$174/hour

Nature-based, Equine-Assisted Therapy for children and adults (4+) with learning disabilities and neurodivergence, including ADHD, ASD, and PDA.

• Available for self-managed & plan-managed participants

• Terrain may limit accessibility; please contact us to discuss optionsNature-based, Equine-Assisted Therapy for children and adults (4+) with learning disabilities and neurodivergence, including ADHD, ASD, and PDA.

• Available for self-managed & plan-managed participants

• Terrain may limit accessibility; please contact us to discuss options

With immense gratitude, Petra works alongside the horses of Laura Sergovich. The therapy herd varies session-to-session, as services integrate around Laura’s horse training business in Kangaroo Ground. Sessions are non-riding and focus on grounded, relational connection.

Horses are hyper-sensitive prey animals, whose instinctual nature is fine-tuned to identifying every nuance of change in their environment. With a heightened “freeze-fight-flight” response, and the biological capability to regulate quickly and respond immediately to external stimuli, horses are able to flick between arousal states with somatic processes and behaviours that help regulate their nervous systems after a period of being heightened.

As humans are a predator species, horses are highly attuned to our emotions and body language and provide immediate, nonjudgmental biofeedback that helps clients develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, and trust.

As horses are completely nonjudgmental, they value only how you show up in the present moment, reflecting your current internal processes, whether conscious or unconscious, and it is the practitioner’s role to help the client to interpret these cues and responses. Their unique relational presence and the rich metaphorical content they can bring to a session may help provide clients with deeper emotional access, insight, and processing than traditional room-based therapy. The mindfulness that can come with spending time with horses assists clients in accessing a feeling state and learning more easily to understand their bodily-felt sensations, as they are often magnified in the horses’ body language while they pick up on our subtle cues. 

Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL) is rooted in developing skills, confidence, and problem-solving, and facilitators don’t need to be mental health professionals but they must be equine specialists. It is non-clinical, acknowledging that material may present itself in session, however, EAL doesn’t go deep into processing or integrate clinical theory. Activities often include mindful grooming, grounding exercises, obstacle courses and experiential learning. EAL is often aimed at children, corporate teams and groups for team building, leadership programs and at-risk youth.

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) has many similar attributes to EAL but delves deeper into the processing of emotional material, with a focus on healing and growth, addressing mental health struggles and relational challenges, as well as early-stage resourcing for those with PTSD and C-PTSD. The therapy component maintains an integrative approach, combining psychoeducation and interventions with equine interactions. EAP is led by licensed mental health practitioners who are also equine specialists, and contains a lot of EAL principles, particularly in early sessions whilst relationships are being formed and trust is built. EAP can be beneficial for trauma survivors, addressing various mental health concerns, attachment difficulties, and building resilience and emotional awareness in children with learning disabilities such as ADHD, ASD, and PDA profiles.