This month I presented at the Certified Horsemanship
Association
Region 8 Conference on the Role of the Horse and Horse Professional
in Equine Assisted Counseling Sessions.
Often I get asked what do you do for a living and when I reply, “I
practice equine assisted counseling.” I am usually met with a blank stare and
follow up question, “What is that? Do you counsel horses?”
What thoughts come to your mind when you hear the
phrase “Equine Assisted Counseling?”
I define my work as “Partnering clients with horses
and empowering horses to respond freely to what is happening in session to
bring insight, awareness, and healing to clients.”
The horse plays a powerful and dynamic role in
counseling sessions. Horses are sentient
beings and able to respond and react to human emotions and body language, often
times even the subtleties that humans do not recognize. Horses’ sensitivity to emotional and
nonverbal subtleties help clients identify hidden thoughts, feelings and
beliefs about themselves, others and circumstances. As therapeutic partners their responses and
feedback to clients are valuable to the healing process.
During the training I invited three volunteers to
participate in a shortened mock counseling experience. The participants were invited to interact
with three horses at liberty in the arena.
This is what I often call “meet and greet” and is what first time
clients do to select their equine partner for their course of treatment. One related the experience to how she
responds in new settings, another her desire to engage and connect with others
in deep meaningful relationship, another her desire to blend into group
settings. Within the fifteen minute
demonstration of interacting with the horses, participants increased their awareness
of their patterns of behavior and gained greater insight into themselves.
To find out more about counseling services offered
at Freedom Reigns Counseling visit www.freedomreigns.net.