Integrating Equines into Psychotherapy with Children

Jeanne Floerke, a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in work with children with medical illnesses, earned the Equine-Assisted Mental Health Practitioner (EAMH) Certificate in 2022. In her practice, Floerke offers inpatient, pediatric consultation for medical teams and outpatient treatment for children and adults. Additionally, during the summers she provides psychotherapy integrating equines for children at a local school’s Tiny Farm. At the Tiny Farm, her equine work focuses on managing anxiety and stress for the children involved.

After completing the EAMH certificate, Floerke stated, “I feel much more confident integrating equines into a session. Psychotherapy with equine assistance opened up a whole new way to treat clients. The idea of being [in] nature and having horses present brings such new elements to the clinical process.” Foerke appreciated the learning focus of solid research and hands-on experiences.

A core component of the EAMH certificate is three, hands-on workshops that take place in Denver. This experience allows the students in each cohort, all from various backgrounds, to come together to work on practical skills and human-equine interactions. Floerke found this component of the program one of the most important pieces to her learning. She shared, “I really enjoyed the practical workshops; integrating what we learned in the program and meeting the different participants with varied backgrounds and experience was also an important learning experience for me. There [are] so many different ways to do things and it can still be therapeutic.”