Horses Helping Humans

Psychologist, mentor, educator, and speaker. With over 35 years of professional experience, Paul T. Haefner, Ph.D. focuses his energy these days serving the equestrian community. In 1998 he founded Riding Far, LLC to provide a broad range of sport and performance psychology services for riders. He is passionate about learning and integrating knowledge and skills from a wide range of perspectives, academic disciplines, and worlds of human experience. In addition to 30+ years of experience as a teacher and psychotherapist, Dr. Haefner is a certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and a Neurolinguistic Programming Master practitioner. He has worked extensively with equestrians of all ages and disciplines and finds great joy in helping people create meaningful change in their lives and in their riding.

In 2018 Dr, Haefner joined forces with his son and talented horse trainer, Justin Haefner. This exciting new partnership at Riding Far, LLC has expanded our offerings to include help for the horse as well as the human. Our synergistic focus on horse and rider together, and all the rich complexity of that system, has opened the door for transforming the experience of horses and riders in ways we never could when working separately. In addition to individual consultation, Dr, Haefner regularly presents seminars and workshops focused on overcoming obstacles in human-horse relationships and increasing heartfelt enjoyment of our life with horses.

Transformational Experiences for Equestrians and Horses - Riding Far LLC

Mena Canonico is the Founder of Liberty Lane Retreats, located just north of Toronto, Canada. Mena left a successful 16-year corporate career in 2006 to pursue her purpose and create more meaning in her life. Horses galloped back into her life in 2009, and while she instantly knew how powerful it would be to incorporate them into her business (then called DARE TO BE REAL Coaching & Consulting), she was terrified of them because of a traumatic experience she had as a teen. She made it her mission to overcome her fear, and by 2015, she moved from a 1 bedroom apartment to a 30-acre horse property and had 7 horses join her in less than a week.

Mena now joins forces with the Freedom Herd - her Dream team of former rescue horses - to offer game-changing retreats and experiences for women who are feeling stuck, frustrated or trapped, yet silently yearn to live more authentically and create an impact in the world. Alongside her horses, Mena assists clients with overcoming fear, self-doubt, and unresolved trauma so they can make dramatic changes in their lives, experience more peace of mind, and ultimately align with their soul's calling - in much less time than it took her.

https://www.libertylaneretreats.com

Lidia Kuleshnyk is a Renaissance Woman and founder of AponaHealing.com, she brings together 30 years of passion, expertise, and wisdom in four pathways, for every stage of personal development, to help you live a Centered, Connected and Conscious™ Life.

Her Apona Healing Ranch offers Equine-Assisted Therapy and Equine Healing Retreats to help you return to wholeness through heart-centered, transformational relationships with horses. Retreats are designed for client's unique goals and needs, including private, group and corporate retreats.

Through her own incredible journey, starting at the age of 10, She developed a deep relationship with horses, animals and nature. This connection helped her heal her chronic health conditions, master her inner power, and reclaim her sovereignty.

She loves sharing her passion, vision and mission as a Thought Leader, 3 X Best Selling Author, Columnist with Expert Profile Magazine and Executive Contributor to Brainz Magazine.

Honoured to be a recipient of the Global Super Minds Award by Expert Profile Magazine, Global Women Leaders Award by Passion Vista Magazine and being featured in Who's Who Of The World Industries by Unified Brainz Group.

www.AponaHealing.com

Dr. Giselle Faubel is a world-renowned psychologist with a passion for equine-assisted therapy and coaching. After graduating from Harvard, she began her career as a pediatric neuropsychologist and has since dedicated her life to applying the powerful relationship between humans and horses in therapeutic and corporate settings. She is the founder of Equulibrium, an organization that provides equine-supported therapy and executive coaching and has transformed the lives of countless individuals while garnering international recognition. Her work with veterans has been featured by National Geographic and she has led workshops around the world focused on treating autism, trauma, substance abuse, and other mental health conditions. Dr. Faubel's innovative work has left a lasting mark on the world of psychology and horse-human connections. Dr. Faubel is eager to share her wealth of knowledge and experience with the world in her upcoming book: "Horses Transforming Lives: From Innocence to Wisdom." It aims to enlighten readers about the profound healing potential of equine therapy and showcase how these majestic beings can be powerful catalysts for personal growth and transformation.

For more information on upcoming retreats please visit: Home (equulibrium.com)

This episode is a recording of the way I teach the body scan. This technique is taught and utilized in many of my workshops AND with clients working with their horses. The body scan is designed to help us attune to our sensing body, enabling us to better "hear" the messages we are receiving through our body. The secret is to begin to dialogue and hear what's being communicated at a whisper, or the subtlest emotion, enhancing our decision-making. Really, it's about going straight to "the horse's mouth" as it were!

Please feel free to use this recording in your daily practice and share with me how it's working for you.

Cathy

Kate Nicoll, LCSW, RPT, is the founder and CEO of Soul Friends, Inc: Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of CT. Kate grew up with a deep love and gratitude for her animal friends and how they helped her in times of childhood trauma. A graduate of Elms College and Smith College, Kate has worked in a variety of settings, including medical and psychiatric in-patient hospitals, private practices serving geriatric and adolescent clients, home care agencies and hospice. As a young widowed woman with two children, Kate ran a grief program with the COVE for families and a young widows group. At the age of 37, Kate came home from work as a social worker and then overnight became partially paralyzed from the neck down from a virus, leaving her with a devastating disability that still impacts her today. Over several months, Kate noticed her dog responding to her physical and emotional pain - and this led to her taking a year-long certificate in Animal Assisted Therapy and led to the founding of Soul Friends, Inc. In the past 20 years, Kate has presented at national and international conferences on the healing benefits of animals for children and families with trauma and loss. Her equine-assisted psychotherapy curriculum, Horses Inspire, was the first in the country to provide a parent-relationship program for veteran and first responder families with the healing benefits of horses. She is EAGALA certified, Natural Lifemanship, International Assisted Play Therapy, and Arenas for Change trained, as well as in equine EMDR. Her first horse relationship with Easter Dawn, and now with Sweetie and Joey drive her passion in the field.

Soul Friends – Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Connecticut – Healing the hearts of children one wagging tail at a time… (soul-friends.org)

Leif is considered one of the foremost leading experts in the equine-assisted mental health (EAMH) and equine-assisted learning (EAL) industry. Leif has been involved with EAMH/EAL since its inception in the early 1990s – participating in a majority of the milestone moments, leading the industry towards a new level of insight and awareness, and chronicling its growth and development all along the way.

Leif's first book (published in 2008) Walking the Way of the Horse: Exploring the Power of the Horse-Human Relationship has been called "the definitive" text for the EAMH/EAL industry and was the first to define and describe the various models or ways of including horses in mental health and learning services. Her second book (published in 2018) The Clinical Practice of Equine-Assisted Therapy: Including Horses in Human Healthcare is considered the preeminent scholarly text by colleges and universities, and professionals refer to it as the essential resource for research and clinical practice. Leif's 2017 and 2018 international cross-sectional practice pattern research projects are the largest conducted to date and have provided the industry with critical data about emerging practice trends. Leif has designed countless EAMH/EAL programs and provided training and education to thousands of practitioners both in the US and internationally. She advises national and international associations, provides keynote addresses and other presentations at conferences around the world, and supports the industry's growth and evolution through public outreach and education efforts.

https://leifhallberg.com/

David is a certified Experiential Learning with Horses Instructor. He graduated from the Eponaquest Program in Tucson, AZ in 2005 and has since completed his Somatic Experiencing Training – the body-based intervention discipline created by Dr. Peter Levine, author of Waking the Tiger and In an Unspoken Voice. He's also a therapist in private practice and a Life Coach certified by Dr. Martha Beck.

Early on, David developed his clinical skills by working with inmates in the New York State Correctional System and outpatient clients at the psychiatric clinic of St. Vincent's Hospital in NYC.

In 2009, David partnered with Jane Strong to create The Equus Effect, a unique experiential learning with horses program, which has seen upwards of 2,000 participants since its formal rollout as a non-profit in 2012. In 2017, he concurrently began delivering the program at the renowned High Watch Recovery Center in Kent, CT. The Equus Effect program is currently being researched by the VA and Yale University through a 2-year study to determine feasibility and acceptability within a randomized clinical trial design.

He brings his inherent gifts of compassion, curiosity, and intuition to this work and has an uncanny sense of identifying the human concerns that lie beneath the surface. In his unique, empathetic way, David is able to help veterans and others in high-stress environments learn how to make sense of feelings and discover new ways of seeing through old patterns so that they can move from surviving to thriving. The Equus Effect | Somatic Experiencing with Horses

Lynn Thomas, LCSW, Co-founder/CEO of Arenas for Change (ARCH) and Co-founder/President of Horses for Mental Health

Lynn Thomas has been in the industry of incorporating horses for mental health for over 25 years. She co-founded and developed the Eagala Model of training in 1999, playing a significant part in pioneering the growth of involving horses in mental health services globally. Then, in 2021, she cofounded two new organizations, Arenas for Change (ARCH) and Horses for Mental Health, to expand training and awareness of the impact horses can have for mental health and personal development.

Arenas for Change (ARCH) provides a collaborative professional community and accessible online and in-person learning focused on strengthening our facilitation skillsets, increasing psychological safety, and applying a story mindset in sessions incorporating horses, animals and nature.

Horses for Mental Health (HMH) is a nonprofit advocacy organization to increase awareness, public engagement, funds and access to programs incorporating horses for mental health and personal growth. Through the annual Seen Through Horses campaign, started in 2022, HMH convenes philanthropists, ambassadors, companies, governments, and programs to work in collaboration expanding the role horses play in mental health and realize our collective vision of a world where all mental health needs are met – together.

Websites: www.arenasforchange.com and www.horsesformentalhealth.org

Linda Kohanov is an internationally-recognized author, speaker, riding instructor and horse trainer. She is a pioneer in the field of Equine-Facilitated Learning and a respected writer on the subject of Equine-Facilitated Therapy. In 1997, she founded an Arizona-based collective of horse professionals, educators, coaches and mental health professionals exploring the potential of the horse-human bond. That organization, now called Eponaquest Worldwide, has grown to serve clients on six continents. Her first bestselling book The Tao of Equus was selected as one of the top books of 2001 by Amazon.com and received appreciative reviews in publications as diverse as Horse and Rider, Natural Horse, IONS Noetic Sciences Review, Spirituality and Health, and Strides. Four more books followed, including Riding Between the Worlds: Expanding Our Potential through the Way of the Horse, Way of the Horse: Equine Archetypes for Self Discovery, The Power of the Herd: A Nonpredatory Approach to Social Intelligence, Leadership, and Innovation, and her latest The Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Approach to Socially Intelligent Leadership. Linda's books have been translated into French, German, Dutch, and Czech, and are used as texts at universities.

While Linda often works with horses to teach people advanced human development skills, she also has a gift for helping people take "horse wisdom" into the home, the workplace, schools, and other human environments, offering equine-inspired insights on relationship, leadership, non-verbal communication, creativity, power, spirituality, authenticity, healing, and balance. Her new online video-based training Connections: Life Wisdom from the Herd teaches skills without horses that can be immediately used in personal and professional development settings.

Linda has appeared at numerous conferences and retreat centers, including the 2008 Organization Development Conference, the Omega Institute in New York, Naropa University in Boulder, CO, the 2005 International Transpersonal Conference, Hollyhock British Columbia, the 2003 North American Riding for the Handicapped Conference, and the 2008 Equine Guided Education Conference, among many other venues. Linda's seminars attract business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, scientists, mental health professionals, artists, spiritual leaders, and activists from six continents.

Go to www.eponaquest.com for info on upcoming in-person and online workshops. Receive 10 percent off any in-person workshop with Linda (except extended facilitator training programs) by writing to [email protected] with the name of the workshop you are interested in, mentioning that you heard about this offer through the Horses Helping Humans podcast.

For the next month (March 2023), people can also receive a special 40 percent discount on Linda's online course Connections 101: Life Wisdom of the Herd, by registering at the following link and entering the coupon code "horseshelpinghumans40" at check out when you enroll in the course. That direct link to the online course registration and description is https://nelda.tv/connections-with-linda-kohanov/

information on mustang adoption can be found at Homepage - Mustang Heritage Foundation