“My life’s calling is to ease suffering, helping people to live in joy and truth.” – Pati Toole
Equine Therapy utilizes the natural sensitive nature of horses. As prey animals, horses are acutely aware of everything happening around them. They read the truth. It is impossible to lie to a horse. When we are not congruent (our behaviors and body language do not match our words and emotions) horses have a way of letting us know.
Horses are very good at taking care of themselves. They serve as examples of health in many ways. How we approach a horse can mimic how we are in human relationships. Equine assisted therapy helps with emotional regulation, anxiety reduction, increased awareness, living in the present moment, healthy boundaries and empowerment. Equine therapy is effective. It has been shown to decrease needed therapy time by a third.
The truest form of Equine Therapy is done with my Equine Specialist partner. Minimum fee to work with both of us is $125.00. I can provide a modified equine assisted therapy alone for my normal hourly rate of $75.00.
A note about working with chronic high stress and trauma:
I am also a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SE) Advanced Level. Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a gentle approach that assists the human body’s natural ability to heal an overworked central nervous system. There is no “disorder” in PTSD. I prefer the term PTSS which stands for Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms.
The body mechanisms employed for survival in high risk situations, natural disasters, combat, and physical emotional sexual abuse (to name a few) are automatic and innovative. The problem is not the trauma itself. You’ve already survived that.
The ongoing ‘problem symptoms’ often lie in a central nervous system no longer working at peak efficacy. Through repeated chronic stress our nervous systems can remain on high alert, collapse or freeze even when the situation no longer calls for that. This can result in an elevated startle response, going into freeze more than you want, disassociation, fatigue and physical pain.
Come learn how to discharge that survival energy and reset your Central Nervous System. SE is not talk therapy but can incorporate talking. In other words, you will not be pushed to talk about your trauma rather you share only what you want at your pace while you heal.
SE may be done with or without the horse. Horses help our nervous systems!