There is no such thing as human health without a healthy planet
Matilda van den Bosch
Introduction
A warm welcome to the Scandinavian Nature and Forest Therapy Institute (SNFTI). We are a resource for nature based interventions and therapy at several levels in society. We serve as a platform for nature based collaboration, integration and research for the health and well-being of people and nature alike.
Shinrin-Yoku Sweden
Shinrin-Yoku Sweden was established in 2016 by Petra Ellora Cau Wetterholm, the first certified guide in the Scandinavian region, offering certified forest bathing walks and forest therapy interventions and trainings. Since the start, the organization has been devoted to establish and adapt forest bathing and forest therapy to the Nordic language, climate and culture.
Scandinavian Nature and Forest Therapy Institute (SNFTI)
In 2019 Shinrin-Yoku Sweden needed to expand beyond the personal, and SNFTI was established. The institute operates from Sweden, with a Scandinavian and Nordic foundation. It is independent of other, similar organizations but collegially collaborative.
SNFTI protects a high level of competence and a development at the forefront of the field. This provides a certain guarantee for the services provided:
- Certified Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy Guides
- Up-to-date, high-quality education and trainings
- Science based method development
- Nature Based partnerships and collaborations with Health Care facilities, forest owners, private individuals and organizations
- Resources for scientific research
SNFTI Guide Network
SNFTI has established a wide network of certified forest bathing and forest therapy guides across Sweden, Norway and Iceland. The SNFTI Guide Network gather monthly online for professional development and cooperation.
CEO and founder
Petra Ellora Cau Wetterholm
“I work at the intersection of clinical psychology and nature, developing structured nature based interventions for healthcare implementation”.
Petra Ellora Cau Wetterholm is the founder and CEO of the Scandinavian Nature & Forest Therapy Institute and Shinrin-Yoku Sweden.
She works in Stockholm, Sweden as a licensed psychologist, a Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide , a Mindfulness facilitator and an Eco-psychotherapist. Within the institute, her work is focused around method development, professional trainings, supervision and scientific collaborations. She is a strong advocate for methodological development and a clinical integration of nature based interventions in society; science, education and Public Health Care.
As a clinical Psychologist Petra has specialized in the fields of Neuropsychiatry and Neurodevelopmental disorders, in Stress Medicine and in Mindfulness based Interventions (MbI) such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She received her certification in Nature and Forest Therapy by ANFT in 2016, is a trained facilitator of MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy), by Prof. Mark Williams, Oxford, England, and of MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), created by Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn at the Center for Mindfulness, Massachusetts, USA. She received her Ecotherapy Certificate by Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2022.
What has influenced her the most besides her work as a Clinical Psychologist, is a lifelong nature connectedness, a background in the Performing and Visual Arts and the many years of full-time Zen Buddhist meditation practise, including the years spent in residency training at a Zen Buddhist Temple.
Within the institute, her work is focused around method development, professional trainings, supervision and scientific collaborations. She is the author of the institute’s methodology “Eco Forest Therapy” and the framework SHIFT M.A.P. a bases for scientific evaluations, professional guide trainings and treatment programs. Her work has contributed to several nature-based scientific projects and published studies. Her current position as a partner in the EU Horizon project, GreenME (www.greenme-project.eu) includes the contribution of a 12 week manualized program “Nature Based Stress Therapy” (NBST) for the RCT-study currently conducted by the “Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)”.
Petra Ellora Cau Wetterholm has been invited as a lecturer at a variety of universities and organisations, including SLU and the program “Nature and Animal Assisted Interventions”, at Mittenuniversitetet (MiU) in Environmental Psychology. Her work has been presented at several conferences; such as the world conferences “Forests for Public Health” and the International Congress of Forest Therapy. She has appeared in national newspapers such as Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Göteborgsposten and in other media such as Vi, Modern Psykologi, Må Bra, Amelia, Yoga för dig, in radio programs and in TV programs; TV 4 Morgon and in Vetenskapens Värld.
