Meet Heartwood’s Guest Instructor Team
DEB MATLOCK
Deb Matlock is a nature-based spiritual guide, educator, and life coach with over 25 years of experience helping people deepen their relationship with the more-than-human world. Her work centers on integrating the voice of the more-than-human into nature connection and spiritual practice, supporting individuals and professionals to bring this relationship into their life and work.
Deb holds advanced degrees in environmental education and interdisciplinary environmental studies and is completing a PhD focused on the more-than-human voice and sacred nature connection.Through her business, Wild Rhythms, she offers professional trainings, retreats, and experiential programs grounded in animism, ecology, and spiritual relationship with the living Earth. She lives in Colorado and continues to walk her own evolving path of dialogue and collaboration with the wild world.
Lenora Arrington, PsyD
With over 30 years of experience as a psychotherapist specializing in healing complex trauma, Lenora brings a rare depth of presence and gentle wisdom to her work. She is a licensed psychologist, Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, NARM® Master Therapist, Certified Forest Therapy Guide, retreat facilitator, and grief ritual leader. Her work is rooted in the healing rhythms of nature and a profound trust in each person’s inner knowing.
One of Lenora’s greatest joys is guiding others back to their own authentic souls. She holds space with warmth and steadiness, inviting you into a deeper relationship with yourself and the more-than-human world. Forest Therapy has been a sacred companion on her own journey—offering a vast, wild container for sorrow and celebration alike.
She lives among the trees in Mt. Airy, Maryland, where her days are shared with her beloved family, a joyful menagerie of dogs, cats, goats, and a few regal Texas Longhorns. Her private psychotherapy practice is deeply informed by her connection with nature and the land she calls home.
Allison Rodenhouse
Allison is a licensed clinical social worker, walking alongside individuals and families as they navigate life experiences. Specializing in supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, emotional wellbeing, and caregiver support, her practice honors each person's journey. Through her own encounters with nature's restorative qualities, Allison began weaving nature connection into her social work.
As a Certified Forest Therapy Guide, Allison invites others to slow down, notice the body/mind/spirit/nature connection, and to experience the joy, awe, and curiosity that arises when immersed in nature. Allison created Trees and Tranquility, offering forest bathing sessions in Chicago's urban nature spaces. She believes urban green and blue spaces are essential to a healthy community and to residents’ wellbeing. Through her sessions and collaborations with the city’s Park Action Committees, she supports residents’ opportunities to be good stewards of the land while co-creating space for mindful, nature connection. Rooted in reciprocity and reverence for Earth and all beings, Allison believes that when we connect with nature and to one another in community, something essential is restored.
Shawn Ramsey
Shawn Ramsey is a Certified Forest Therapy Guide and Mindset Coach based in North Carolina, dedicated to helping others cultivate a deeper connection with the natural world, oneself, and one another.
Shawn’s coaching approach integrates evidence-based practices from Positive Psychology, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and Positive Intelligence to help clients develop resilience, clarity, and authentic confidence. She has shared her expertise through coaching roles at The University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School and Duke University, as well as in private coaching engagements.
Through her forest therapy practice, Shawn guides participants in immersive, nature-connected experiences that foster relaxation, awareness, and renewal. She also leads workshops and retreats designed to deepen self-discovery and strengthen our relationship with the natural world—a relationship she believes is vital to our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Pulling from her background in entrepreneurship, marketing, and coaching, Shawn has cultivated partnerships with organizations such as the JC Raulston Arboretum, the North Carolina Botanical Garden, and numerous community and corporate partners to expand access to nature-based mindfulness experiences.