Equine-Assisted Mental Health for Healing Trauma

Clinicians have long recognized that trauma therapy provides a pathway to recovery, and Equine-Assisted Mental Health for Healing Trauma provides that pathway for those who work with horses and clients together. This book demonstrates a range of equine-assisted mental health approaches and step-by-step strategies for facilitating recovery from trauma for children, adults, and families. Chapters address topics such as chronic childhood trauma, accident-related trauma, complex trauma and dissociation, posttraumatic growth in combat veterans, somatic experiencing and attachment, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), reactive attachment disorder (RAD), relational trauma, and sexual trauma. Experts also provide case studies accompanied by transcript analyses to demonstrate the process of trauma healing. Clinicians will come away from the book with a wealth of theoretical and practical skills and an in-depth, trauma-informed understanding that they can use directly in their work with clients.

Kay Sudekum Trotter, PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S, NCC, CEIP-MH, is a licensed professional counselor supervisor, author, speaker, and consultant, as well as the founder of Kaleidoscope Behavioral Health in Flower Mound, Texas, where she has developed and taught animal-assisted therapy workshops. Dr. Trotter’s groundbreaking research led to one of the first published studies on the effectiveness of equine-assisted mental health. She is the author of Harnessing the Power of Equine Assisted Counseling: Adding Animal Assisted Therapy to Your Practice.

Jennifer N. Baggerly, PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S, is a professor of counseling at University of North Texas at Dallas, a licensed professional counselor supervisor, and a registered play therapist supervisor who also provides counseling at Kaleidoscope Behavioral Health. She is a former chair of the board for the Association for Play Therapy. Dr. Baggerly has taught and provided counseling for children for over 20 years. Her other books include Counseling Families: Play-Based Treatment, Group Play Therapy: A Dynamic Approach, and Child-Centered Play Therapy Research: The Evidence Base for Effective Practice.