On the Threshold of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy
Spots at Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center, (LAR, 2025)
There is something ancient in the way a horse meets us—head lowered, eyes wide, ears attuned to the subtlest tremor of breath. In that moment of encounter, words fall away. What remains is presence: the felt truth of who we are and how we move through the world. Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is born of this encounter. It is a therapeutic practice that invites clients into the quiet honesty of the horse, where healing comes not through analysis alone but through the embodied wisdom of relationship, movement, and silence.
Since 2023, I have had the privilege of volunteering at Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center, where I have witnessed, again and again, the remarkable ways horses serve as mirrors, companions, and teachers. Each therapeutic riding session carries its own subtle magic—the nervous child who softens when a horse breathes in rhythm with her, the weary adult who discovers a steadier ground walking alongside a gentle gelding. These moments have confirmed for me what I have long intuited: horses hold a gift for helping us return to ourselves.
In 2024, already contemplating bringing equine assisted psychotherapy into my practice, I completed a weekend-seminar training in Materson Method™, where I studied equine physiology and learned massage techniques designed to support the horse’s well-being. This experience not only deepened my appreciation for the physical and emotional needs of horses but also strengthened my commitment to caring for them as partners in the therapeutic process.
To carry this work forward, I am embarking on certifications through both EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association) and PATH International (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship). EAGALA’s model centers on metaphor and process, with therapist, equine specialist, and client working as a triad. PATH offers a broad framework of equine-assisted services, rooted in safety, equine welfare, and therapeutic presence. Together, these trainings will prepare me to bring EAP into my practice with integrity and depth.
Horses bring unique gifts to therapy, gifts that shape the foundation of EAP:
A Social Herd Structure
Like us, horses are profoundly social beings. Within their herds, they live in relationship—attuned to one another, aware of boundaries, and responsive to shifting roles. When we step into their presence, we are invited into that same web of connection, where trust, communication, and belonging take shape in lived experience.
Resilience and Persistence
To care for a horse and to build relationship with one is not instantaneous—it requires time, patience, and steady attention. In this way, horses teach us resilience. They mirror back our persistence, reminding us that authentic connection is not given but cultivated, step by step, breath by breath.
Large and Powerful Size
The presence of a horse is undeniable. With their sheer size and quiet strength, they command our awareness. Standing beside them, we are reminded of our own vulnerability—and, in turn, our courage. Horses help us encounter the balance between respect and trust, fear and curiosity, humility and confidence.
Prey Animal
Despite their power, horses are prey animals, finely tuned to the rhythms of safety and survival. They read the subtlest shifts in energy, body language, and emotion. Their feedback is immediate and honest, offering us valuable awareness of how we move through the world. In their presence, we are invited to notice, adapt, and create new patterns of being.
(Adapted from the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, EAGALA)
EAP has shown profound benefit for those navigating trauma, grief, anxiety, depression, attachment wounds, and life transitions. For many, especially those who feel “stuck” in traditional therapy, the barn becomes a threshold. The horse, with its attunement and honesty, calls forth trust, boundary-setting, communication, and self-regulation in ways that words alone cannot.
It is my hope to offer Equine Assisted Psychotherapy by 2026, weaving together my depth-oriented practice with the living wisdom of horses. In their presence, I imagine a healing space where psychology, myth, and nature converge—a field where the human soul may find both mirror and companion on the path toward wholeness.
Lisa A. Rainwater, PhD, MA (couns), LCMHC, CCMHC, CCTP, CT is the owner of Rainwater Counseling in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she provides depth psychotherapy and relational attachment and grief counseling to individuals and couples. She earned a master’s in German Studies from the University of Oregon; a master’s in Counseling from Wake Forest University; and a doctorate in German and Scandinavian Studies (folklore) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lisa holds certification in Jungian and Post-Jungian Clinical Concepts and engages in ongoing coursework from the Centre of Applied Jungian Studies. She is a Certified Dialogue Therapist for Couples — a psychoanalytic and mindfulness-based couples modality. Lisa is a Certified Thanatologist in Death, Dying, and Bereavement through the Association of Death Education and Counseling and has trained at the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition in Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction. Currently, she is enrolled in Finding Ourselves in Fairytales: A Narrative Psychological Approach—an 8-month Graduate Certificate program through Pacifica Graduate Institute.
Lisa has had a love of horses from an early age, first introduced to them through the novel National Velvet. Her engagement with horses began in her tweens when she attended a summer Girl Scout horse sleep-away camp. In her mid-20s she took English riding lessons as a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin. Her passion and love of horses accompanies her wherever she goes; horses always seem to find her — or the other way around!
She is licensed to practice in North Carolina, Colorado, and Wisconsin.
