Equine Assisted Therapy
Helping individuals and families of all ages through a variety of challenges.
Individual Sessions
One hour individual counseling at the ranch for equine or traditional therapy, or from the comfort of your home virtually via telehealth.
$175
Couple Sessions
Strengthen your marriage or relationship through experiential learning with equine activities. You may also choose traditional therapy or meet virtually via telehealth.
$195
Family Sessions
Learn and heal together through equine activities, traditional therapy, or virtually via telehealth (as needed; in-person preferred).
$195
Groups & Workshops
You're not alone. Specialty offerings designed around mental, emotional, and social wellbeing. Contact us to see which experience would most benefit you or your family.
See our upcoming events calendar!
Counseling Intensives
Great for those who travel long-distance, or those ready to dive deep. Longer counseling sessions available depending on your goals, from 2-6 hours, multiple days if needed.
Starting at $175
Corporate Retreats
Equine guided retreats and workshops for experiential learning and growth as a team. Each event is tailored to your group's specific goals! Starting at $295
Equine assisted therapy is experiential and metaphorical in nature, meaning what clients experience with the horses has meaning for them outside the farm as well. Although a relatively new mode of psychotherapy, studies are proving it to be an effective and efficient alternative or addition to traditional counseling. Many of our clients have tried traditional methods of counseling and found equine assisted therapy to be a better fit for them.
It is highly effective – what you put in, you WILL get out of it! The horses provide unique insights that allow us to grow in self-awareness and practice change during sessions, which often speeds up the therapeutic process. Our clients feel a change in the first few sessions, and many start making changes that have powerful effects on their lives in as few as 4 or 6 sessions. This form of therapy is flexible – it can be a very fast way to resolve specific issues and learn empowering skills for your situation in the short-term and continue to help you find deeper healing in the long-term. We have some clients who “finish” therapy in 12-16 weeks, while others choose to stay longer. Either way, it is our privilege to be part of your journey.
Each of our therapists are trained in trauma-focused equine assisted psychotherapy through the Natural Lifemanship Institute. Each of our sessions are unique. Activities may include feeding, grooming, leading the horse, groundwork exercises, or horseback riding. Session activities are specially designed to fit your goals and will vary; however, all sessions use evidence-based and trauma-informed techniques. Some sessions may be more learning-oriented, and experiential, meaning you will practice skills which translate into other situations you may be facing. Some sessions will be more psychotherapeutic, in which deep healing through corrective experiences may occur. Each session ends with a time of processing and discussing the activities. We encourage you to process what you are learning and provide ideas for applying it in your life outside of the session.
We are each made up of body, mind, spirit, and soul – and each part of us is inseparable. Equine assisted therapy is a powerful model for addressing each part of our being. Working outdoors, in a safe and beautiful environment, moving naturally as you work with the animals… this is a place where you can just “be.”
What diagnoses does Take Heart treat?
Our counselors specialize in a wide variety of both clinical and life concerns. We know that you are more than a diagnosis. Our clients are all ages, demographics, and have a variety of mental health concerns they want to work on and grow through. We’ll walk with you and your family through real life challenges to rediscover hope, healing, and wholeness.
Additionally, we serve groups of leaders, pastors, teams, and co-workers with uniquely designed experiential workshops. We enjoy empowering other helping professionals to serve at their best and overcome burnout and compassion fatigue. Teachers, medical professionals, therapists – we’re here for you, too!
Clinical concerns including:
- Addictions/Substance Use
- ADHD
- Autism Spectrum (ASD)
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Attachment Struggles
- Behavior
- Depression
- Disordered Eating
- Personality Disorders
- Self-Destructive Behaviors
- Self-Injury
- Trauma or PTSD
Life struggles:
- Assertiveness
- Communicating
- Challenging Family Situations
- Grief & Loss
- Identity
- Increasing Confidence
- Leadership
- Life Transitions
- Marriage Struggles
- Relationships
- Regrets
- Shame
- Spiritual Questions
- Teamwork Difficulties
What if I'm not sure about horses?
That’s ok! You have full choice in your therapeutic journey. We will never push you to work with horses.
If you are nervous about them, we can help you work through that if you want. We take things slow and help you feel more comfortable. We know they are big animals!
If you want to just enjoy the ranch environment, we can do sessions walking around our trail, or sitting outdoors or in one of our barn offices.
Maybe you are interested in working with our therapists simply because of our specialties, and not because of the horses – that is ok! We are all trained initially in traditional therapy, and able to provide in-person or virtual telehealth counseling sessions as well.
Since Take Heart is Christian-based, do I have to be a Christian?
No, you do not have to be Christian. In fact, we regularly work with people of other faith backgrounds or those who don’t believe at all. Everyone is welcome at Take Heart. We are all on a spiritual journey, and don’t have to be at the same place to work together. Our background is Christian and our work is grounded in our faith, but we meet you where YOU are at. You get to decide how much or little to include spiritual topics at all in your therapy sessions!
Why is equine therapy effective for anxiety and depression?
In anxiety, our brain is constantly looking for solutions to real and perceived problems. We are constantly looking for felt safety.
In depression, our brain is constantly focusing on the negative or what is perceived as “unsafe.” We tend to collapse inward to prevent further wounds from the outside world.
At the ranch, the environment is peaceful and grounding. Fresh air, sunshine, and the ground beneath our feet cue our nervous system that we are safe, and helps us refocus so that we can work on ways to deal with anxious thoughts. Horses bring in movement as well as authentic relationship – which also cue safety in our brain and body.
Horses are honest with us about what is happening in the moment, and relate to us uniquely. Sometimes, horses will nudge, yawn, stretch, or exhale – all to cue you to do the same and release some of the tension you are feeling. Sometimes, they will wait to connect fully with you, until you are more regulated and able to connect fully with yourself.
This real-time feedback allows you practice skills for working through negative thoughts, and experience connection with your self, the horse, and the therapist. Connection literally begins producing chemicals and new neurons for re-wiring your brain – the literal process of physical healing that happens in mental and emotional healing. Instead of just talking about certain skills or changes to make, you can practice them in-the-moment with the horse and experience change immediately.
Why is equine therapy effective for trauma & PTSD?
Trauma can occur in single situations, or long-term situations (chronic traumatic stress). The situations can be “big T” (life-threatening and usually meet the DSM-V diagnostic criteria for PTSD), or “little t” (may not be life-threatening and typically do not meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD). We define all trauma as “something that put you outside of your ability to cope.”
Either way, traumatic experiences literally change the makeup of your brain.
Connection is what creates healing in your brain: safe, repeated connection literally rebuilds and rewires your brain. And horses provide the authentic, safe connection needed for healing.
At the ranch, the environment is peaceful and grounding. Fresh air, sunshine, and the ground beneath our feet cue our nervous system that we are safe, and helps us refocus so that we can work on ways to overcome our past experiences. Horses bring in movement as well as authentic relationship – which also cue safety in our brain and body.
Horses are honest with us about what is happening in the moment, and relate to us uniquely. Sometimes, horses will nudge, yawn, stretch, or exhale – all to cue you to do the same and release some of the tension you are feeling. Sometimes, they will wait to connect fully with you, until you are more regulated and able to connect fully with yourself. This real-time feedback allows you practice skills for working through negative thoughts, and experience connection with your self, the horse, and the therapist. Connection literally begins producing chemicals and new neurons for re-wiring your brain – the literal process of physical healing that happens in mental and emotional healing.
Additionally, things like walking with a horse or riding a horse provide bilateral stimulation to your brain which also cues safety, making it easier to verbally process painful experiences.
Change is hard for anyone. Instead of just talking about certain skills or changes to make, you can practice them in-the-moment with the horse and experience the benefits immediately.
Why is equine therapy effective for families?
Children learn best through play – and parents, believe it or not, so do adults! Because we all learn best through play – active experiences bring healing and growth much faster to the therapeutic experience. Our clinicians design activities to facilitate discussions in the areas needed, which allows us to not just talk about change, but actually practice it in-the-moment.
How we interact with the horses brings up family dynamics organically – so there’s no need for the “he-said, she-said” kind of thing. We can just work through the things that come up in session and strategize ways to practice change at home, outside the ranch.
Why is equine therapy effective for neurodiverse clients?
Working with horses engages the entire brain – which helps develop skills in areas needing growth. It can also be more motivating for you to practice new skills when working with an animal who responds honestly in the moment – horses don’t pretend, use metaphorical speech, or hide what they are thinking!
Equine activities naturally bring up topics of discussion and learning opportunities for developing social skills, communication skills, emotional regulation, body and self awareness, and empathetic understanding. The authentic connection involved provides the literal brain healing for whatever your goals – skill development or emotional or mental health goals.
Horses live “in the moment” and have distinct individual personalities. As herd animals, they are extremely relationship-oriented. Horses intuitively and honestly respond to the emotions of those around them, creating opportunity for self-awareness and practice building relationships. After all, we are hurt through relationships, but we also need relationships to heal. Horses become the safe relationship where we can heal before transferring our learning to life off the ranch.
Bonding with horses facilitates a process in which clients can gain insight into their circumstances and how they currently interact in them through experience, as well as practice change in a forgiving environment. Along the way, clients develop confidence, patience, mutual respect, responsibility, problem-solving abilities, healthy coping techniques, and other life skills organically through interactions with the horses. Additionally, building safe relationships with horses provides practice with many important life skills that improve one’s mental health. We learn to set clear boundaries, develop appropriate expectations of ourself and others, listen to our intuition when discerning a situation, empathize with another, as well as validate and respectfully express our own thoughts, feelings, and needs.
Individual sessions are available for clients age 3+. Sessions are also available for families and couples. We encourage families to heal together so that each person learns new skill for facing challenges together.
Typically, sessions are one hour long, but we can also do 90-minute, 2 hour, or longer intensive sessions as needed. Talk with us about your goals and we can design a program to meet your needs.
Insurance Information
Take Heart is not in-network with any commercial insurance companies. However, you may be covered if your primary physician writes you a prescription for equine assisted psychotherapy.
If your insurance plan offers out-of-network benefits, it means they will cover a portion of the cost. Unlike in-network providers, who bill your insurance company directly, with Take Heart having out-of-network therapists, you will pay for the session upfront and then submit a claim to your insurance for reimbursement. Insurance companies often reimburse a percentage of Take Heart’s fee, usually after you meet an out-of-network deductible. For example, after you meet a $1,000 deductible, your insurance may reimburse 50-80% of the session cost. Out-of-network benefits give you the flexibility to choose a therapist based on your needs and preferences, not just those in-network!
You may be covered by your HSA/FSA. You would have to contact them to discuss eligibility. Be sure to mention you are working with licensed professional therapists offering equine assisted therapy services.
We work with Mentaya, a platform that helps clients get money back on out-of-network therapy sessions. If you have out-of-network benefits, Mentaya will file claims and handle the insurance paperwork to make sure you get reimbursed. They charge a 5% fee per claim and have helped people get thousands of dollars back per year. Use the Benefits Checker tool to see if you qualify for reimbursement for our services. You can also sign up by clicking HERE.
Note: Mentaya’s goal is to save you time and money. It’s completely optional, and we do not benefit in any way from your participation with Mentaya. Our reason for utilizing Mentaya is to help you get reimbursement through your insurance company, without the headache of doing so on your own.
Ready to start your life changing journey?
Wherever you are at on your journey, we are here for you. Our human and equine team will walk alongside you so you can find hope, healing, and wholeness in your life. You are worth it. Don't hesitate, reach out to us today.