HEAL

Healing Horses Therapeutic Center

Connecting with horses builds trust

It is our mission and our passion to bring people and horses together to promote emotional growth and learning and to help with a variety of emotional, behavioral, neurological and developmental health issues.

Direct Services

Culturally Competent Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (CEAP) is used to help with a variety of mental health issues. We put our clients and horses together with licensed therapists and horse specialists in an environment designed to promote healing, emotional growth, and learning.

Professional Development

EHI Training and Resource Center programs emphasize cultural competency, diversity, and inclusion training for therapists, students, and equine specialists. Some programs provide professionals with CEUs.

GALLOP Culturally Competent Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Training and Certification

Ebony Horsewomen, Inc. is providing scholarships for mental health and certification training in the modality of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy for licensed mental health professionals and Horse Specialists from the Connecticut and Massachusetts area who want to enhance their clinical practice. We strongly encourage BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) to apply in order to increase the availability of this therapeutic modality to people of color.

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is an effective alternative to other forms of psychotherapy and is being practiced by many organizations nationwide. The EHI model is unique in that it addresses the cultural differences, needs, and approaches for clients’ diverse demographics.  The goal of our training program is to help to form and strengthen collaborative relationships within the mental health field including, local BIPOC-led clinical care practices, professional associations and educational institutions for BIPOC mental health students and practitioners.

The four-week virtual curriculum, to be offered starting with the February 4th class which will cover the following topics:

  • Identify equine body language and reactions

  • Identify and understand predator vs prey/ horse vs human reactions

  • Incorporating the horse as a diagnostic tool in a psychotherapy session

  • Introduce the principles of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP)

  • Understand the crucial factors in the application of cultural competency in EAP

  • Application of effective tools for diagnostic, formative, and summative assessment in therapeutic sessions

Class Logistics Classes are held virtually twice a week on, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7 pm - 8:30 pm. Students will be assigned readings, participate in discussions led by licensed clinical social workers and PhD’s who are certified Equine Psychotherapists, and receive weekly, graded assignments. They will then participate in a one (1) day, in-person, (weekend 9:30 am - 12:30 pm) hands-on sessions at the EHI campus. Certification will be awarded based on attendance and test results.

Scholarship Requirements

  • Only trainees from Connecticut and Massachusetts are eligible for scholarships. Scholarships may not be available for every training session. For more information, please call our office.

  • Trainees must sign a scholarship agreement which will be provided upon enrollment.

  • Trainees must attend three (3) shadowing sessions with a certified therapist at EHI (schedule determined by instructor and student).

  • Trainees are required to serve a six-month internship at EHI. Internship hours are determined upon the trainee’s availability.

Schedule of classes for 2025

Session 1: Virtual classes 2/4/2025 - 2/27/2025, one day in-person training 3/1/2025

Session 2: Virtual classes 4/8/2025 - 5/1/2025, one day in-person training 5/3/2025

Session 3: Virtual classes 9/9/2025 - 10/2/2025, one day in-person training 10/4/2025

Program Application Those applying for the Horse Specialist training must have at least 1000 hours of hands-on horse experience, while those applying for Equine Assisted Psychotherapist training do not need equine experience, but must be currently a Mental Health Professional. We strongly encourage BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) to apply to increase the availability of this therapeutic modality to people of color. If interested, please complete this application form and submit it to our offices at info@ebonyhorsewomen.us. If accepted to the program, applicants will receive a packet containing acceptance letter, schedule, course requirements and course syllabus.

Please call our offices at (860)293-2914 if you have questions.