The Eagala organization (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association) spans a global network of highly professional and passionate individuals incorporating horses into treatment. Every certified Eagala practitioner is a credentialed Mental Health Professional or Equine Specialist, passing through standardized fundamentals training, assessment, and then certification.
Post-training certified practitioners continue their Eagala training and refinement earning continuing education credits with options to do so through networking meetings that often involve practice with horses, webinars, mentor programs, global member meetings, and other continuing education opportunities.
Eagala provides resources, education, standards, and support for professionals incorporating horses for mental health and personal or organizational development. It’s a global network–the largest, most established professional organization for equine-assisted psychotherapy and personal development.
“When the focus is on the horses, it goes off of the individual and so the individual is more able to experience some kind of awareness for themselves or understanding in ways that they weren’t able to before as they see the horses.”
Since its inception 25 years ago, Eagala has provided 1275 Trainings and has trained nearly 14,000 people. Currently, Eagala has 2000 certified members in 40 countries and 75 local networking groups supporting members in the US and Canada as well as South Africa, Europe, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, and the Pacific.
In addition to worldwide opportunities for collaboration and support, Eagala provides a certification training program based on the Eagala model to provide standards, quality assurance, and continuing education.
The Eagala model is both a set of standards and a facilitation style. The fundamentals training will teach participants the skill sets and thought processes of the model. Upon certification, participants can start facilitating equine-assisted sessions with their Mental Health or Equine Specialist partner. The Eagala model is an interactive approach, encompassing different theoretical approaches and methods. Everything Eagala does has a theoretical basis and a specific deliberate purpose.
“Eagala provides them a safe place. Everybody is going through the same thing pretty much. The horses are gonna pick up on things as humans we can’t. So if there’s some internal feelings going on that maybe are not matching the exterior, the horses pick up on that and whether or not you might be able to fake it with the people around you, you won’t be able to do that with the horses.”
Eagala’s therapy is exclusively ground-based, meaning there is no riding of the horses. This approach allows the horses to act naturally and make their own choices, making them integral members of the therapeutic team. This dynamic is what makes Eagala sessions so powerful. While our primary reason for staying ground-based is to maximize the therapeutic benefits for clients, it also makes Eagala accessible to clients who have no equine background or experience.
Our goal is not to teach riding or horsemanship but to provide an opportunity for the client’s life stories to unfold metaphorically. The horses play powerful characters in this narrative by revealing relationship dynamics or other symbolic aspects of life.
Because horses are free to move, they can create shifts in the client’s stories and bring about awareness and change. Their freedom to move allows them to influence clients’ stories, fostering awareness and facilitating change.
“Eagala has changed my life in so many ways. I mean, a lot of times we forget the things that are said in a therapeutic setting at a desk. You never forget those horses.”
Eagala sets standards, provides support, and educates professionals who are changing lives with Eagala Model services. Eagala is working to ensure that every person around the world has access to Eagala Model services.
Eagala is more than just an organization, it’s even more than a global network, therapeutic practice, or a set of professional and ethical standards. Eagala is a way of being a philosophy of holding space, believing in clients and horses, avoiding judgment and unnecessary interpretation, embracing confidentiality, and mastering a set of skills that can apply to many areas of life.
“Eagala has changed my life in so many ways. I mean, a lot of times we forget the things that are said in a therapeutic setting at a desk. You never forget those horses.”
Eagala’s Ethics Committee and protocol ensure professional ethical practices and reinforce Eagala’s reputation as the leading professional standard in equine-assisted psychotherapy and personal development. As Eagala practitioners, Eagala strives to always live Eagala Values, which define who Eagala is as an organization and the characteristics of the professionals Eagala wants to join us. They also outline attributes of effective Eagala model facilitators:
Positive Impact
Serve society through making a positive impact in the lives of people and horses.
Quality
Focus on standards of quality, professionalism and excellence in all programs and at all levels of the organization.
Integrity
Ensure that principles, ethical standards and a clear identity guide our decisions and actions.
Collaboration
Maintain a culture of collaboration through supporting one another and sharing information, experiences and ideas.
Continuous Improvement
Nurture a commitment to learning, innovation and improvement.
Founded in Santaquin, Utah in 1999, Eagala was one of the first to develop a concrete model of professional standards for incorporating horses into mental health treatment. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, along with an incredible team, Eagala has continued to evolve and develop the Eagala Model.
Thanks to the efforts of the Eagala team and its members, Eagala has grown into a worldwide movement and a global network of professionals who collaborate and support each other. With a presence in South Africa, Europe/Middle East, Pacific, and USA/Canada, Eagala members work with networking group coordinators to continue their practice and learning as well as gain support by staying connected with Eagala members both locally and globally.
As Eagala has grown, it has been governed by a volunteer Board of Directors who work tirelessly to ensure the longevity of the organization while maintaining the highest standards of business practices.
