Developing Identity, Confidence, and Connection
cBeing a teen is hard. It’s a time of curiosity, exploration, and maturation but also of influence, pressure, and doubt. This is a time when personal identities and beliefs become more developed, however, the emergence and sharing of these can be stressful, unsure, or isolating.
This nature-based group will specifically help teens in the LGBTQIA+ community develop confidence, connection, and community. This is a therapist-led group and includes expressive arts, sharing circles, and outdoor games designed to build connection, develop identity, and strengthen emotional regulation skills.
What You Will Learn in Group
Explore Identity
Engage in meaningful exploration and discuss about personal values, beliefs, and roles.
Build Confidence
Learn to address self-doubt, negative self-talk, and to hold boundaries.
Create Community
Join others in important dialogue, sharing, and games to foster interpersonal relationship.
Engage Nature
Engage with the natural resilient world to promote steadiness and grounding.
Strengthen Reslience
Use examples from nature and personal narratives to distress tolerance, persistence, and emotional strength.
Animal Assisted Support
Meet the always popular Farm Bunnies. The bunnies are a source of fun, ice-breaking, and co-regulation. 🐰
Group Structure & Commitment
- When: Beginning Tuesday October 20, 2026 5:30-7pm
- Total Time: 8 weekly sessions
- Audience: High school aged teens
- Where: Fauna Forest Farm (10min from ETSU)
About Forest Fauna Farm
We’ve partnered with Fauna to offer nature-based services including individual and group counseling. The Farm provides a safe, quiet, and serene setting for using nature as a co-facilitator to growth.
MEET YOUR GROUP FACILITATOR
Shae Keana, A-LPC/MHSP
Nature-Based Therapist
Shae is an experienced counselor who cherishes the opportunity to help clients deepen their connection with both their inner and outer worlds. Inspired by a philosophy that sees the human spirit’s resilience reflected in the rhythms of the natural world, Shae believes that our lives, much like the seasons, are a journey of growth, discovery, and healing. Shae is an allied and affirming clinician dedicated to social justice.
Her therapeutic approach is rooted in mindfulness, narrative, and nature-based therapies. She also has extensive experience in facilitating nature-based rites of passage and integrating ceremony and ritual to honor significant life transitions, such as losses, coming of age, and parenthood. In her practice, Shae hopes that clients will learn to trust their own body, emotions, and imagination as a compass guiding them toward an authentic expression of themselves.
Shae specializes in working with children, teens, and young adults, and she has a particular passion for holding space for groups of teen girls and women. She also values supporting clients navigating life passages, transitions, and those experiencing eco-grief, eco-anxiety, or a desire to deepen their relationship with the natural world. She feels most excited in her work when clients begin to reconnect with play and discover a sense of belonging within themselves, their community, and the natural world.
During counseling sessions, Shae strives to create a sanctuary where every part of her clients feels welcome and cherished. She is dedicated to fostering an environment where individuals can overcome fear and distrust of their own bodies and emotions, and believe in their inherent resilience.
Outside of her counseling practice, she enjoys spending her free time reading and writing poetry, tending to her gardens, communing with animals, and wandering through wild landscapes. She believes in “the creation of a world in which it will be easier to love” and finds joy in making beauty with her hands and visioning with others on how to contribute to this world.
Request Your Spot in our Resilient Nature Group
Space is intentionally limited to maintain a small, supportive group dynamic. Please complete the confidential intake form below, and our coordinator will reach out to confirm availability and discuss next steps.