EQUUSOMA®: Time to feel felt and get gotten.™

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Trauma-Informed Self-Assessment For Equine Interaction Programs
Subscribe You will also receive regular news & updates. Your information is always safe.It’s a natural combination. Integrating an understanding of mammalian stress responses, psychophysiology, trauma, and attachment, EQUUSOMA® is the intersection of the biological and the psychological, of intuition and science, where transformation occurs organically in a trauma-informed way.
Grounded in Somatic Experiencing® and the polyvagal theory, mammalian ethology, interpersonal neurobiology, interspecies neurobiology, comparative psychology, equitation science, and beyond, EQUUSOMA® offers a unique understanding of equine trauma, human trauma, how trauma manifests in various horse-human contexts. Join us as we deep dive into the world of co-regulation, somatic renegotiation, and relational repair, by supporting the conditions for safety, sustainable nervous system states, and resilience to emerge.
Our Mission: EQUUSOMA® offers concrete frameworks, principles and training to guide professionals in horse-human trauma recovery for both horse and human clients. More than an approach, EQUUSOMA® is a new emerging paradigm that is applicable to a wide range of fields. Our students are involved in equine-assisted psychotherapy/learning, horsemanship, equestrian sports, equine behaviour consultation, human and equine bodywork, equine veterinary and health sciences, clicker training, and beyond. While not all programs, approaches and disciplines involving equines are trauma-specific, all can be trauma-informed.
Our Vision: Promoting excellence in trauma-informed horse-human professions through an integration of best and promising practices and cutting edge knowledge from the field of trauma treatment, ethology, somatics, attachment, and neuroscience.
Consent, safety, choice, voice, empowerment, trust, compassion and collaboration form the foundation of a trauma-informed approach.
“In dreams, mythical stories, and lore one universal symbol for the human body and its instinctual nature is the horse.”
Licensed with permission

Approach
EQUUSOMA® is an integration of Somatic Experiencing®, attachment rupture and repair work, polyvagal theory, trauma neuroscience, and ethology, and combines principles from trauma-focused interventions in supporting interactions that are ideally beneficial for both human and equine alike.

Trainings
Want to incorporate working with body memory, attachment dynamics, and somatic processing to support trauma recovery in equine-assisted interventions? The EQUUSOMA® training is geared to support you in your development as either:
A Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner or similarly trained trauma professional in bringing equine-assisted practice into your work, or
An equine-assisted practitioner looking to increase your skillfulness in working in a body- and relationally-focused way with trauma survivors.

Horsemanship
Trauma-Informed Horsemanship provides a trauma and attachment lens to the underlying relational patterns and nervous system dysregulation that can be impacting your horse, you, your relationship, your coaching lessons, or your performance in particular disciplines.
Therapist-Assisted Horsemanship™ pairs a coach or instructor with a therapist to promote trauma-informed horsemanship and explore the internal and relational dynamics that prevent success in the saddle and during groundwork.
“Through attuned connection with ourselves, our bodies and others, we find healing, regulation and increased capacity for aliveness.”
EQUUSOMA® Level 1 2023 (Cohort 1)
February 20 - December 1, 2023
7am-2pm
learn more aboutEQUUSOMA® Level 1 2023 (Cohort 1) ›Somatic Experiencing® for Animals
April 11-11, 2023
10am-11:30 am
learn more aboutSomatic Experiencing® for Animals ›EQUUSOMA® Level 2 Practical Intensives I and II – France 2023
April 30-September 15, 2023
9am-6pm
learn more aboutEQUUSOMA® Level 2 Practical Intensives I and II – France 2023 ›