Amanda has been working as the Program Supervisor and a clinician for a nonprofit, community mental health agency since her move to Colorado in 2002.  Prior to that, she lived in NC, and it was there that her idea of combining mental health work with animals, was born. On the MH side, she received her MS in Counseling in 2000. On the ES side, she has owned horses since 1996 and has taken natural horsemanship clinics with Ray Hunt, Pat Parelli, and John Lyons as well as an internship with Blaine McLaughlin.  Amanda studies Centered Riding, rides dressage and trail, and has a passion for animal welfare. She was an animal cruelty investigator and also created and taught the Animal Protection Society Horse Investigators Workshop. She served on the Board of Directors for the NC Horse Council and founded the Equine Welfare Committee for that Board, serving as their representative consultant for the National Park Service to find solutions for the Shackelford Banks wild pony herd.  Amanda also developed a brochure on Standards of Care for Equines for the NC Horse Council which was adopted by the state. She feels she has finally come full circle, utilizing all her skills to benefit people and horses. In 2007, Amanda co-founded the EAP program, Horses for Change, in Gunnison, Colorado, under the umbrella of The Center for Mental Health. Her focus areas include children 8 years of age and older, adults, families, groups, behavioral issues, relationships, boundaries, grief/loss, sexual abuse, Aspergers, and team building. During her mentoring process, she had a chance to work as both the ES and the MHP, an experience which was invaluable for helping her learn to use the power of the horse in session. She has particular interest in helping the MHP better utilize the horses, as well as expand on activities and metaphor as the sessions progress. Amanda has practiced Mindfulness meditation for many years and developed and teaches a meditation class at The Center.  She incorporates mindfulness practice into her EAGALA work to increase awareness and acceptance, and develop genuine curiosity about what is unfolding in the arena. And it is a 'practice', in that “we have to go back to it over and over again”.  A lifelong learner, Amanda considers it a privilege to work with other EAGALA professionals who are engaged in further growth and learning for themselves.

 

Annie has a background in mental health as well as the equine specialist side. She is a psychologist in Mexico and is a national competitor and champion in dressage. She founded TAAC, which focuses on doing EAGALA EAL with corporations. She has worked with many large and small corporations in Mexico with teams who range from CEO´s to the cleaning service staff at an organization. She also works in partnership with PAE where she does EAGALA focused on child trafficking, addictions, sexual abuse, depression, and eating disorders. She has worked with clients who simply want to focus on personal development, to clients with severe issues including suicidal and those suffering psychotic breakdowns. Throughout her experience as a facilitator with this Model at different levels and with different profiles, she has discovered that knowledge is very important, but the ability to use it, when to use it, and how to use it, at the right moment and at the right place is priceless. She feels the main key for facilitating is a constant development of self-knowledge and self awareness.

 

Heather received her MSW from New Mexico State University in 2003. In 2006, she created Hope-thru-Horses, Inc. in North Carolina on her 2.5 acre farm. Heather specializes in sexual abuse, behavioral interventions, as well as Anxiety, Depressive Disorders, etc. She serves adolescents, families, and military members. She has gone from 2 sessions on Saturdays to 4-5 sessions 4 days per week on her now 20 acre farm. In 2009, a therapist specializing in Autism joined the practice. Also in 2009, Hope-thru-Horses, Inc. added equine-assisted learning so that programs, businesses and military groups can develop professionally. Heather earned her EAGALA Advanced Certification in 2010.

Joe is a psychiatrist who maintains a private practice in upstate New York with psychotherapy and spirituality being an integral part of his practice. He sees individuals, couples, families and groups and also has been the medical director for several Chemical Dependency Programs. He is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center in the Department of Psychiatry and a Distinguished Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association. In addition to his private practice, he offers psychotherapy supervision to area therapists along with teaching seminars in psychotherapy and transpersonal psychiatry. He practices EAP at Windhorse Farm, as an extension to his general psychiatric practice. He treats a variety of clinical disorders utilizing EAP both individually and in groups, with some of those groups being with veterans. He has been raising and working with Arabian horses along with maintaining his farm. He started his journey with horses by getting his first horse as a weanling and added young horses to his herd since then. He did this with the intention of observing their physical and emotional development first hand; in addition to learning herd dynamics and shifts around enlarging the herd. He specifically added horses to his life and raised them with the intention of using them in a psychotherapeutic context and as an extension of his psychiatric practice.

Leslie is an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Clinical Member, a MN Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a MN Licensed Psychologist, and MN Board of Marriage and Family Therapy and MN Board of Psychology Supervisor. She is also Advanced certified by EAGALA. She is an avid horsewoman of 20+ years with experience in training, breeding, showing, and caring of horses. Leslie specializes in couples, family and children’s mental health. She is also experienced in clinical diagnosis and evaluation, the treatment of child and adult trauma, and childhood development disorders, including autism spectrum issues. One of the clinics, and Leslie’s passions, is to provide quality mental health care to children and families using both traditional and non-traditional therapeutic methods. She works with children and families as well as couples and individuals ages 18 months and up. She also completes psychological assessments for individuals ages 18 months through adult.

Rhiannon is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in working with individuals, couples, families, and children and youth. She is Advanced Certified through EAGALA and is also a NARHA Registered Therapeutic Riding Instructor. She is dually qualifed as an Equine Specialist and a Mental Health Professional, and has experience working in both roles. She currently is practicing EAP and EAL at Pal-O-Mine Equestrian, Inc. and has a busy client load of over 15 client hours per week, treating individuals, families, couples, and groups. She is also has a traditional talk therapy private practice for 15 hours per week. Currently, she is working with EAP with children and youth who have been physically and sexually abused, families with children with disabilities, at-risk youth, veterans,and families with a variety of issues. 

Shannette grew up in Utah and has always loved horses and the outdoors. She received her MSW in 1982 and has been in private practice since 1987. She has been a member of EAGALA for 10 years and is Advanced Certified. She currently works with Residential Treatment Centers providing EAP and also has a small EAP private practic working with a wide variety of clients. She has been married to her husband, Paul, for 30 years. They have two children. Shannette currently practices out of her facility in Plain City, Utah.

 

StarrLee has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Florida. She is in pursuit of a doctorate in Counseling Psychology and is just waiting to finish her dissertation. She has worked in Community Counseling Agencies, University settings, Substance Abuse, Employee Assistance and Private Practice. She first began facilitating groups in 1985. She grew up in Northern Wyoming and doesn’t remember a time when horses were not an important part of her life. 4-H, FFA, and local horse shows were just a normal part of life within a family with a legacy of horsemanship. She is now a Certified Horsemanship Association Instructor and lifelong equestrian. She continues to work and train horses on a daily basis as well as continuing her education in that field as well. Her husband and her own PX Equine Enterprises Inc. in Green Cove Springs, Florida where she also has a private practice in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. She was already working with an Equine Facilitated Mental Health program when she attended her first EAGALA training in February of 2001. She has been practicing the EAGALA model ever since. She has been facilitating EAGALA trainings as a contracted trainer since 2005. She believes in continued and lifetime learning personally and professionally. At any given time you may find her involved in a horsemanship training, a mental health continuing education program or even providing either of those in workshop form! Her website is www.pxequine.com.

 

Susan Byrne, MFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with extensive background and training in the EAP and AAT modalities. She has a private practice, In the Presence of Horses, in Grass Valley, California. She is certified by EAGALA as an Advanced practitioner and has worked in the field of EAP for several years. She initiated an Animal Assisted Therapy program for a major mental health agency in Placer County, California and introduced her program to schools and other practitioners in the area. In the Presence of Horses serves children, adolescents and adults, (individuals and families) addressing a variety of mental health and human development needs including behavioral issues, attention deficit disorder, depression, anxiety, grief, abuse issues, relationship problems and communication needs. Susan has written two therapeutic children's books. "Sierra Cloud: A True Story about a Horse with Courage", was written to help children dealing with sexual abuse. Her second book, "Heartache's Way: A True Story of Loss and Healing" (currently in production) is designed to help children coping with loss and the grieving process. Both books are "narrated" by Sierra Cloud, her Appaloosa mare, and are based on her life experiences.