Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP)
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is an experiential therapeutic practice that uses horses as a way to help clients learn about themselves, heal from trauma, and grow emotionally. Clients will interact with horses in a variety of activities (such as grooming, feeding or leading through obstacles) and work with a therapist who specializes in EAP to discuss and analyze their behaviors and feelings. In EAP therapy, the client works with the horse from the ground (no riding), so previous experience around horses is not necessary. The bond that can develop between horses and people can be very restorative and EAP is used to treat everything from depression, anxiety, ADD, addiction, behavioral issues and abuse, to communication issues and relationship problems.
Local experts in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP)
Rachel Bagley (she/her)
Licensed Professional Counselor
MS, LPC, Certified Hakomi Therapist
I have been trained in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy through Eagala. I work with individual adults and couples in this modality.
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Monica Provence (she/her)
Licensed Marriage Family Therapist
I discovered equine-assisted psychotherapy in graduate school and knew immediately it was where my love of horses and my clinical work were always headed. Horses are uniquely attuned to the nervous system — they respond to what we're actually feeling, not what we're presenting. Working alongside them in nature creates opportunities for connection, regulation, and safety that are hard to replicate anywhere else.
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