We were lucky to catch up with Callie Hunter recently and have shared our conversation below.
Callie , appreciate you joining us today. Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?
I tell people all of the time that training with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy felt less like school to me and more like a challenge in personal growth. Never before has something so closely aligned with my spiritual and growth mindset, yet guided it into new and beautiful paths.
As a school psychologist by training, I have been looking for ways to feel I can actually make a difference for my clients – Forest therapy has provided me an opportunity to do just that, but has taken the onus off of “Callie as therapist” and given it to, as corny as it may sound, the forest. As we say in ANFT, “the forest is the therapist – the guide opens the doors”.
As a forest therapy guide in training, I was able to feel this first hand. For example, as part of our training, we are required to spend a day outside, immersing ourselves in nature. On my immersion, I began the day by a lake, and on the beach was a wedding being prepared. Having recently gone through a divorce, I felt like it was the beginning of day where I allowed myself to move out of all I have been telling myself in my head about the divorce, about my life, and finally allow my heart to speak. Grief is a theme often encountered in forest therapy walks, and this was what I felt deeply that day. I didn’t regret my decision, and I would make the same one over and over, but I finally allowed the pain of losing what I thought my life would be, hurt. Sometimes it’s not until we allow the hurt that we can truly heal. My training for this business I am now building has truly allowed me to not only be a better guide, but a more whole human, through admitting my brokenness.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The past few years have been an evolution into my current practice as a certified Forest Therapy Guide.
It all began about six years ago. One night, I literally woke up with a bladder disease. For one and a half years I lived in constant pain, with three young children, trying to survive within a toxic relationship with my then husband. The emotional toll it all took on me left me feeling alone, and constantly pushing away thoughts of suicide. As a psychologist, I knew this was not OK and that I needed help, but, unfortunately, I did not have access to the type of support I should have received. Thankfully, I stumbled into hope – I started reading the research about chronic illness and healing and how the parasympathetic nervous system must be engaged for the body to have a chance to heal. So – I allowed myself to slip back into what brought me peace, inspiration, and joy. When I look back at that time, I know that it was ignoring dishes and chores for an hour a day and writing or going for walks outside or laying in the sun in my backyard, that truly allowed the freedom from the stress that was keeping me from healing.
After I started healing emotionally, I started healing physically, and I wanted to bring what I had found to others experiencing their own hell they thought they would never escape from. I started my blog and eventually a podcast, “Chronically Well” to provide stories of hope and inspiration. Because of my divorce, however, in order to support myself financially, I had to go back to work full time as a school psychologist. This took away from my time to put toward my writing and podcast, but I did the best I could to continue at even a slow pace. It wasn’t until I was interviewing a guest, that I heard about this thing called forest therapy. She talked about how studies in Japan had found that time spent outdoors can heal our bodies. I thought back to my own experience and decided to look deeper into this “forest bathing” as it was called.
About a year ago, I found the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. I decided to enroll in their Forest Therapy Guide certification program. I am now certified and take people into the woods for whatever it is they are intended to find. Spending just 2.5 to 3 hours on a walk, my clients are invited to participate in a series of embodiment activities. We wander through the woods and whether it is time needed to explore one’s heart or simply – a couple hours of peace – I am seeing the effects of this practice with each walk.
Over time, we have evolved out of our natural environment, and our cells remember. Spending time outside helps us remember our first home – it helps us forget the stresses constantly circling in our minds – and connect once again with nature, others, and ourselves.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
This question is as difficult to answer as “would you marry your ex husband if you could go back” – Of course my first answer would be no. I wouldn’t make the same choice, knowing what I know now. BUT – the lessons I learned through these choices are lessons I needed to become the person I am today. To regret them – to say I would choose differently means I would choose a different me, and I’m just not willing to do that.
As far as school psychology is concerned: I have had to work extremely hard to find ways to feel fulfilled in my work outside of this profession. I thought I would spend more time with students, connected with them and their families, and I’ve found myself doing endless amounts of paperwork, testing, and not having time for much else. BUT – through this, I have learned how to pursue what it is I want to do for my life in the margins. It’s difficult. As a single mom, anything additional to a work day and taking care of three kids and a home and yard and finances, and your own health and mental health, all on your own, is A LOT!
But I speak this phrase to myself all the time, “one life – just one” – Do I want to spend it giving in and giving up when I know I have the potential to encourage and breathe into the lives of others? Nope – so – I am very thankful to a career that gives me the support financially to pursue things like Forest Therapy Guiding – I’m thankful for what it, and my former marriage for that matter, have taught me about endurance and staying awake to the things we love – the things that matter. Often, they do NOT fall in our laps. They are NOT easy. But if we love them – if we know they are as important to our existence as breathing, as eating, as drinking, then we pursue them — no matter what. And we don’t regret all the things that didn’t end up the way we thought, because the difficulty in each of them is what shaped us into the person we would need to be in the present moment.
So- I guess my answer to this question is yes. lol. I’d do it all again.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
This question is the easiest to answer so far, because my entire life for the past six years has been a pivot.
Pivot #1 – Mindset shift: perspective changes from “when will I heal” to “I am always healing – how can I heal right now- in this moment” This occurred with my bladder disease. I had to believe I could heal and find ways to become more present to allow this to happen: spiritually/emotionally/physically. This, in turn led to
Pivot #2 – Return to Self – I believed this was wrong, given my spiritual background in the conservative environment I came from. I knew though that my survival was dependent on feeding my creativity once again and finding time for myself to simply be. This came through in my writing and time spent in nature
Pivot #3 – Burn my Life Down: Stay at Home Mom to Divorced Single Mom working Full Time – I had to leave a toxic marriage, which meant giving up my financial dependence on my husband and going back to work full time.
Pivot #4 – Become Forest Therapy Guide – Through training I found that I had to pivot my view of myself as “healer and therapist” to guide – helper. I had to hand things over and trust that those who put their trust in me would find what they needed in the woods.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.forestcityforesttherapy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riverandquill
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riverandquill/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/callie-hunter-8a9ab9b
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_calliehunter_?lang=en