Outdoor Wellness Program

As a Mentor you will: 

• Facilitate nature-based connecting experiences for self and peers through 1-1 relationships  

• Gain skills in therapeutic relationships, nature-based activities, mindfulness techniques and self-development   

• Participate in a growth-based community with other mentors  

• Experience serving and supporting others   

• Use as starting point for career, future academic pursuits, or passions   

• Regularly be outdoors 

As an Outdoor Wellness Mentor, you must be able to commit to:

• Fall Quarter orientation (9/26, 9 AM-2 PM at Lakewood)
• Fall Quarter 3-credit class, Tuesdays 12-1:50 PM
• Winter Quarter 2-credit class, Tuesdays 12-12:50 PM, plus mentoring
• Spring Quarter 2-credit class, Tuesdays 12-12:50 PM, plus mentoring

Unfortunately, this program will not be a good fit for you if you are unable to meet the time requirements. A commitment to attend the Fall Quarter class regularly will help provide a support network for you work with your mentee during the Winter and Spring.  Additionally, weekly meetings with your mentee are an essential component to this program. It is expected that all mentors carve time out of their weeks for this to occur and it is helpful to think of it as a second-class period with timing that works within your and your mentee’s schedules.

Each week you will meet with your mentee for a nature connecting experience (90-120 minutes (about 2 hours) of time). This is something you and your mentee will get to collaboratively decide upon, and the sky is the limit! Within reason J. The activity can change weekly, or it can stay the same for the whole quarter. The goal is to find something that is both enjoyable and sustainable for both of you. The hope is to create a foundation of experiences that mentees can engage with long term after the program. Something they can do once a week or every day once the program has ended.  

Good question! This is a nature-based experience that is focused on building a relationship with the natural world, your mentee, and having time to be self-aware and connect with yourselves. You do not need to come in with a ton of outdoor adventure skills. However, you do need a love of nature and willingness to be out in all kinds of weather year-round. 

1. Must be accessible and sustainable: must be easily and routinely reached from a college campus by any student regardless of means.  

2. Nature: Greenspaces which can include manicured urban parks, urban woods, and relatively undisturbed natural sites.  

3. Activity:  Can be active or passive  

4. Time: 20-30 minutes three times a week and/or 90-120 minutes (about 2 hours) once a week.  

Meredith, G. R., Rakow, D. A., Eldermire, E. R., Madsen, C. G., Shelley, S. P., & Sachs, N. A. (2020). Minimum time dose in nature to positively impact the mental health of college-aged students, and how to measure it: A scoping review. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02942   

Nope! There is zero expectation that you will serve or act as a therapist. Your main job is to consistently get outdoors with your mentee and let nature do the work.

A general interest in being outside in whatever capacity is right for you is needed, as this is a program that is fundamentally based on the beneficial aspects of nature. We recognize and want to help expand what recreation has been and incorporate all interactions with nature and green spaces. If you do have technical skills or leadership/facilitation experience this might come in handy but is not required! It is important to recognize that your skills as a mentor do not directly drive the experience, but that the mentees' desires, capabilities and wants are at the forefront of choosing any given activity.

Nope! Part of the training provided for all mentors are foundational skills applicable in the mental health field. The intention behind offering skills/techniques within the mental health field are to support mentors as they engage in the class, sessions with mentees and anything that comes up. We know people might be coming into the class with different experiences and backgrounds connected to mental health, and we hope to provide a foundation of knowledge from which to pull from throughout your time in this program and beyond.  

Potentially. And this is a grey area that will be explored or may come up throughout your time in this program. The goal will always be supporting the mentee and being a resource. Will you gain the associated benefits of being outside and engaging with nature? Yes, likely, and that should not be a driving force for your participation in this class. 

RECR 397D Tuesday 12:00-1:50 

Class Description:  

This course provides a hands-on opportunity to be trained as a peer mentor and serve other WWU students through 1-1 nature connecting experiences.  Students in this course will be learning skills to work with “mentees” on a weekly basis during Winter and Spring quarter (2023) through the exploration and engagement in various nature based recreational activities.

Class theory, readings and perspectives will pull from critical pedagogy in ecopsychology, contemplative education practices, somatic psychology, and leadership studies to create a community centered learning environment.

Critical to this class will be creating new definitions and working models of what recreation and nature experiences can be, deconstructing the primary narrative surrounding the past/present of recreation, and examining individual/collective relationships to the natural world.   

RECR 397D Tuesday 12:00-12:50 

Class Description: 

This course provides a hands-on opportunity to serve as a peer mentor to other WWU students through one-on-one nature connecting experiences. In partnership with the Counseling Center students will work with “mentees” on a weekly basis, exploring and engaging in various nature based recreational activities.

Class meetings occur twice weekly; the first session will consist of all “mentors” exploring evidence-based practices, personal nature histories, theoretical foundations in counseling, mentorship and health and nature, and creating a supportive growth-based atmosphere. This will be 1 hour of class time per week. The second session serves as an independent learning time to meet 1-1 with your mentee and explore a nature connecting experience of your choosing. These weekly 1-1 mentee sessions are required and will meet for 120 minutes per week forming a critical foundation to this class. 

Each student will receive an additional 15-30 minutes per week of direct supervision to support their relationship with their mentee.  Lastly, there will be 1 hour of additional homework.

Class theory, readings and perspectives will pull from critical pedagogy in ecopsychology, somatic psychology, and leadership studies to create a community centered learning environment.

Critical to this class will be creating new definitions and working models of what recreation and nature experiences can be, deconstructing the primary narrative surrounding the past/present of recreation, and examining individual/collective relationships to the natural world. 

RECR 397D Tuesday 12:00-12:50 

Class Description:  

This course provides a hands-on opportunity to serve as a peer mentor to other WWU students through one-on-one nature connecting experiences. In partnership with the Counseling Center students will work with “mentees” on a weekly basis, exploring and engaging in various nature based recreational activities.

Class meetings occur twice weekly; the first session will consist of all “mentors” exploring evidence-based practices, personal nature histories, theoretical foundations in counseling, mentorship and health and nature, and creating a supportive growth-based atmosphere.  This will be 1 hour of class time per week. The second session serves as an independent learning time to meet 1-1 with your mentee and explore a nature connecting experience of your choosing. These weekly 1-1 mentee sessions are required and will meet for 120 minutes per week forming a critical foundation to this class. 

Each student will receive an additional 15-30 minutes per week of direct supervision to support their relationship with their mentee. Lastly, there will be 1 hour of additional homework.

Class theory, readings and perspectives will pull from critical pedagogy in ecopsychology, somatic psychology, and leadership studies to create a community centered learning environment.

Critical to this class will be creating new definitions and working models of what recreation and nature experiences can be, deconstructing the primary narrative surrounding the past/present of recreation, and examining individual/collective relationships to the natural world.