NAME: Camilla Mowbray
TITLE: EATA Trainer/Assessor NSW
TIME WITH EATA: Five years
When a new group of students make their way through the doors of EATA’s training space in NSW, Camilla Mowbray knows their shyness and self-doubt will soon dissipate.
By the time the students graduate in just over 18-months, they will be ready to create flourishing and ethical equine-assisted therapy businesses and contribute passionately to their field.
EATA’s training model will help them to re-write their own path in life through its comprehensive framework and sophisticated practical experience.
Camilla has delivered EATA’s training program to EATA students in NSW for the past five years.
It is an equine-assisted therapy education she passionately believes in.
“When Jane Faulkner asked me to be an EATA trainer, it was an enthusiastic yes.
EATA’s training and qualification is what I would have loved to have accessed when I was starting out in the field.
The depth of content and integrity of delivery of the EATA model sets it apart from anything else in the world.”
Camilla’s early careers in human services, filmmaking and journalism seems an unlikely background for equine assisted therapy.
However, from an early age, she had a self-described ‘nerdy’ passion for horses, equine ethology and behaviour, delighting in introducing people to horses.
Over the years, Camillia became increasingly interested in what horses could bring to the therapy space, and fifteen years ago, made a mid-life career change into equine-assisted services.
Alongside her mental health qualifications, she undertook various trainings in equine assisted therapy and learning, seeking out those with a relational focus and an ethical, contemporary approach to equine welfare.
In her private practice, her mission has been to help people rebuild their resilience and enjoyment for life following adversity and trauma, with a person-centred counselling and psychotherapy approach.
When EATA decided to launch a cohort in NSW in 2020, Camilla was approached to be the trainer and assessor.
After five years, she hasn’t looked back.
She is committed to ensuring each of EATA’s NSW students will graduate with a great deal of knowledge, as well as confidence in themselves.
She knows that horses – individually, collectively, and esoterically – bring realities and possibilities to therapy, just by being themselves.
“At the beginning, even just the idea of being around horses can attract people who find traditional concepts of therapy difficult to access – socially and emotionally.
Once engaged in equine-assisted therapy, new ways of being in a relationship (with the self and others), fresh ways of communicating and the powerful existential remedy of being truly seen and heard, all contribute to part of a process that is difficult – if not impossible – to replicate in a room.
Then there’s the physiological presence of the horse and the multilateral impacts on all our nervous systems – which is an area that fascinates me.”
Research continues to recognise the benefits of equine-assisted therapy, for conditions such as PTSD, anxiety and social skills.
Camilla hopes equine-assisted therapy will soon be recognised and widely accepted as an evidence-based practice as its popularity continues to grow.
In the meantime, the equine-assisted therapy industry, seems to be moving in the right direction.
In recent years, Camilla believes it has become more professional and ethical.
And there’s a lot more collegiality and co-operation between practitioners than when she first started out.
Camilla credits industry leaders such as Linda Kohanov and Leif Halberg – and particularly EATA’s Jane Faulkner – for helping to promote this professional collaboration between practitioners.
This has created “a much healthier herd, with fewer insecure dominants feeling the need to protect their patch of turf and specific modality,” she said.
Another significant change has been the increased importance placed upon evidence-based equine welfare – not just in equestrian sport, but in equine assisted services.
“What I love about being an EATA trainer is that this is not just theoretical – students are actively immersed in hundreds of hours of responsible and responsive equine interactions.
They bring their own wisdom and experience, while also often undergoing transformative experiences in their relationships with horses.
I believe that equine-assisted therapists must develop a sophisticated way of being with horses, and a deep understanding of equine ethology – not just for the welfare of the horses, but to enhance their contribution to the client and their treatment goals.”
With mental health conditions in Australia are at an all-time high – just over 1 in 5 Australians (21.5%) aged 16-85 experienced a mental disorder in the past 12 months – Camilla predicts equine-assisted therapy will continue to gain popularity.
And horses, as they have throughout millennia, will continue to have an important role in helping humans from every background.
“Its intersectional accessibility is another factor that makes equine-assisted therapy so compelling.
It’s a form of therapy that eschews re-traumatisation, shame, rumination, and strict behaviour protocols.
Instead, it is person-centred, somatic, creative and nature based.
It appeals to people who are neurodivergent, who’ve not engaged happily in the education system, who are marginalised in some way or who’ve had difficult experiences in the mental health system.”
As more people become interested in equine-assisted therapy and more horses continue to be engaged as team-members, Camilla said there is one thing, future practitioners need.
“A sense of optimism and humour, along with self-awareness – and curiosity.
Also, the confidence to ‘be’ rather than ‘do,’ which is a skill that’s a work in progress for many of us.
I believe that this is central to how we view our horses and how we involve them during sessions.
I hope that students will take away not just a massive body of knowledge and sophisticated practical experience, but also increased confidence in themselves, optimism for their future careers, and a strong desire to contribute to the field of equine-assisted therapy.”