Some folks say they offer equine programs that are therapeutic in nature because horses themselves are therapeutic to be around – true – but those are not actually therapy programs.

Please be mindful that Equine Assisted Learning (which is can be an awesome personal/professional development modality) is NOT therapy and should not be used for PTSD, anxiety, depression, etc… ANY of these should be approached from a therapeutic perspective with the presence of a qualified mental health professional. That’s not to say that people who are struggling with specific mental health concerns would not benefit from being around horses if there isn’t a mental health professional present, just that it is be ill-advised to promote any program as being designed to support those populations (1st responders, veterans, youth with anxiety, those living with depression, etc…) without the guidance and intervention of a mental health professional.

When working with vulnerable populations, it is so easy to slip into the zone of therapy without even realizing it and well-intentioned but unqualified facilitators run the risk of causing greater harm to the clients. Even in a corporate training or group development setting, powerful stuff can come to the surface that requires a professional’s understanding of how to assist the person in the moment. Qualified mental health professionals have the specialized training to do this – to intervene in appropriate ways at appropriate times without causing more harm.

Please consider the standards of the models we follow:

“ STANDARDS”

TEAM APPROACH
All Equine sessions involve a team of licensed credentialed Mental Health Professional, qualified Equine Specialist, Horses and Clients.

GROUND-BASED
No horseback riding is involved. Instead effective and deliberate techniques are utilized where the horses become metaphoric in specific ground-based experiences.

SOLUTION ORIENTED
The basis of this work is a belief that all clients have the best solutions for themselves when given the opportunity to discover them. These focused experiences allow clients to explore, problem-solve, overcome challenges and discover.

When you attend a program offered by Unbridled Healing ™ you will be working with both an equine specialist with thousands of hours of equine experience and a qualified mental health professional trained in various therapeutic interventions.