The Team of Adventure Therapy Institute
Founder & CEOs
Alexander Rose
Founder | CEO | Owner
Clinical Psychologist, Clinical Psychotherapist, and Sports Scientist, Master’s degree in Health Psychology, Master’s degree in Drug Counselling (Addictive Behaviours), degrees in Physical Activity & Sports Sciences.
Alexander Rose is a clinical psychologist, clinical psychotherapist, and sports scientist with master’s degrees in Health Psychology and Drug Counselling. Since 2000, he has been working with groups in natural environments, mainly with adolescents at risk and young adults, integrating experiential, nature-based, and adventure-oriented therapeutic approaches.
Since 2008, he has played a key role in introducing and developing Adventure Therapy in Spain. He is the founder and general director of Terapia Aventura (Valencia). His contributions include international teaching, the development of therapeutic programs for youth mental health and addiction, and authorship of the first Spanish-language book on Adventure Therapy.
Alexander is active in European and international networks such as ATE and ATIC and continues to advance the professionalization of Adventure & Nature Therapy across Europe.
Christiane Thiesen
Founder | CEO | Owner
Dipl. Social Pedagogue, acad. Supervisor & Coach, Traumapedagogue/ psychotraumatology, Attachement-based counseling, Forest Health Trainer, Certified Disability Management Professional (CDMP)
Christiane Thiesen is a certified Social Pedagogue and Supervisor (DGSv). She works at the intersection of nature, psychotherapy, and health promotion and is regarded as one of the pioneers of Adventure & Nature Therapy in German-speaking countries.
She holds the certification “Erlebnispädagoge be®” certified by the German Federal Association for Individual and Experiential Education (Bundesverband Individual- und Erlebnispädagogik e.V.) and in recent years founded the association’s adventure therapy specialist group, where he remains a member of the management team to this day.
She teaches internationally, develops training curricula, and supports professionals in integrating nature-based methods into therapeutic and educational practice.
Per Wijnands
Co-Founder
Educator B.A., Therapeutic Tree Climbing, Adventure Therapist, Experiential educator/ Outdoor trainer – certified „Erlebnispädagoge be„
Per Wijnands is a social worker and experienced specialist in experiential learning and adventure therapy. Since around 2003 he has been working with children and adolescents—including those with intellectual disabilities, psychological and psychiatric challenges—as well as their families and groups, employing nature-based and adventure-oriented methods.
He holds the certification “Erlebnispädagoge be®” (first Dutch bearer since 2020) certified by the German Federal Association for Individual and Experiential Education (Bundesverband Individual- und Erlebnispädagogik e.V.).
In his role as trainer, coach and guide he regularly leads workshops and courses in experiential education and adventure therapy, guiding clients and professionals through outdoor and nature-based processes, often working “in, under and beside trees” as he puts it.
Our Team of experts
Josef Sözbir
1. Aid Outdoor
„When people meet in nature – away from everyday roles, in the open air – there is often space for real togetherness. I am particularly touched by working with patchwork families and couples when they are allowed to rediscover themselves in nature. As a trainer at ATI, I love teaching in very different places – every forest, every landscape speaks its own language and weaves itself into the learning process.“
Rescue Assistant & First Aid Instructor
Mental Health First Aid Instructor (MHFA)
Dipl. Socialwork
Experiental Educator be®
Systemic-Integrative Therapist
Integrative Couple Therapist
EMDR Trauma Therapist
Positive Psychology
Elmo Mesic
MHFA | Mental Health First Aid
„I feel deeply connected to the Adventure Therapy Institute. Together with Josef, I lead the MHFA courses and am involved in other programs. In nature, relationship processes can be made visible in a touching way. The creative, sensitive and practical way of working inspires, challenges and strengthens – it encourages people to go their own way and really live change.“
Mental Health First Aid Instructor (MHFA)
MA of Education and Sports Science
Experiental Educator be®
Systemic-Expierential Therapist
Sport psychological expert
Lecturing Trainer and Wilderness Guide (IWV)
Systemic Therapy- and Counseling
Educational Psychology
Experiential Facilitation
Sports Prevention and Therapy
Per Wijnands
Adventure Therapist | Trainer Level 1
„As a long-standing Adventure & Nature Therapist in child and adolescent psychiatry in the Netherlands, I am deeply connected to this work.
Together with Alex and Christiane, I co-founded the Adventure Therapy Institute (ATI) and am responsible for Level 1 in Europe. It brings me great joy to accompany participants as they take their first steps into nature-based therapy and experience its transformative power.“
BA of Education
Experiental Educator be®
Adventure & Nature Therapist
Lecture Experiential Learning
European Treeclimbing Therapist
Ervaringleer Counselor®
Vivi-Ann Vogel
Trainer & Coach
„In my closeness to nature and with my previous experience, I learned through this training how powerful and healing nature-based processes can be in therapeutic work.
The connection between nature and healing is not just a concept for me, but has become a living part of my everyday life.“
Chiara Alba Oftring
Trainer & Coach
„As part of the 2025 graduating class I never thought I would surpass myself like this and graduate as “Adventure & Nature Therapist”. During the training and especially during the practical seminars, I experienced a noticable professional and personal development. Learning through self-experience, among other teaching methods, convinced me that Adventure & Nature Therapy can be an immensely helpful tool if applied correctly.
My thesis on “Perspectives and Recommendations for the Use of Nature and Adventure Therapy with Queer Adolescents and Young Adults” won an award at the international congress “erleben & lernen”.“
Our international Team of Supervisors & Coaches
Josef Sözbir
Systemic-Integrative Therapist
Deutsch
Français
English
Elmo Mesic
Systemic Therapy and Counseling
Deutsch
Norsk
Per Wijnands
Ervaringsleraar Counselor
Nederlands
Deutsch
Alexander Rose
Clinical Psychologist
Español
English
Do you want to be involved?
Voices of Participants
„I live and work between the coasts of Portugal and the water rich outskirts of Berlin – two very different landscapes that both shape my work. As an experienced experiential educator, I have deepened my professional path with my training in Adventure & Nature Therapy and rediscovered my connection to nature. It fulfills me to be able to accompany people in and with nature over a longer period of time – where real depth, change and vitality can arise. Thanks to the modular structure of the ATI courses and the online theory part, I was able to experience the training from any location and in harmony with my life rhythm.“
Paula Louise Cosima Töpfer
“As CEO of a facility for young adults struggling with addictionin the Netherlands, I completed my training as an Adventure &Nature Therapist at ATI – driven by the deep conviction thathealing processes in nature open up unique spaces fortransformation.Our goal is to integrate Adventure and Nature Therapy into ourinstitution in a structured and holistic way.Especially in working with people affected by addiction, werepeatedly witness the powerful impact of nature as a co-therapist: it invites self-awareness, fosters personalresponsibility, and opens new paths where there was oncestagnation.”
Rob Hendricx
„In my experiential and nature therapy work with children and young people in a youth welfare facility in the Netherlands, I experience every day how young people open up in nature – how they gain confidence, show their true nature and grow beyond themselves. It’s touching to see how much strength, creativity and vitality they have.“
Wouter Reijnders