Equine Assisted Counselling

Equine Assisted Counselling (EAC) is a therapeutic approach where horses are incorporated into counselling sessions and act as co-therapists. Horses are highly sensitive to human emotions, providing immediate, non-judgmental feedback which helps clients become more aware of their emotional states and learn to regulate them effectively. This increased emotional awareness and regulation can improve emotional resilience and mental wellbeing.

Working with horses helps individuals develop a deeper understanding of their behavior, emotions, and interpersonal relationships. Horses mirror human emotions, offering immediate feedback that can help individuals gain insight into their own tendencies, strengths, and areas for growth.

Many clients also feel more comfortable being in a natural setting and having a connection with an animal while processing difficult emotional experiences, or when seeking personal growth. The EAC sessions are not limited to those looking to unpack painful or challenging life circumstances, but are also valuable for those looking to learn more about themselves and become more actualised versions of themselves through continued personal growth.

How EAC Sessions Work

EAC Sessions begin much like other traditional counselling sessions, with an intake session. This is held at the stables where the client can observe the environment and the horses, but less interaction with the horses takes place in this initial session as it is used to gather information and set therapeutic goals for the following sessions.

In the sessions thereafter, the client is able to interact with, connect with, and receive feedback from the horses via therapeutically structured activities and experiences. I am present at all times during these sessions to maintain the healing space, but at some times the clients will be interacting with the horses in silence, or speaking solely to them.

EAC sessions are flexible and can comprise of a large element of talk therapy and a compassionate space for the client to share with me and with the horses the burden they are carrying. However, EAC sessions can also represent a more private and embodied space for clients to process physically and emotionally their emotional experiences with more input from the horses and less input from me, should this be desired and therapeutically indicated.