Natural Start Alliance

 

Mental health events are as common as cuts and broken bones in the field, yet nature-based educators often do not train for mental health situations the same way they do for other types of first aid in the field. 

During a webinar on March 4, 2025, Nicole Thurrell, CEO and Director of Education at the Institute for Wilderness and Emergency Medicine, provided an introduction to wilderness mental health first responder. 

Nicole presented on this topic at the 2024 Nature-Based Early Learning Conference in Portland, OR last summer, and we had to turn participants away because the room was overflowing. So, we invited her to offer this webinar for all of the Natural Start community so that everyone can continue to learn from her expertise!

Based on the work of Brené Brown, Stephen Porges, Angela Duckworth, Carol Dwek, and many others, Nicole presented what is known about nervous system regulation and how we can bring our best, most resilient selves to the world so we can support others facing adversity.

This workshop was the culmination of Nicole's:

• 25 years of being a recreation therapist and wilderness EMT
• Decade of work in clinical wilderness therapy
• Teaching in an Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Preschool 
• Teaching social and emotional learning in a Waldorf high school 

Attendees walked away with a solid introduction to:

• What to say, what to do, and how to be with someone who is overwhelmed by their emotions
• Supporting others as they experience acute stress response secondary to illness or injury
• Using nature as a therapeutic tool
• Core routines for resiliency

 

Watch the Recording Here 

View the Presentation Slides Here

 

Contact Nicole with any questions at [email protected]. 

 

Meet the Speaker 

Nicole Thurrell, CEO and Director of Education, Institute for Wilderness and Emergency Medicine

Recipient of the Massachusetts Award for Excellence in Science Education, Nicole is a passionate educator who loves turning people on to strategies for caring more skillfully for their fellow human beings. She has degrees in Psychology and Recreation Therapy from the University of North Carolina and has been a Wilderness EMT since 2001. Nicole has decades of experience working in many aspects of wilderness therapy, including expedition leader, health director, and director of admissions. Whether it's leading adventures on the water, on land, or in the air, Nicole has done it all. She has been an adventure racer, a raft guide, high ropes facilitator, a clinician for kids with Autism, a Waldorf high school teacher, and a mom.