Oct 31, 2020
Kimberly Beck is the founder of Relational Rewilding in CO. Kimberly shares that she was obsessed with animals and nature as a child. Her passion grew into facilitating the relationship between people and nature, people and animals, and people and people in various ways. Kimberly has designed and led environmental programs as a Naturalist and a Certified Interpretive Guide. She would go earn a Master’s in Counseling from Colorado State University which began her path into healing others via Ecotherapy.
Bio from the Relational Rewilding Website:
As a young child walking through Ohio
oak-hickory forests, Kimberly 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 her life's work, and still continue
today.
Kimberly's passion is facilitating relationship between people and
nature, people and animals, and people and people. As a naturalist,
humane educator, eco-therapist, nature mentor and dog
trainer, she considers herself to be living her
childhood dreams. She attributes her relationship with nature as a
primary protective factor in her own emotional and psychological
resilience, and hence chose to blend nature and psychology in her
work. Kimberly values helping others improve
their health, confidence, relationships, and sense of belonging in
the world by restoring the original kinship we humans share with
nature. She believes the health of people is absolutely
intertwined with the health of our ecosystems, and hopes that
re-establishing natural, native connections will generate more
compassionate attitudes and actions toward ourselves, one another,
and the planet upon which we depend.
In addition to
operating Relational Rewilding (founded in
2017), Kimberly currently works as coordinator and faculty for
the Gestalt Equine Institute of the
Rockies, teaching nature-based approaches to therapy.
She is also a contract instructor with Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver
Audubon Society and Evergreen Audubon Society. She is on the
advisory board for Outdoor Education at Red Rocks Community
College. Kimberly holds a Master’s degree in Counseling from
Colorado State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Outdoor
Education & Plant Biology from Ohio University. She has been
practicing nature-based and eco-therapy for 10 years . Kimberly
designed and led environmental and humane education programs at
state parks, outdoor education centers, and animal shelters
throughout the country. She is a Master Naturalist, a Native Plant
Master, and Certified Interpretive Guide. Kimberly
has 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, 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. She lives in the foothills west of
Golden, Colorado with her partner, 3 horses, and a diversity of
surrounding wildlife.