Professional Counseling

Psychotherapy

The incorporation of equine (i.e., horses and donkeys) interactions and the equine environment into the therapy process by a licensed mental health practitioner is an option in treatment that provides clients an alternative to the traditional office setting. In choosing to include a more natural and experiential environment with your therapist, you still receive the same clinical treatment as you would in the office, but with the added benefit of interacting with equines and the outdoors. Relating to horses and donkeys together with your therapist in nature creates a unique therapeutic synergy to enhance the treatment experience.

Not all treatment or services incorporate equine interactions. This decision is made between your therapist and you and are only included during in person sessions at the farm. Telehealth services do not incorporate animals or nature. 

Therapy and the Human-Equine-Nature Triad

The relationship between humans and equines has demonstrated general wellness and psychological benefits for centuries and as far back as the Days of Hippocrates. The human-animal bond benefits are well documented in research and promulgated across medical and public spheres. Studies highlight that simple contact with an animal can lower blood pressure and respiratory rates and provide a sense of wellbeing and calmness. We also know the healing power of a human’s connection with nature is universal and innate. Integrating equines and the outdoors in a farm environment into already effective mental health treatment enriches the treatment process. Research also demonstrates this alternative to a traditional office setting is an important factor in motivation for humans to participate in and stay in therapy.

Equines are acutely adept and swift to process information via their sensory organs. They are continuously scanning their environment seeking serenity, calmness, safety, and survival. They are innately relational with a high need for socialization with their species. Their uncanny ability to process and respond to environmental stimuli in the here-and-now equips them to provide authentic and immediate feedback about how they perceive their surroundings. Their natural state of being and authenticity in nature and therapeutic milieu helps clients self-reflect and translate these insights into their personal growth endeavors.

Qualified licensed Mental health clinicians integrate the human-equine-nature triad into the therapy process in a manner that helps clients reach their therapeutic goals while enabling them to simultaneously experience the regenerative power of this interconnectedness in the moment.