What would it take to accept yourself in this very moment?

… if you’re not even sure how to answer that question, I see you and you’re not alone, in fact you’re exactly where you need to be.

Learning how to be with our experience, with our feelings, and to accept ourselves in any given moment is something that horses can teach us.

They give us the chance to experience a relationship without judgement or expectations. They show us how to be, to feel, to accept, to connect, so that we can learn to do this for ourselves… and that is simply life changing.

So how do we experience this..,

… through equine assisted psychotherapy.

The EPI Model of EAP

The Equine Psychotherapy Institute (EPI) Model is informed by psychotherapy and counselling research outcomes that show that the therapeutic relationship is one of the key ingredients to change. It also incorporates contemporary trauma practice based on neuroscience and somatic based practice, psychological theory and psychotherapeutic practice, and Horse Wisdom – seeing horses as teachers who model and teach us about health and life skills (including being aware, embodied, and authentic in relationship).

What does the science say?

The EPI Model of equine psychotherapy is a trauma-informed, developmentally sensitive model that incorporates a somatic and neuroscience based approach. It includes a sensory, somatic and a ‘bottom up’ processing approach that works to support brain development and emotional and social healing for clients with trauma, from the lower and mid-brain regions (brainstem and limbic regions) to the higher cortex functions.

The 3 R’s of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy will help you learn how to regulate (your nervous system), relate (to support you to experience safe, healthy relationships), and reason (you will learn how to understand your patterns, reflect, reason and develop your resilience).

Here are some examples what skills you could learn through equine assisted psychotherapy to develop the 3Rs:

• Tracking your nervous system: you will learn how to notice and become aware of your nervous system state (ventral vagal, sympathetic nervous system, dorsal vagal) via tracking and subtle shifts in your body. These skills will help you learn to identify what your body is communicating to you, and how you can best support it to find a regulated state.

• Resourcing: you will learn all about resourcing, a skill that will help you develop a sense of safety and somatic, cognitive and emotional wellbeing.

• Outbreath: you will learn the ‘let down’ breath, and how this breath helps to re-regulate the nervous system.

• Grounding: you will learn how to ‘ground’, by bringing awareness to your feet meeting the ground, and how that support is there for you, always.

• Outer Zone Orienting:  you will learn how to mindfully direct your attention to the resources around you (your five senses), promoting a slowing down and connection to your experience by sensing into your environment, supporting a calm and connected sense of awareness and safety. Outer zone awareness is extremely helpful for those struggling with anxiety or trauma.

• The Horses: for many of us, interacting with horses (or animals) feels emotionally safer than people. Through equine assisted psychotherapy, you will discover that the horses are a ‘safe place’, and acts as co-regulators so you can access that soothing function, feel supported and calm - all supporting regulation and relational safety.

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