Equine assisted mental health is an exciting, emerging field and offers potential to both clients and therapists. This therapy is an effective and rewarding way to work with people of all ages, and from all walks of life.

Equine assisted mental health involves the counsellor working with a horse, or a herd of horses, to assist clients in working through their issues and becoming aware of their responses and behaviours. Sessions can provide therapy, support and learning for corporate groups, families, couples, individuals, teens and children.

With equine assisted mental health, no two sessions are the same. Sessions can be very creative and are tailored to the client’s needs, whilst respecting the horse.

Horses are amazing co-therapists. They value relationships and are honest communicators, providing clear feedback. They are also highly perceptive and respond immediately to our body language.

Horses have a highly developed level of awareness and the ability to sense their surroundings. Horses apply this level of perception and awareness in their interactions with people. They respond and give feedback to what is presented, providing a calm, respectful space for us to explore our relationships and ourselves.

Horses are also non- judgemental companions, they accept us and provide a space to just be yourself, a space to relax and feel heard and seen. Horses are great teachers; they naturally embody presence and awareness.

Equine assisted mental health sessions offer so much to participants.

Many people comment that, after a session, they feel calmer and more grounded. They feel clearer about their way forward in situations and better able to navigate tough decisions by gaining much-needed perspective on their lives. Relationships are richer with improved communication, and frustrations are more manageable.

Sessions with the horses teach you a lot about who you are at your core, including how you relate and communicate with the people around you, how you handle problems, where you get stuck in life, what you believe about yourself, and how you might hold yourself back. The sessions also provide you with many skills in mindful living, stress reduction techniques, tips for quieting your inner critic, self-awareness, communication skills, boundary setting, and living authentically.

Horses ask us to show up authentically even when it means we are messy or emotional. Horses can feel if we are not at home in who we are and support us to find the way back to ourself. They provide a safe, gentle and unconditional space for us to fall apart and share our truth, they allow us to really be where we are at.

Everyone who desires a richer life experience can benefit from this type of therapy, even those not interested in horses or those who’ve been afraid of horses. An important facet of the therapy is how you respond when you are in the presence of a horse. Simply being with horses reveals distinctive and significant qualities in each of us. The horses also provide a healing space to just be you and to explore what that means for you.

If you are seeking clarity, direction, and insight this therapy can be useful as a coaching tool. It can also be deeply therapeutic and healing. Research and clinical studies have found Equine Assisted Mental Health sessions to be particularly effective for individuals suffering with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), war veterans, survivors of abuse and trauma, and people battling eating disorders.

Due to it’s unique therapeutic approach, equine assisted mental health sessions are able to support and assist people of all ages with a wide variety of concerns, including:

• Eating disorders
• Bullying – both for the committer and the victim
• Drug and alcohol problems
• Depression
• Stress
• Anxiety
• Autism and Aspergers
• ADHD
• Relationship difficulties
• Attachment issues – including adoption adjustment issues
• Low self-esteem
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Behavioural issues
• Learning issues, and more.

If you are seeking clarity, direction, and insight, this therapy can also be useful as a coaching tool.

You can expect to feel safe and supported throughout the session, both by the therapists and the horses that are there for you. A qualified counsellor who specialises in equine assisted mental health will facilitate your session.

Together, we will begin to focus on your goals for therapy at a pace with which you are comfortable; you are the priority. You will meet the horses with the counsellor and the session may involve you grooming the horses, leading the horses, playing with the horses, simply being with the horses or even engaging with the horses from outside the paddock. You are invited to explore and engage at your own pace and your safety and comfort are our top concerns.

Sessions will take place outside in the fresh air, and one or more horses will participate in the session. The horses are specially trained to be calm, safe horses. You will come to see why we so value their authentic contribution.