Beyond Words: the Healing Power of Horses

Bridging the Worlds of Equine Assisted Therapy and Psychotherapy

Excerpts from Beyond Words: The Healing Power of Horses The space between words is where we live with horses. In the silence we are truly heard. ******* So much of our sadness, our discontent, our addictions and compulsions are driven by the emptiness we experience when, without being aware of it, we detach from our emotional selves. We often mistake this emptiness as boredom, anxiety, hunger, and/or loneliness. Horses, in their honesty and compassion, help us to reconnect to ourselves, to our humanness. ******* What I have come to believe is that no matter what orientation you bring to psychotherapy, or what equine certification you achieve, the one variable that has been shown to be critically important is the trusting, respectful, and compassionate relationship that develops between therapist and client; whether the therapist has two or four legs is irrelevant! ********** The goal of Beyond Words: The Healing Power of Horses is to connect the advances made in the treatment and understanding of mental health issues with the knowledge we have accrued through the years about the nature of horses. The key is to integrate the two professional worlds of equine specialists and psychotherapists, so that each can appreciate, communicate, and work together to further enhance the practice of Equine Experiential Psychotherapy.