3 Day Training
NEW 3-Day Experience with CEs!
This three-day experiential training explores the integration of nature-informed and experiential approaches into behavioral health practice. Through a combination of clinical teaching, guided nature experiences, individual reflection, and group-based experiential practice, participants will explore interventions designed to support connection, values clarification, meaning-making, emotional awareness, and purposeful action. Participants will experience these approaches firsthand while learning practical ways to incorporate nature, metaphor, ritual, creativity, and experiential methods into their work with individuals and groups.
This presentation is appropriate for: clinical professionals, psychologists, therapists, counselors, and social workers.
Josh Flaherty, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and a recognized leader in the field of nature-based therapy. As the Executive Director, board member, and part-owner of Adventure Recovery, Josh plays a central role in shaping and advancing the organization’s mission to integrate outdoor experiences with mental health and addiction recovery services. Josh’s professional journey is distinguished by a rare blend of clinical expertise and executive-level experience in the entertainment industry. Prior to entering the mental health field, he spent over 15 years in senior leadership roles across the entertainment sector, where he developed a deep understanding of creative culture, high-performance environments, and the complex challenges faced by individuals in high-pressure industries. This background continues to inform his work, allowing him to bring a unique and empathetic lens to both organizational leadership and clinical practice. Passionate about the outdoors, recovery, and mental health, Josh has dedicated his career to helping individuals reconnect with themselves and their environments through immersive, nature-based therapeutic models. His approach draws on a diverse network and lived experience, enabling him to engage effectively with clients from a wide range of backgrounds—including those navigating recovery, professionals in corporate settings, and creatives within the entertainment world. Josh holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University and a Master of Social Work from Fordham University.
Jennifer Richards, PsyD, is a psychologist with more than 20 years of experience in behavioral health and currently serves as Chief Clinical Officer of BriteLife Recovery. Throughout her career, she has been passionate about creating meaningful, experiential approaches to healing that move beyond traditional talk therapy and help people reconnect with themselves, others, and what matters most. Her work integrates clinical practice with nature-based and experiential approaches, drawing on her longstanding interest in the relationship between the natural world, meaning, connection, and psychological well-being.
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OBJECTIVES: After this workshop, you will be able to:
how the ALIGN Method complements these approaches in family-focused crisis intervention.
Apply evidence-based communication and motivational interviewing techniques to engage individuals and families, including teaching the ALIGN Method to clients in a clear, structured, and compassionate way.
Identify and assess immediate safety risks, emotional triggers, and family dynamics, and implement the ALIGN steps to stabilize high-risk crisis situations.
Demonstrate ethical, legally-informed decision-making and risk management practices, including confidentiality, mandated reporting, consent, and boundaries, while using interventions and the ALIGN framework.
Develop and present an integrated intervention plan that incorporates model selection, family engagement, crisis management with ALIGN, collaboration with treatment providers, documentation, and clinician self-care strategies.
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LOCATION:
Camp Hi-Rock, 544 East Street, Mt. Washington, MA 01258
SCHEDULE:
Day 1 — Foundations: Nature, Connection, and Belonging
9:30–10:00 — Welcome & Introductions
10:00–12:00 — Foundations of Nature-Informed Clinical Practice
12:00–1:30 — Lunch
1:30–3:30 — Guided Hike & Nature-Based Reflective Practice
3:30–4:00 — Break
4:00–5:30 — Experiential Group Process: Image-Based Checks & Sociometrics
5:30–7:00 — Dinner
7:00–8:30 — Fire, Ritual & Transformation: An Experiential Practice
Day 2 — Experiential Interventions
7:30–8:30 — Breakfast
8:30–9:30 — Sit Spot: Nature-Based Mindfulness & Sensory Awareness
9:30–12:00 — Values, Meaning & Purpose: An Experiential Values Clarification Practice
12:00–1:30 — Lunch
1:30–3:30 — Cold Water Immersion (?) / Other Experiential Activity
3:30–4:00 — Break
4:00–5:30 — From Values to Committed Action: An ACT-Based Experiential Practice
5:30–7:00 — Dinner
7:00–8:30 — Music, Memory & Meaning: Experiential Uses of Music in Clinical Practice
Day 3 — Integration
7:30–8:30 — Breakfast
8:30–9:30 — Sit Spot Practice
9:30–12:00 — The Medicine Wheel: A Nature-Based Framework for Understanding Change
12:00–1:30 — Lunch
1:30–3:30 — Nature as Therapeutic Metaphor: Symbol, Story & Meaning-Making in Clinical
Practice
3:30–4:00 — Break
4:00–5:00 — Closing Circle & Q&A
Note that meals, breaks, and some experiential-only segments do not count toward CE hours. All
CE hours must be attended across the 3-days to receive a certificate.
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17 CE’s
Upon completion of the event and the evaluation, certificates will be issued via email.
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COST:
This course is $1500.00 for the 3 day event - includes food and lodging and the certificate for 17 CE’s. For information about the event or to sign-up, please reach out to Josh Flaherty, LCSW at joshf@adventurerecovery.com.
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SOCIAL WORK: Jumana Grassi LCSW NY# 0556 is approved as a provider for social work continuing education by the New York State Education Department State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers.
ACE: Shine Continuing Education #1721, formerly Jumana Grassi LCSW, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 6/14/26-6/14/29. Social workers participating in this conference receive 17 continuing education credits.
ADA Accommodations: If you require ADA accommodations, please contact us at least 7 days in advance of the event so that we can ensure accommodations are made.
*There is no commercial support for this program, nor are there any relationships between the CE Sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest.
This presentation is appropriate for: clinical professionals, psychologists, therapists, counselors, and social workers.
Cancellations and Refunds/ Missed Time
Partial credits will not be given. You must sign-in, sign-out, and participate in the entirety of the event.
Grievance Policy:
We take your feedback seriously. For grievances, questions or concerns, please contact Heather Claibourn, LCSW, CE coordinator at Heather@ShineContinuingEducation.com.