by Meagan Good, MA, LPC; Founder of Take Heart
December 19, 2023
“So you counsel horses?”
I get this question all the time. The term “equine assisted therapy” is new for a lot of people! Let’s start by breaking it down, then discussing the benefits of equine assisted psychotherapy specifically, since that is our main focus at Take Heart.
First, “equine assisted therapy” is an umbrella term for a wide variety of services that utilize horses to help people. It can include “therapeutic riding” or “hippotherapy” for individuals with physical limitations, services for veterans, reading and speech therapies, and mental health therapies. Fun fact: I chose to include this umbrella term when I named Take Heart (Counseling & Equine Assisted Therapy), because I wanted to leave room for more than mental health services one day if we are able to provide more.
“Equine” is a term for “relating to horses.” Horses (and donkeys – can’t forget our sweet Harry!) are part of the Equus genus, along with zebras.
“Assisted” is sometimes used interchangeably in the field with “facilitated.” I prefer “assisted” personally, because I believe the horses are an important assistant in the work, but I don’t like to put as much responsibility on them as the clinician for facilitating the work. It’s not a big difference, but to me it is more fair for the horse, since the clinician, not the horse, went to graduate school to learn how to facilitate a therapy session. 😉
“Psychotherapy” is a broad term for mental health therapies where you are working with a trained mental health professional. “Therapy” is a broad term, and can include all kinds of therapies, such as physical or speech therapy. Right now, Take Heart’s therapeutic services are all surrounding psychotherapy – essentially, counseling with horses. Counseling is a more commonly spoken term – but the phrase “equine assisted counseling” is not commonly used. I have no idea why!
So “equine assisted psychotherapy” is working with a trained mental health professional, with the assistance of a horse in the session. Sometimes I describe it like art therapy: paint and paintbrushes are tools used to facilitate healing in a session. In equine assisted therapy, the horses are so much more than a tool; we bring them into the sessions because learning to interact with horses and build a relationship with them is what facilitates healing in a session.
Here at Take Heart, our Staff tend to use quite a few phrases interchangeably, all meaning the equine assisted psychotherapy services we offer:
To describe an equine therapy session, let’s begin by comparing examples of a traditional counseling session and an equine therapy session:
In traditional therapy, you sit in a room across from your counselor and talk about things. You might talk about your past, and strategize about how to make the changes needed to become a healthier you. You might be asked to try a new skill in the coming week, and talk about how it went in next week’s session. The room is probably nicely decorated, comfortable, and clean. Your therapist is probably dressed professionally and may take notes while you talk.
At Take Heart, in our equine therapy sessions, you arrive at the farm and your therapist greets you… probably along with a barn cat or dog. Working outdoors and with horses means your therapist is dressed according to the weather, and hopefully you are too (or we have some extra boots and coats as needed!). Their laid-back attire might include jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat! We walk up to the barn, or out to the arena or pasture where we’ll hold the session for the day.
In your equine therapy session, we will likely be doing a specific activity based on your goals, that will help you practice new skills in-the-moment with your horse partner. We go slow and pause to discuss what’s happening, then go right back into the activity. The activities are tailored towards each individual’s goals, and designed to help with gaining insight into core issues, as well as help you grow and learn through hands-on experience and real-time feedback from the horses. Horses are honest and their responses in the moment help bring meaning and empathy as we heal and change.
In your equine therapy session, you are also empowered by your therapist to pause and process something not just through talk, but to check in with your body’s physical sensations and your emotional experience in-the-moment. You might be encouraged to stretch, walk something out, take a belly breath (yes adults, you too!), or notice your heart beat. You might be encouraged to pause your story and ground with your environment by noticing the sights and sounds around you. Integrating body awareness and sensory skills into mental health therapy provides holistic healing, since we are body-mind-soul-spirit!
Next, and more importantly, is understanding why we bring horses into counseling. What’s the benefit? Isn’t it easier to just meet in an office?
The answer is multifaceted, because there are a lot of reasons why equine assisted psychotherapy differs from and helps people in a way that is unique! I am not against traditional therapy, so as you read through these reasons, please keep in mind that there is absolutely a place for traditional therapy. I’m just obviously a bit biased towards equine assisted psychotherapy, because I get to see its benefits every day. And the point of this post is to help break down the difference! The best equine therapy is that which integrates solid, evidence-based psychology with solid, evidence-based horsemanship.
Example #1: Healing Through Connection
One activity we often utilize is asking the horse to connect with us. It’s a “simple” activity that allows for a lot of nuance, so we can tailor the direction of the session based on what the client needs most. We might do this out in a field, or bring a horse into a smaller arena, then ask the client to approach and request that the horse comes over to them. Some clients march right over boldly and pet the horse on the face. Some horses are pretty comfortable with that and enjoy the “scratchies,” while others will pin their ears, tense up their body, and maybe try to move away from that invasion of their space. Some clients will stay back and ask the horse to come to them, maybe timidly or unsure about why a horse would ever choose to come to them. The clinician can help clients interpret what’s happening and make choices about what they might like to change, to better the relationship with the horse. Then the client might try again in a new way. In learning these relationship skills with the horse, the client will gain insight into their own styles of interacting (that might be healthy or need some adjusting), understanding where that style began – maybe past wounds have influenced how the client approaches new relationships or new situations. We might need to pause and check in with our own bodies, too – maybe the client is holding some tension about doing a task they think they have to accomplish perfectly or they will fail. So in our sessions, we are working in a multifaceted way to develop understanding and self-awareness, empathy and other-awareness (because sometimes it’s not you!), building new skills, regulating our nervous systems, identifying deeply-held beliefs, and creating change in our thoughts and behaviors based on our new understandings. It’s pretty powerful stuff!
Example #2: Internalizing Self-Worth
Often, someone struggling to leave an abusive partner won’t be able to “just leave” without finding and building up their internal sense of self-worth. To truly embody that self-worth requires them to explore their past, develop awareness and regulation of their physical, emotional, and cognitive experience, and learn to make choices and set boundaries (and hold them) to support that self-worth. They can practice all of these skills in a safe, nonjudgmental environment with the horses and their therapist. Once the self-worth is truly internalized, they take it with them into every environment – which empowers them to do something as difficult as leaving an abusive partner.
Staff Stories:
Our entire team at Take Heart have their own personal stories of hope and healing through horses… this work is just that powerful. Some of them we have written about in blogs:
But don’t just take our word for it. Here, we share some transformative moments from client sessions (with permission, and with identifying details changed to protect confidentiality).
Clearly one can see the anecdotal evidence supporting horse therapy. But is there scientific evidence backing this type of therapy?
Evidence-based Practice
While equine therapy has a sort of magical, spiritual, overly-emotional image to it, at Take Heart we take a scientific and psychological approach based on proven counseling theories and modalities used by therapists worldwide, then integrate horses into it. Petting horses feels nice, and there is science to that, but our sessions are packed with so much more. In fact, by taking this approach, we are rather unique. Take Heart is set apart by our focus on combining clinical competence, faith & compassion -driven care, and ethical & connection-based horsemanship. You could sum up our work this way:
Take Heart = Hope (faith-based & compassion-driven care) + Healing (evidence-based & trauma-informed practice) + Horses (ethical, connection-based horsemanship)
Trauma-Competence
Fortunately, many counselors and professionals are trauma-informed in their practice nowadays. There has been a big push to understand a bit more about how to validate peoples’ experiences as well as the many ways it impacts daily living. Unfortunately, understanding more doesn’t always translate into better care.
At Take Heart, we go above and beyond in our training to ensure that all of our care is not only trauma-informed, but what we call “trauma-competent.” Too many of us have had negative experiences of trauma therapy, and we don’t take that lightly. We will not just validate ones’ traumatic experiences – this keeps one feeling like a victim. Rather, we empower you to overcome your experiences. This is so important to us, that we wrote a blog comparing Trauma-Informed Vs. Trauma-Competent Care, to best explain the difference you’ll experience at Take Heart.
Qualified, Credentialed Professional Therapists:
That we have qualified and credentialed mental health professionals at Take Heart is key. There are many equine assisted therapies out there, with well-meaning people facilitating sessions, that sometimes end up retraumatizing people. The very nature of working with horses tends to appeal to people who have been very wounded by people in their lives who should have protected them. I believe this is because animals often feel safer for these people, than other people do. The beautiful part of this is that the animals create a bridge of trust between the client and therapist. The dangerous part is when these people are working with “therapists” who are NOT properly trained or credentialed. This work brings up the most vulnerable pieces of ourselves, and well-meaning but untrained therapists sometimes don’t handle those pieces with the trauma-competent care needed by the client. Our clinicians are all trained in trauma-focused equine assisted psychotherapy and undergo extensive start-up and continuing on-site training to ensure that we are offering our services with both compassion AND competence.
It’s hard to succinctly define equine assisted psychotherapy and describe its benefits to someone new. There is still so much more I could say to explain my passion for this work – but let it suffice to say, it is a privilege to do this powerful work with clients and see horses healing hearts every day. It has changed my own life, and I’ve seen it change hundreds more over the last 10 years since I opened Take Heart. If you’re on the fence wondering if equine assisted psychotherapy is for you or your family – give it a try. You won’t regret it.
Wherever you are at on your journey, we are here for you. Our human and equine team will walk alongside you so you can find hope, healing, and wholeness in your life. You are worth it. Reach out to us today.
