About Nature Based Therapy Foundation
Supporting Healthier People, Connected Communities and a Thriving Natural World.
The Nature Based Therapy Foundation is a registered health promotion charity working to improve holistic mental health and wellbeing through prevention, early intervention, education and connection.
We believe supporting mental health shouldn’t begin only when someone reaches crisis. By creating opportunities for people to connect with themselves, one another and the natural world, we aim to strengthen wellbeing, belonging and healthy communities.
Our Purpose
To prevent mental ill-health, promote holistic wellbeing, and strengthen communities by reconnecting people with nature, themselves, and one another.
Our Vision
Healthy people. Connected communities. A thriving natural world.
We envision communities where people have opportunities to experience connection, belonging and wellbeing, and where the relationship between human health, community health and the natural world is recognised and valued.
Our Mission
The Nature Based Therapy Foundation makes nature-informed mental health promotion more accessible through community wellbeing programs, education, counselling, nature connection experiences, retreats, social prescribing initiatives and research.
Working alongside communities and organisations, we create opportunities that encourage healthy lifestyles, strengthen social connection, reduce isolation and help people take an active role in their wellbeing.
Why Nature?
Human health does not exist separately from the environments and communities in which we live.
Nature creates opportunities to move, slow down, connect, reflect, gather and experience a sense of belonging. It can provide a setting for social connection, healthy activity, learning and moments of restoration that support everyday wellbeing.
At the Nature Based Therapy Foundation, nature is not simply the backdrop to our programs. It is part of a broader approach to health promotion that recognises the relationship between personal wellbeing, community wellbeing and the health of the natural world.
By creating accessible opportunities for people to reconnect with themselves, one another and nature, we aim to strengthen wellbeing before people reach crisis and contribute to healthier, more connected communities.
What Guides Our Work
Health Promotion
We believe prevention, education, and early intervention create healthier communities.
Connection
Healing grows through connection with self, others, and the natural world.
Community
Strong communities foster belonging, resilience, and hope.
Compassion
We meet every person with kindness, dignity, and respect.
Inclusion
Everyone deserves access to programs and opportunities that support their wellbeing.
Stewardship
Caring for people and caring for nature go hand in hand.
Evidence-Informed Practice
Our work combines research, lived experience, and practical approaches that support holistic mental health and wellbeing.
Collaboration
Lasting change happens when communities, organizations, and individuals work together.
Our Founder
Founder & Director
Kit Kline is a social worker, clinical supervisor and educator with more than 24 years of experience supporting individuals, practitioners and communities across mental health, trauma and holistic wellbeing.
Throughout her career, Kit has become increasingly interested in how mental health can be supported not only through treatment, but through prevention, connection, community, healthy lifestyles and the environments in which we live.
Her work is grounded in trauma-informed and holistic approaches that recognise the relationship between mind, body, relationships, community and nature. The Nature Based Therapy Foundation grew from a desire to make these approaches more accessible within communities and create opportunities to strengthen wellbeing before people reach crisis.
Kit is also the founder of Nature Based Therapy, a social enterprise integrating nature as a central healing modality for individual and community wellbeing.
Board Members
Deanne Firth FCA is the Founder and Director of Tactical Super, a chartered accounting firm specializing in audit. With more than 25 years’ experience in accounting and auditing, Deanne is recognized as a leading voice in the accounting audit profession and regularly presents at conferences, webinars and industry events across Australia...
Richard Scales uses gardening and nature-based activities to promote wellness, build connection, and encourage a sense of calm, purpose, and belonging. His work is grounded in the belief that time in nature can play a powerful role in healing, growth, and everyday wellbeing.
Sheryl Hanula’s work is rooted in healing, self-discovery, and reconnection. Grounded inNature-Based Therapy, Embodied Meditation, and Somatics, she creates spaces that support people in reconnecting with themselves, the land, and their innate capacity for wholeness.
Working Together for Healthier Communities
We believe meaningful change happens through collaboration.
The Foundation works alongside communities, neighbourhood houses, health and wellbeing organisations, schools, local government, community groups and other partners to create accessible opportunities for health promotion and connection.
Whether you're interested in hosting a program, supporting an initiative, collaborating on research or helping us bring wellbeing opportunities to more communities, we'd love to explore what we can create together.
