Advanced Professional Ecotherapy
Training & Certification – Level 3

Pollinating Community with a Food and Butterfly Garden
Agnieszka Wiosna, LPC

Agnieszka Wiosna had been dreaming of creating a community garden in her neighborhood for years. When the old tennis court was turned into grass with not much purpose, the idea of creating a community garden for our 220 households became more real. Agnieszka went to her association about the possibility and agreed to use some of the land for planting, if residents were interested.

And some of them were! 11 people showed up one Saturday morning in late April. Since then, they have built several raised beds with reclaimed materials and planted and harvested vegetables, fruit and herbs. They began composting on site and secured barrels to collect rainwater. They created a pollinator garden to provide food for local and migratory pollinators, including monarch butterflies and hummingbirds. They were able to negotiate with management to stop using chemicals not only within the garden area but on our community lawns.

What started as a small project of growing food, became a community building block where weekend meetings became an anticipated norm. New friendships were seeded and sprouted and with them new ideas and plans for upcoming years. We also started attracting other neighbors who already marked their spots for next year gardens. Next May will mark Agnieszka’s 20th year living in that community, but the feeling of belonging bloomed in all the colors during this Summer, along with carrots, tomatoes, and sunflowers. And she believe, not just for her, but for all of them.

Time In, Outdoors
Liz Knotts, QMHP-C

Liz Knotts implemented a potent youth program that wove together a beautiful tapestry of ecotherapy threads at Elk Hill, a non-profit organization whose mission is helping youth/families transform overwhelming challenges into successful futures. Not your typical litter clean-up of a local stream, Liz incorporated a land acknowledgement, mindfulness using deep breathing in nature, and a Sense Walk to help the kids connect with their surroundings without using sight, all while on top of Crab Tree Falls, the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi. The most animated was an activity called Animal Council, where youth shared what they would say to humans if they were animals. One shared that he was a frog and asked humans to stop poisoning his water. Liz said, “Most importantly, we slowed down and reflected on nature not being something to conquer but to be a part of and respect.” Find out more here.

Amanda Morrison, LMFT, MA, Somatic Ecotherapist,

For the past decade she has specialized in using ecotherapy to help people heal from early childhood trauma and to find long term recovery from addiction and other mental health issues. She is the creator of the Bayside Marin Ecotherapy Program, a premier residential dual-diagnosis treatment center in San Rafael, CA. The program Amanda created uses horticultural therapy and other ecotherapeutic approaches to help people access the wisdom and healing power of nature as part of their recovery from addiction. Previously Amanda worked in the Insight Garden program in San Quentin, where she facilitated ecotherapy groups for incarcerated men serving time in prison.

Amanda graduated from the Somatic Psychotherapy program at the California Institute of Integral Studies and has training in various somatic and ecotherapeutic modalities, including: Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Authentic Movement, Somatic Experiencing, Hakomi, The Work that Reconnects, and various rites of passage practices. In addition to her clinical work, Amanda spent 10 years as an adjunct professor at CIIS, where she taught an experiential ecopsychology course, as well as various other interdisciplinary courses to undergraduate students, with a strong focus on ecopsychology, somatics, and social justice. Her article “Embodying Sentience” was published in the book, Ecotherapy, Healing with Nature in Mind.  Currently, Amanda has a private practice in San Francisco and in the East Bay where she sees clients both in the office and on the trails of the East Bay Regional Parks. Amanda is an avid gardener and hiker. Her own daily nature practice keeps her grounded in her body and connected to the land as she navigates these unpredictable but exciting times we are living through.
https://www.amandamorrisonmft.com/