This is an interactive therapy program involving an equine specialist and a licensed mental health counselor (who are each specially certified in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy), along with the client and the horse. The client engages in activities with the horses and is given an opportunity to explore and process evolving thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
Clients experience the full spectrum of human emotions and try out more successful behavioral responses, relating them directly back to experiences in their everyday life.
The "HEALTHY MINDS | HEALTHY BODIES" program is not a replacement for your current counseling, but is conducted as an enhancement to other therapies and care plans.
The Young People's Group is an equine-assisted psychotherapy program designed for high school and college-aged individuals who are navigating identity, relationships, emotional regulation, and life transitions.
This group offers a supportive, non-judgmental space where participants can explore personal growth alongside horses—using experiential, body-based learning rather than talk therapy alone. Through guided interactions with the horses, participants gain insight into patterns of behavior, communication, and emotional responses in real time.
In this team-approach therapy, clients work with horses inside the safety of a quiet arena, and all activity is done on the ground with the horses who are each intentionally 'at liberty' without halters or reins, and not ridden. The horses are allowed to interact with the client as they choose.
This freedom of choice creates a nonjudgmental space for the client to reflect, project, and discover meaningful solutions for themselves.
These sessions bring a refreshing change and help you find restorative relaxation from a too-busy world. We help you carve out time and space where you can reflect, connect and experience physical and emotional renewal.
We combine modified relaxation techniques in a peaceful setting that brings the beauty and self-awareness of horses into the peace-finding process. Our horses teach us by example how to live in the moment we inhabit. You can attend one or several of our sessions.
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Julie Tucker Ponder - LCSW, CADC, President of Psychiatric Assoc. of Central Illinois, Founder of J. PONDER COUNSELING AND COACHING, AND Pastures of Hope, provided at Wholer Stables.