Hello and welcome to Fernweh Forest. Tessa Zasta is the Executive Director & Founder of Fernweh Forest. She is a Nationally Certified Counselor, Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in the state of Oregon, and Certified Therapeutic Adventure Specialist . She has a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with an emphasis in Somatic Therapy, and a postgraduate Educational Specialist in Experiential Counseling, with an emphasis in Adventure-Based Counseling, both from Prescott College. She has a Bachelor of Science in Social Science from Portland State University, and an Ecotherapist certification from Earth Body Institute. Over the last ten years she has had the privilege to work as a child and family therapist, a school-based and intensive in-home counselor, a therapeutic outdoor youth program developer and facilitator, a juvenile counselor, and a children and adolescents community counselor. She has had the opportunity to work with youth in schools, juvenile detention and residential facilities, foster care, behavioral health agencies, and nature settings.   

Tessa believes in the innate goodness of humankind and looks at the whole human within the whole of their environment. She has a non-pathologizing and non-judgmental lens. She is very passionate about Ecotherapy which is an interplay of nature and psyche, Adventure Therapy which is the experiential use of challenges to promote growth, and Somatic Therapy which focuses on holistic mind-body connection. These modalities lay the foundation of her therapeutic approach that is influenced by experiential counseling, family system theory, ecopsychology, somatic psychotherapies, attachment theory, and gestalt. Her counseling style is present moment focused, authentic, eco-systemic, and based on a wellness approach. She believes therapy should involve fun, adventure, expression, and nature, while being a holistic, interactive, and body-based experience full of movement and connection.