About

What is it?

An exciting, highly effective approach to counselling used successfully worldwide. It can be used in place of or in addition to traditional counselling.

What do we do?

We use a team approach with a certificated mental health professional trained by EAGALA and an equine specialist, plus a small herd of purpose selected, reliable horses.

What do you do?

You will spend time being around and connecting with the horses and will be invited to take part in some ground-based activities by the treatment team.

How does it work?

Equine Assisted Therapy is a powerful, fast and effective way to deal with many mental health issues. or life challenges. It is not dependant upon discussion explaining or creating a verbal narrative. After the session in the arena, if it seems appropriate, or desirable, you may want to talk about your experience. Some people want to talk about their experience, others do not. Sometimes things are shared verbally by the client, sometimes it is not.

With or without discussion this is a powerful therapy. It does not rely upon discussion or narrative to be successful.

The mental health professional and the equine specialist may notice and invite comment about themes and patterns that they have observed. Sometimes these patterns can be easily recognised by the client as important within their everyday lives. Sometimes the same things do not need to be verbalised.

What will you come away with?

• Immediate feedback via the reactions and behaviour of the horses.
• Useable information about self and others.
• More confidence and empathy.
• An ability to recognise what to do more of and what to do less of.
• Better relationship skills.
• Less Stress.
• Recognisable ways of improving happiness and satisfaction.
• Recognition of your own behaviour styles and thought patterns.

Why do it this way?

Some people don’t respond well to the traditional counselling methods of sitting in a chair, in an office, talking about their problems. Others have done so much of it that it has become stale or they even have a sense of being traumatised again by the traditional approach.

And still, they need something.

Sometimes equine therapy is the answer. Horses are highly intuitive, they live in herds, which are similar to our family groups. Horses are prey animals who live their lives and prosper by being on high alert; we are the predator. However, they also epitomize the concept of ‘living in the moment’. When dealing with people they respond to the essential core of the human being. They access information about who we are, in a non-judgemental, non-confrontational way and provide immediate, extremely useable behavioural feedback during the session.