Connection. Emotional Regulation. Communication. Mutual Respect.

You might be wondering, “Why horses?” What is it about horses that make them a natural partner for psychotherapy?

My training has led me to the beautiful realization that horses encourage and allow a powerful reciprocal relationship . Horses are capable of engaging in healthy, genuine connection, relationship, and partnership.  This relationship can be profoundly deeper than words.

Within this relationship the client and horse are responding to each other which requires full body and brain activation and offers, when done consciously, a complete bottom-up brain experience.  Horses do, indeed, invite us to clearly communicate beyond words with our entire being.  They are beautifully sensitive to our internal states and energy, but this does not mean they are merely a metaphor or a mirror.

Equine-assisted psychotherapy incorporates horses into the therapeutic process. We engage in activities such as grooming, feeding, and leading a horse while being supervised by myself, a mental health professional, and an equine professional.

Goals of this form of therapy including helping people develop skills such as impulse control, emotional regulation, self-confidence, and responsibility.