Equine Assisted Psychotherapy in Ontario
There is something profoundly regulating about being in the presence of horses.
Horses respond honestly, intuitively, and without judgment. They often reflect emotional states, nervous system activation, boundaries, and patterns of connection in ways that can feel immediate and deeply revealing.
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy offers a different kind of therapeutic experience. Rather than sitting in an office talking about patterns intellectually, this work creates opportunities to experience those patterns in real time through connection, awareness, movement, and nervous system regulation.
For many people, especially those who feel emotionally overwhelmed, disconnected from themselves, highly vigilant, or stuck in survival patterns, working alongside horses can create a sense of safety, grounding, and emotional clarity that is difficult to access through words alone.
Who Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Can Help
This work may be especially supportive for individuals struggling with:
anxiety and chronic stress
attachment trauma
overwhelm and emotional burnout
people pleasing and difficulty with boundaries
nervous system dysregulation
relationship patterns and self-trust
disconnection from emotions or the body
highly sensitive or empathic tendencies
Equine work can be particularly powerful for people who have spent years intellectualizing their experiences while remaining disconnected from what they truly feel emotionally and physically.
My Approach
Laura integrates equine-assisted psychotherapy with trauma-focused, somatic, psychodynamic, and experiential approaches to support deeper healing and emotional integration.
Sessions may include elements of nervous system regulation, mindfulness, parts work, emotional processing, and relational awareness while interacting with the horses in a grounded and supportive environment.
No horse experience is necessary.
This work is not about riding or performance. It is about connection, awareness, emotional safety, and creating meaningful shifts that extend beyond the therapy session and into everyday life.
Begin Your Healing Journey
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy offers a unique opportunity to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and explore healing in a more grounded and embodied way.
If you are feeling stuck, overwhelmed, emotionally disconnected, or exhausted from trying to think your way through patterns that are not changing, this work may offer a different path forward.
An important lesson horses teach us is we cannot change the other. We must look within to see what we can change in ourselves or do differently if change is required.
— Laura Lockhart