A taste of Equine Therapy for our Bachelor of Counselling ākonga

MIT Bachelor of Counselling ākonga Elizabeth Repia walks alongside "Storm" the miniature therapy horse

09/11/23

This is the second time miniature horses have been brought onto the Ōtara campus for our students to get an understanding of Equine Therapy.

Equine Therapy is a specialist form of therapy popular in the United States, using the Eagala system - a global standard in Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy, and has some established roots in New Zealand.

“As part of the MIT counselling programme, we are always trying to find ways to introduce our students to the many varied therapy systems that can provide a safe therapeutic journey for their clients,” says Radhika Kumar, Head of School, Health and Counselling.

One of the Year 2 papers our MIT students are studying is “Working with Trauma” taught by Asha Peppiatt and Anne Hurst.

“These two lecturers believe that expanding knowledge through practical experiences will benefit students enormously in their professional careers at the end of their degree programme,” says Radhika.

Asha, an ACC qualified and experienced counsellor, adds:

“As professionals, we’re aware of the impact that horses have on our clients. Horses appear to have an affinity to the deep-seated emotions people carry with them and they’re able to connect with them to help them externalise these traumatic emotions in a safe way.

“It’s not about riding the horse. The proximity to this beautiful animal and walking beside it appears to break down barriers for people who are experiencing trauma.”

Equine therapist Deanne Lawson from Meeting Minds came into MIT recently and talked about this therapy system with a couple of her miniature horses.

Radhika says students thoroughly enjoyed the time with Deanne and of course, time with the miniature horses!

Equine therapist Deanne Lawson and the miniature horses