Maternal Mental Health. Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy
I received my doctorate in clinical psychology (PsyD) in 2013 from the University of Indianapolis. I am currently licensed in the state of Colorado as a psychologist. My approach to therapy and healing has certainly evolved over the years. When I began as a therapist, I mostly utilized cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in working with my clients. While I still believe that CBT is a highly effective treatment, I began to notice limitations and holes that CBT could not address. For instance, my clients would comment that they were able to identify and challenge their negative thoughts, but they had a very hard time believing otherwise from their core. In other words, there was a disconnect between what their mind was saying and what their body was holding onto.
This launched me onto a path of wanting to better understand the mind-body connection. Since I have a background in trauma work, I became trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). This was a huge first step in practicing outside of my comfort zone. I continued on my path and became trained in Brainspotting. As much as I found EMDR and Brainspotting to be that missing link of incorporating the body, I have always wanted to bring animals, particularly horses, into the therapy process. And as it turns out, horses are the ultimate body connection! That's because horses communicate energetically and through body language. And because they are prey animals, they are highly sensitive, perceptive, and instinctual. I still like to use EMDR, Brainspotting, and CBT in my work with clients, and I believe these modalities are further enhanced with the horses.
*My equine training is through the Gestalt Equine Institute of the Rockies and Natural Lifemanship.
I am the mother of 3 small children. As many who have confessed before, I have come into this particular line of work due to my own experiences. I struggled with varying degrees of depression and anxiety after each birth. Especially after the birth of my first child, I experienced shifts in identity and a loss of freedom. Though I loved my son dearly, I felt depleted and alone, and motherhood wasn't quite what I had romantically envisioned. After the birth of my second child, I became acquainted with Postpartum Support International (PSI) and became involved with the organization on a professional level. I knew this was where I wanted to take my career path, and so I became certified in perintal mental health (PMH-C). I was moved and deeply affected by the ways in which women (along with their partners and families) were affected in their reproductive years.
Fast forward to my involvement in horses, and I couldn't help but think of the power that horses could offer to those struggling with new motherhood or those desperately wanting to become a mother, or the grief experienced by those who have had a loss. What I receive from being with horses continues to transform how I show up in the world. The horses teach me to have a present, grounded energy; and for me, this translates to being able to more adaptively ride the waves of motherhood.
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