Using this model, the treatment team creates an emotionally and physically safe environment where the horses and clients are free to interact.  It requires nothing of the horse except to be a horse, and nothing of the client, except to be present to their experience of the horses as they relate to their specific and unique challenges.

Clients are guided to listen to their own inner thoughts and feelings while connecting and reflecting on what is happening in the arena.  This innovative approach to holding space, and avoiding judgment and interpretation, frees clients to discover their strengths, experience their own solutions, and apply new behaviors, which creates longer-lasting results.

Your Eagala certified treatment team for EAP sessions at Courage Reins consists of a licensed mental health processional (Kaylee Smith, ACMHC), an equine specialist (LeAnne Franke and Ashley Powell), and the horses that work with you.

An Eagala psychotherapy session at Courage Reins is facilitated by a licensed therapist working in conjunction with horses and an equine specialist. The results of such an experience can be life changing.  Incorporating  horses as catalysts for learning can calm anxiety, comfort the soul, and help bring clarity to those struggling with mental and behavioral health disorders.  This alternative modality of treatment allows clients to work in a setting where growth and learning thrive.

Therapy isn’t one-size-fits-all. Horses are exceptionally intuitive and able to read non-verbal cues, which allows for healing where more traditional “talk therapy” has proven ineffective. Eagala sessions can sometimes focus on action—another aspect that sets it apart from other modalities. Through a variety of ground based techniques, breakthroughs are made. Positive outcomes include: regained trust, strengthened relationships, a deeper understanding of cognitive processes, identification of external and internal triggers, and improved communication.