Juna Ting-Wei Chang

Forest Therapy Guide

Juna Ting-Wei Chang is a forest therapy guide, mentor, and the founder of Shinrin-Yoku Taiwan, a nature-based wellbeing platform dedicated to supporting individuals and communities in slowing down and returning their attention to themselves and the more-than-human world through forest therapy and Shinrin-yoku. She is the first Taiwanese guide certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) and also holds the Taiwan Forest Therapist Certificate, serving as a mentor within Taiwan’s forest therapy system in collaboration with the Taiwan Forest Therapy Society.

Her journey into forest therapy began in 2017 at a Girl Scouts seminar in Switzerland, where she first encountered the healing potential of nature. This experience, combined with witnessing loved ones navigate mental health challenges, inspired her to pursue professional training at a time when formal forest therapy education was not yet available in Taiwan. She later earned a Master’s degree in Landscape and Recreation Management, building on an undergraduate background in English and Spanish. Her academic research explored cyberbullying and sharing-economy models within Taiwan’s forest therapy industry, bridging wellbeing, innovation, and social systems.

Having lived in the United States and Panama and travelled widely, Juna brings a global perspective grounded in local cultural understanding. Her work is rooted in ANFT Relational Forest Therapy, integrating scientific research, traditional ecological knowledge, and embodied experience. She works with individuals, organisations, and international groups, offering slow, immersive sessions — often in urban natural environments — that support sensory awareness, emotional regulation, stress reduction, and reflective integration.

At the heart of Juna’s work is a gentle belief that healing cannot be forced. Forest therapy, in her view, is not a luxury or a trend, but an essential practice for cultivating mental health, emotional resilience, and sustainable wellbeing. Through her work, she hopes to contribute to healthier individuals, more caring communities, and more balanced systems by helping people remember a sense of closeness, care, and presence in everyday life.