At Veritas Counseling Center, the therapist, in conjunction with a highly skilled and experienced equine professional, offers Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) sessions as an adjunct therapy for selected clients who are already involved in traditional office psychotherapy. EAP is also sometimes offered during Weekend Intensive Workshops & Retreats. The therapist, Shannon Spellman, is a masters level licensed clinician who has been certified in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine Assisted Learning by Greg Kersten, founder of EAGALA and of the field of EAP, through the O.K. Corral Series. Along with her over 29 years of clinical experience, the therapist has also personally been involved with horses for over 20 years. She knows the power of these beautiful four-leggeds in demonstrating and healing our emotional struggles and sees her own riding as both a therapeutic and a Spiritual experience. A horse can teach us more about ourselves in one session than we can learn in years of traditional psychotherapy. One only needs to show up and be open to the messages that these incredible animals have to give us.

Horses strengthen our self-awareness by reacting to the intentions we present to them in conjunction with our emotional state. Their reactions are sometimes referred to as mirrors of our emotional and behavioral issues in that horses are wired to respond to us from a very basic stance involving our communication with them. Horses have a way of metaphorically demonstrating to us exactly what it is we need to do in order to affect change in our lives. Equine Assisted Psychotherapy can build strength and confidence as well as clarity and determination. And many of us are able to learn things much better through a hands on metaphorical experiential approach where we can  watch ourselves  in a gentle way to understand our own behavior and resolve our emotional stuck points. In addition, because they are herd-bound animals, they help us to see our own interactions with others in relationships and in groups.

There is nothing like the power of relationship to assist us in finding our Truth. Horses, by their very nature, can assist us in this endeavor through our connection with them. Veritas is taken from the Latin word "verity" and used as a symbol for Truth. At Veritas, clients are gently encouraged to break through any denial that prevents them from seeing the Truth, to seek their own Truth, and work towards becoming their True Selves. Through working with horses individual clients can discover their own Truths gently and effectively and break through many issues of self-sabotage and self-defeating behaviors. Typical clients who have found Equine Assisted Psychotherapy helpful have included those with addictions, eating disorders, relationship struggles, grief issues, and abuse and trauma survivors. Challenging adolescents are often helped through Equine Assisted Psychotherapy when other forms of treatment aren't successful.  Families, couples, and groups can also benefit from EAP by learning new ways of being in relationship that can be immediately applied to current day circumstances. The equine assisted sessions are held at a private horse facility in NW Phoenix and also at additional Retreat locations for Weekend Intensives. Sessions are also occasionally held at various other equine event centers within Arizona.   Read about our Equine Professional and our Horse Consultants below.

Meet the Equine Professional

The psychotherapist works side by side with one of the valley's most skilled equine professionals in the field of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy & Equine Assisted Learning.  Faith Knutson, B.A., has been working with horses for over forty years, and has been involved professionally in  Equine Assisted Psychotherapy & Equine Assisted Learning for 13 years. She was first certified by EAGALA in 1999 and has attended recent EAP and  EAL certification seminars through the O.K. Corral Series. Faith has served as a horse trainer and also given lessons to adults and children most of her life. As an equestrian, she's been involved in competitive riding and pleasure riding, and she previously worked full-time professionally in the fields of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine Assisted Learning. Faith has the ability to decipher just about anything that might be going on with a horse or a person out in the arena and she is adept at watching several horses and several people all at once. We are honored to have the knowledge, insight, and experience that she brings to the arena and to the therapy processing circles.

Meet the Horses...

This horse, also the same animal pictured at the top right on this page is Desiree'. She is now an elder at the equine facility and will serve in EAP as primarily a retired equine consultant. She is pictured with the psychotherapist, Shannon Spellman. Desiree' is a 23 year old Quarterhorse mare who suffered an accidental permanent knee injury years ago. Although she is well-trained, she intermittently suffers from chronic pain and can be difficult at times and rather rude and bossy in the herd. She carries years of untreated control issues along with extreme abandonment issues. She brings wisdom, strength, and attitude to the EAP program after having served many years as a trail horse and companion.

In the second paragraph on this page above, we have Caspian, a 15 year-old gelding of Quarterhorse crossed breed. He is very experienced in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy with 10 years behind him in the field. He also has over 12 years of experience as a lesson horse with both children and adults and has been trained in English, Western, and jumping. Caspian is a part-time consultant with a full-time job in the field elsewhere.

Next, we have Maggie, also a part-time consultant, who is a 14 year-old Quarterhorse cross mare who brings credentials of 2 years prior experience in EAP & EAL. She has 12 years of other experience and served as a lesson horse for adults and children for over 5 of them. She is gentle and calm and typically gets along well with others, both the two-leggeds and the four-leggeds.

The horses seen in the picture with Faith are not part of the program but we invite them to join us at anytime. Pictured here below out front is Visionheart, a 15 year-old quarterhorse mare with quite the history of multiple temporary adoptions, until now where she thinks she might have landed her permanent home. She is new to the field of EAP and appears a bit confused and even  annoyed at not understanding the intentions here in this exercise. She is a beautiful, gentle soul with a strong desire to do the right thing. When she can't quite figure out what that is, she becomes easily frustrated and her trauma based control issues are brought to the surface. She is well-trained, and an excellent consultant  in EAP, having very polite ground manners and being easily approachable. Her prior experience includes reining/cutting/sorting cattle on a ranch, and she also likely has some previous competition experience having performance bloodlines. She has also served as a lesson horse and as a trail horse. Visionheart is a fulltime consultant to the Equine Assisted Psychotherapy program.

And our newest addition to the program is Mystic, an elder mare in her 20's of unknown mixed breed. She has had a varied history with having had numerous babies and also serving as a barrel racing horse and a trail horse in her past. She is a gentle and well-trained horse, and obviously a horse of a different sort with her mixed background resulting in a beautiful blend of several coat colors. Mystic is a bit timid in her new home but adjusting well to her new stall mates and owner. She comes to us in grief having to be given up as a result of a terminal illness in the two-legged family she came from, forcing the re-location of horses due to medical and financial hardships. Her mother is an equine massage therapist who loves her very much and wanted to find a home for her where she could have a purpose to live out the rest of her life. She was first offered to a therapeutic riding program that works with physically handicapped children and Mystic did great except for being spooked by some of the props which would have made it unsafe for the children to be riding her. Mystic will have the opportunity to work through her fears of those same types of props here in the Equine Assisted Psychotherapy program but she will do so with only ground work so as not to re-traumatize her or cause trouble for the participants. She gets along well with others, both two-legged and four-legged, and typically is reserved, shy, and passive in the herd. Mystic will serve as a fulltime equine consultant.

Most of the horses in the program qualify as rescue horses who otherwise would not have a home. Although we are not a nonprofit horse rescue organization, we value horses for what they can bring to the program rather than what they cannot. We are not always in a position to take on new horses but if you have one that needs a home and a new job, contact us and we'll see what we can do. We only take in horses when we have the means to care for them in the best manner that all horses deserve. Rescue should not result in more trauma, but instead in trauma resolution and renewal.

Horses at Veritas Counseling Center, together with their two-legged consultants, have a way of making life very real and helping us find our Truth. You will be  invited to join us in the arena and to Get Real at Veritas.

You may wish to return to our Home page and bookmark this site in your favorites so you can return here when you're ready to make changes in your life.

© 2003-2009.  Shannon K. Spellman, MSW.  All rights reserved.