Come try a different type of mental health therapy… with horses, outside & in metro Atlanta!
Individual sessions are 50-minutes and are led by a licensed mental health therapist and an equine specialist who knows the horses and horse behavior. All sessions are outside and conducted on the ground, side by side with the horse. There is no horseback riding and thus no horse experience is needed to start.
The horses are carefully selected for mental health therapy sessions from the therapeutic horse herd who live at Chastain Horse Park. In this horse herd you will find mares, geldings, quarter horses, retired thoroughbred racehorses, retired show and performance horses, rescue horses, paints, warmbloods. There is even a miniature horse who although small, is chocked full of personality!
Each individual session takes place at Chastain Horse Park in an outdoor horse paddock, which serves as a mini arena for the session activities. Tools such as cones and foam noodles are often used in sessions and help in this type of experiential therapy to create meaning and symbolism. Your experience both with the horse and in the space leads to insightful metaphoric learning to help highlight change outside of the horse paddock.
“The horses and their interactions, both with the human client and with each other, become a symbolic reflection of what is happening in a client’s life.”
~ Fundamentals of The Eagala Model, 9th edition training manual
Equine assisted psychotherapy is based in “the doing” rather than in the talking.
This type of animal-assisted, experiential approach to therapy is based in “the doing” rather than in the talking of traditional office therapy. The human-horse connection is also an important part of the therapy, creating emotion in the here and now. The outdoor setting provides a ripe environment to uncover new awareness about things like relational patterns. The therapeutic work tends to dive deeper and quicker with new insights uncovered after just a few sessions.
Current equine assisted psychotherapy individual sessions are open to adults (18+) and adolescents (6th – 12th grade). We are inclusive of all genders, identities, and sexual orientation. Mental health treatment plans are customized for each client in therapy. Adults may enter equine assisted psychotherapy as stand-alone therapy or supplemental therapy. Adolescents must currently be seeing a primary therapist at least every other week to be eligible for equine assisted psychotherapy.
We strongly recommend committing to at least 8 sessions when beginning individual equine assisted psychotherapy. Research suggests that a minimum of 8-12 sessions are needed for this modality of individual therapy to be most effective. Cost is $350/ 50-minute session.
Contact us for more information and to secure a spot on our wait list.
