As colonial settlers here, we acknowledge and honor the Indigenous Tribes of Colorado which include the Arapaho, Ute, Cheyenne, Pueblo, Shoshone, Apache, Navajo, Comanche and others that lived, traveled, traded, hunted, gathered & tended in this beautiful landscape.
About Kimberly Rose, M.Ed., NCC, GEP, CIG
Hello everyone, my name is Kimberly and I'm glad you're here! It has been my life-long dream to spend my days learning about nature and connecting others to the more-than-human world. Now this is my day job. I am so blessed! As a young child walking through Ohio oak-hickory forests, I would regularly ask: 'How can I teach others to love these woods as much as I do? How might people take care of these places? Can we heal here? Do people develop differently with more exposure to nature?' These internal questions have guided my life's work and still continue today.
My passion is facilitating relationship between people and nature, people and animals, and people and people. As a naturalist, humane educator, nature mentor, psychotherapist, and gestalt practitioner, I consider myself to be living my childhood dreams. My relationship with nature was a primary protective factor in my own emotional and psychological resilience, and hence I chose to blend nature and psychology in my work. I value helping others improve their health, confidence, relationships and sense of belonging in the world by restoring the original kinship we humans share with nature. I believe the health of people is absolutely intertwined with the health of our ecosystems and I hope that re-establishing natural, native connections will generate more compassionate attitudes and actions toward ourselves, one another, and the planet upon which we depend. I am a white, middle-class, middle-aged, cis-gendered woman whom deeply loves the land, plants, animals, people, gardens and all the interconnections between us. I embrace an inclusive and wide view of gender, personal identity, and sentient life. In addition to operating Relational Rewilding (founded in 2017), I am founder and therapist for Colorado Ecotherapy Institute, and I currently work as coordinator and faculty for the Gestalt Equine Institute of the Rockies, teaching nature-based approaches to therapy. I have been practicing nature-based and eco-therapy for over 10 years. I am also a contract instructor with Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Audubon Society, Evergreen Audubon Society, and am on the advisory board for Outdoor Education at Red Rocks Community College. I hold a Master’s degree in Counseling from Colorado State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Outdoor Education & Plant Biology from Ohio University. It has been a pleasure to design and lead environmental and humane education programs at state parks, outdoor education centers, and animal shelters throughout the country. I am a Master Naturalist, a Native Plant Master, a Certified Interpretive Guide, and Gestalt Equine Psychotherapy practitioner. I have participated in continuing education programs through: North American Institute of Medical Herbalism (now the Colorado School for Clinical Herbalism), The Foragers Path, Artemisia & Rue Herbalism, Somatic Wilderness Therapy Institute, Wildcraft Forest School, Wilderness Awareness School, 8 Shields Institute, The Gestalt Institute of the Rockies, and The Tracking Project - training in cultural and natural awareness, animal tracking, plant studies, herbology, bird language, primitive skills, community building, Gestalt, and nature-based therapy. I live in the foothills west of Golden, Colorado with my partner, 3 horses, cat, and a diversity of surrounding wild plants and wildlife. |
About Duey Freeman, M.A., LPC
The core of all Duey's teachings and therapeutic work boils down to one factor: RELATIONSHIP. Humans, animals of every kind, plants, and all building blocks of the Earth develop and grow in response to relationship with everything else. This systemic perception and his relational way of living in the world has inspired thousands of students, clients, and participants to live a more interdependent and satisfying life.
Duey is co-founder of the Gestalt Equine Institute of the Rockies, director of the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies, and owner of his psychotherapy private practice. He teaches in the Graduate School of Psychology at Naropa University, and supervises existing mental health practitioners. He has extensive training and experience in wilderness therapy, nature connection, gestalt therapy, equine therapy, family therapy, and counseling with children and adolescents.
Duey has created a Development theory and Attachment Cycle model that he teaches around the world. His brilliant and practical theories are included in the Ecotherapy trainings, and he assists in some of RRNG's programs and workshops.
Duey is co-founder of the Gestalt Equine Institute of the Rockies, director of the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies, and owner of his psychotherapy private practice. He teaches in the Graduate School of Psychology at Naropa University, and supervises existing mental health practitioners. He has extensive training and experience in wilderness therapy, nature connection, gestalt therapy, equine therapy, family therapy, and counseling with children and adolescents.
Duey has created a Development theory and Attachment Cycle model that he teaches around the world. His brilliant and practical theories are included in the Ecotherapy trainings, and he assists in some of RRNG's programs and workshops.
What do we do during outings?
Good question. And, it depends. Programs differ depending on the service you choose (i.e.: Ecotherapy versus a public Herbology hike versus a private Bird Language program). The program may include educational activities and 'hard skills' such as animal tracking, plant identification, bird language, survival, hiking, archery, wandering, being with horses, wildlife watching... We also weave in relational activities and 'soft skills' such working with the breath, the senses, awareness, language, writing, directions, cycles, connection, and communication. This web of experiential explorations along with personal reflections and invitations into new ways of perceiving yourself within this living world - are what make our programs unique.
Recent NewsCheck out Jefferson County's website for current trail closures:
https://www.jeffco.us/1531/Alerts-Closures |
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