a Post Graduate Diploma in Creative Arts Therapy (MIECAT) and graduated as a Forest Therapy Guide FTG (Institute of Forest Therapy IFT). In 2020, she launched her Outdoor Health practice Flow foREST Therapy, and worked with the Institute of Forest Therapy IFT as a Lecturer and Mentor. Leesa loves exploring our wild world slowly and sharing her gentle physical, sensory and creative practices for restful recovery.
Link: https://flowforesttherapy.com/
Image: Alana sets up an outdoor sensory space.
Introducing Alana
Alana Stewart is a Certified Forest Therapy Guide (INFTA), Registered Art Therapist, and Clinical Member of PACFA within the College of Creative and Experiential Therapies (CCET), where she is a member of the CCET Leadership Group. She integrates nature-based practices into her therapeutic work, guiding individuals to slow down and reconnect with the natural world. In 2024, she led walks as part of the Royal Botanic Gardens’ Forest Therapy Program, facilitating immersive, sensory-based experiences that promote calm, connection, and wellbeing. Alana combines forest therapy and creative expression to support emotional regulation, stress recovery, and personal insight. She also runs Nature-Based Art Therapy Australia, a Facebook group for art therapists and nature-based practitioners to share ideas, events, and training opportunities.
Links: https://linktr.ee/alanastewart
NBATA Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/164626145760107
Join us for the fifth annual Creative Mental Health Forum. 2nd – 5th May 2025.
Boon Wurrung Country: Inverloch, Victoria, Australia.
An immersive professional development event for allied health professionals, educators and creative practitioners who are deeply interested in the new paradigm of creative mental health and wellbeing.
Join us for the fifth annual Creative Mental Health Forum.
2nd – 5th May 2025.
WE WELCOME
CREATIVE THERAPISTS,
ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
AND EDUCATORS WHO:
want to learn more about creative mental health,
be inspired by holistic and diverse workshops and presenters,
connect with like minded practitioners,
and “refill your well” with time in a beautiful nurturing environment and space for self care.
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