Take Heart Counseling & Equine Assisted Therapy
By Meagan Good, MA, LPC, NPT-C, NLC-P, EP
Founder & Counselor, Take Heart Counseling & Equine Assisted Therapy — Wernersville, PA
If you’ve started searching for an equine therapist, you already sense that something about horses and healing goes together. And you’re right. But “equine therapy” has become a popular phrase, and not everyone using it means the same thing by it. Some programs are led by licensed mental health professionals with years of specialized training. Others are well-meaning but have very little clinical grounding. The difference matters enormously for your safety and your healing.
This guide is here to help you ask the right questions, whether or not you ever come to Take Heart. You deserve to make an informed choice, and a good provider will welcome every one of these questions. Here’s what to look for.
If you’re short on time, here’s the checklist. Each point is explained in full below.
● Licensed clinicians. Are sessions led by a licensed mental health professional?
● Specialized training. Are they trained in an evidence-based equine-assisted psychotherapy model?
● Trauma-competent care. Do they truly live out trauma-informed principles, not just understand them?
● Thoughtful horse care. Are the horses kept naturally and treated as respected partners?
● Longevity. How long have they been serving their community?
● A stable, permanent facility. Do they own their land, or rent the space?
● Safety and insurance. Do they have clear safety practices and proper coverage?
● The right fit. Do you feel safe and respected, and are they honest about expectations?
Equine-assisted psychotherapy is therapy, so it should be led by a licensed mental health professional — a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), or psychologist. A license means graduate training, supervised hours, and accountability to a state board and confidentiality laws.
This is the first and most important thing to verify. Why does it matter so much? A license means the clinician has completed graduate-level education, supervised clinical hours, and a state exam — and that they’re accountable to a licensing board and bound by ethics and confidentiality laws. If mental health goals are on the table (anxiety, trauma, depression, grief, relationship struggles), you want a licensed clinician guiding the work.
A helpful distinction to understand: equine-assisted learning and horsemanship programs can be wonderful and are often led by skilled equine professionals rather than therapists. Those experiences focus on personal growth, confidence, and connection — not clinical treatment. That’s completely valid, but it’s a different thing from psychotherapy. A trustworthy program will be clear with you about which one they’re offering.
Question to ask: “Is the person leading my sessions a licensed mental health professional? What is their license?”
Look for clinicians trained in a recognized, evidence-based equine-assisted psychotherapy model, such as Natural Lifemanship. Combining horses and therapy safely is its own discipline that requires dedicated training. A real, teachable framework — not simply placing a person and horse together — is what keeps sessions therapeutic rather than aimless or unintentionally harmful.
Here’s a truth that surprises many people: being a great therapist and being great with horses does not automatically mean someone knows how to safely and effectively combine the two. At Take Heart, our clinicians are trained in Natural Lifemanship, a model grounded in neuroscience and attachment science that teaches how to build a genuine, consent-based relationship between person and horse. But Natural Lifemanship isn’t the only reputable approach out there — other established models exist as well. What matters is that the program is built on a real, teachable framework.
Good training teaches a clinician how to read what’s happening between client and horse, how to keep the interaction therapeutic rather than random, and how to make sure the work is actually helping. Without it, sessions can be pleasant but aimless — or, worse, unintentionally harmful.
Question to ask: “What specific equine-assisted therapy model are your clinicians trained in, and is it evidence-based?”
Trauma-informed means a provider recognizes how common trauma is and works to avoid re-traumatizing clients. Trauma-competent goes further: the clinician has done their own personal work to become genuinely safe, attuned, and steady. In equine therapy this matters deeply, because horses respond honestly to the nervous systems present in the room.
Most people who seek out equine therapy carry some history of trauma, even if that’s not the reason they think they’re coming. So it’s fair to expect your provider to understand trauma and its effects on the brain, body, and nervous system. The difference worth knowing about is between a clinician who understands trauma-informed principles and one who actually lives them out in every interaction.
We call this being trauma-competent, and we wrote a whole piece explaining the difference. If this section resonates with you, it’s worth a read: Embodying Trauma-Competent vs. Trauma-Informed Care.
A trauma-competent clinician has done their own personal work to become someone who is safe, attuned, and steady — not just someone who has read about safety and attunement. This matters especially in equine work, because horses respond honestly to whatever is actually happening in the room. A horse doesn’t know who the client is and who the clinician is; it simply reacts to the nervous systems present. That’s part of what makes this work so powerful — and part of why the clinician’s own groundedness matters so much.
Question to ask: “How does your team approach trauma? What does trauma-informed (or trauma-competent) care look like in your sessions?”
How a program cares for its horses reflects its values and shapes the therapy itself. Look for horses that live naturally — with space to move, graze, and live in a herd — and interactions built on consent rather than force. Respected, well-cared-for horses can be honest, attuned partners in healing; stressed or shut-down horses cannot.
This one is easy to overlook, but it tells you a great deal — both ethically and clinically. The horses are partners in this work, not tools. Look for a program where the horses are cared for in ways that honor their nature and wellbeing. Some things to notice or ask about:
● Natural living conditions: Do the horses have space to move, graze, and live in a herd, the way horses are designed to live? Or are they confined and isolated?
● Consent-based interaction: Does the program honor the horse’s choice and communication, rather than forcing participation? Consent-based work models something powerful for clients — especially those healing from experiences where their own boundaries weren’t respected.
● Genuine relationship: Are the horses known and cared for as individuals with their own personalities, or treated as interchangeable equipment?
● Overall wellbeing: Do the horses appear healthy, calm, and well cared for when you visit?
A horse who is respected, well cared for, and free to communicate is a horse who can be an honest, attuned partner in your healing. The way a program treats its animals is often the clearest window into how it will treat you.
Question to ask: “How do you care for your horses, and how do they participate in sessions?”
Longevity signals stability, which matters more than it seems. A practice that has served its community for years has refined its approach and built lasting relationships, and it’s likely to still be there as your healing continues. For perspective, Take Heart has been serving our community for over 12 years.
Stability is not a luxury when you’re healing — it’s part of what makes healing possible. A person carrying trauma is often, consciously or not, looking for something dependable to lean on. A program that has been a steady presence in its community for years signals that it will likely still be there for you next month, next year, and beyond.
That doesn’t make a newer program bad — everyone starts somewhere — but it’s worth knowing how long a provider has been walking alongside people, and asking what they’ve learned along the way.
Question to ask: “How long have you been providing equine-assisted therapy?”
Ask whether the practice owns its land and facility or rents the space. Renting isn’t necessarily bad, but it means the practice doesn’t have full control — if the property sells or a lease ends, the program can be disrupted. An owned, permanent facility offers clients a consistent, lasting home for their healing.
This is a practical question most people never think to ask, but it speaks directly to stability. When a practice owns its facility, it has the freedom to shape the space thoughtfully, care for the land and horses on its own terms, and offer clients a consistent, lasting home for their healing.
Ask about it. A stable, permanent setting means the place where you begin your healing is likely to still be there as your journey continues.
Question to ask: “Do you own your facility, or do you rent the space?”
Horses are large, powerful animals, so a trustworthy program has clear physical-safety practices, staff experienced in handling horses, and appropriate liability insurance. This matters for everyone and especially for families considering equine therapy for a child. Good safety practices help create the secure environment where real emotional work can happen.
Working alongside horses — while remarkably safe in skilled hands — deserves genuine care. A trustworthy program has thought carefully about physical safety and can tell you how they protect the people in their care. Look for staff who are experienced in handling horses, clear guidelines for how clients interact with the animals, and appropriate liability insurance. Good safety practices aren’t cold or clinical — they’re part of creating the kind of secure environment where real emotional work can happen.
Question to ask: “What are your safety protocols, and are you fully insured?”
Trust how you feel with a provider: do you feel respected, unhurried, and safe? The therapeutic relationship strongly influences whether therapy works. Also notice honesty — no trustworthy provider promises miracles or guarantees outcomes. A good program sets realistic expectations, is transparent about its approach, and ensures its values align with yours.
Credentials and criteria matter, but so does something quieter: how you feel when you talk with a provider. Do they take time to answer your questions? Do you feel respected, unhurried, and safe? Trust what you notice.
It’s also worth paying attention to how a provider talks about the work itself. Equine therapy can be genuinely life-changing, but no honest provider will promise miracles or guarantee a specific outcome. Healing is a process, not a transaction. A trustworthy program will set realistic expectations, be transparent about their approach, and make sure their values feel aligned with yours — whatever matters most to you and your family.
Question to ask: “Do their answers, their pace, and their values leave me feeling safe and understood?”
You don’t need to be an expert to find good care — you just need to know what questions to ask. Licensing, specialized and evidence-based training, genuine trauma-competence, thoughtful care of the horses, a stable and lasting foundation, real safety practices, and an honest, respectful fit: when those things are in place, you’ve likely found a program worthy of your trust and your story.
At Take Heart Counseling & Equine Assisted Therapy in Wernersville, PA, these standards are the foundation of everything we do, because we believe every person deserves care that is safe, skilled, and full of hope. But more than anything, we hope this guide helps you find the right fit for you — wherever that leads.
If you’d like to learn more about our approach or ask us any of these questions yourself, we’d love to hear from you.
