Questions Adults Often Have
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Adult counseling at Herd & Soul can look very much like traditional psychotherapy, including conversation, reflection, emotional processing, exploration of relationships and patterns, and development of coping or regulation skills.
The ranch also provides additional options for how and where we might work. Depending on your needs and preferences, a session may remain entirely in the office or may incorporate movement, outdoor space, nature, creative or experiential work, animals, or horses when clinically meaningful.
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Yes. You do not have to participate in outdoor, animal focused, or experiential activities to receive counseling at Herd & Soul. If conversation based psychotherapy in the counseling office is the approach that best fits your needs and goals, our work can primarily or entirely take that form.
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No. Direct interaction with horses is not required or automatically included as part of counseling at Herd & Soul. Some clients incorporate horses regularly, some occasionally, and others may receive therapy here without directly interacting with a horse at all.
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Interest in horses does not require direct interaction. Horses may sometimes become part of the therapeutic environment simply through observation or being in proximity to the herd. We can also explore what you notice or experience around horses without requiring physical interaction, and you remain an active participant in decisions about how the environment is incorporated into your therapy.
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The ranch creates more possibilities for how therapeutic work can occur. In addition to the counseling office, it provides access to outdoor space, movement, nature, animals, varied sensory experiences, and opportunities to notice thoughts, emotions, physical responses, or relationship patterns as they occur in the present moment.
These possibilities are available when useful, but they are not requirements of treatment.
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We might walk while talking, sit outdoors, use a creative or sensory activity, notice something occurring naturally in the environment, or intentionally incorporate an animal when doing so supports the work we are doing together. I use these experiences purposefully rather than simply adding activities to a therapy session. Their role depends on your treatment goals, preferences, and what appears clinically useful.
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I consider your treatment goals, needs, interests, preferences, comfort, readiness, and responses to the ranch environment, as well as whether horse involvement offers a meaningful therapeutic purpose. I also consider the horse's behavior, comfort, choice, and welfare.
I incorporate horse involvement when it meaningfully supports the therapeutic work and when the interaction can be appropriate for both you and the horse.
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Herd & Soul may be a good fit if you are looking for individualized clinical counseling and value having flexibility in how therapy can occur. You do not need to want outdoor work or interaction with animals, but you should understand that the practice is located within a living ranch environment.
If your primary goal is guaranteed horse interaction, riding, horsemanship, or another recreational equine experience, Herd & Soul's clinical counseling model may not be what you are looking for.
An initial consultation gives us an opportunity to discuss what you are seeking, answer questions about my approach and the setting, and consider together whether Herd & Soul appears to be a good clinical fit.
Questions Parents Often Have
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Therapy is individualized to your child's age, developmental needs, interests, communication style, and treatment goals. A session might include conversation, therapeutic play, games, art or building activities, movement, time outdoors, sensory experiences, or engagement with the ranch environment and animals. Some sessions may take place primarily in the counseling office, while others may use different parts of the ranch when doing so supports the therapeutic work.
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No. Children and teens do not always process experiences or communicate most effectively through conversation alone. I may incorporate play, creative activities, movement, games, experiential activities, or other developmentally appropriate ways for your child to engage in therapy while still keeping the clinical goals of treatment at the center of our work.
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No. Direct interaction with horses is not required and is not automatically part of therapy at Herd & Soul. Horse involvement may range from observing horses at a distance to more direct interaction, and I incorporate it only when it is clinically appropriate and meaningfully supports your child's treatment goals.
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Your child does not need to like horses or want to interact with them to receive counseling at Herd & Soul. The ranch offers many other possibilities for therapy, including indoor counseling, play, creative activities, movement, nature, and engagement with other aspects of the environment. Your child's comfort, preferences, and responses to the setting are important considerations in how I structure treatment.
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Children often communicate, explore experiences, practice skills, and express emotions through more than words. I may use play, art, movement, games, animals, or other experiential activities when they provide a clinically meaningful way to support emotional awareness, regulation, relationship skills, problem solving, expression, or other treatment goals.
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I consider your child's developmental level, presenting concerns, treatment goals, communication style, mobility and accessibility needs, emotional and sensory needs, interests, comfort, and responses during therapy. I continually assess whether an activity, experience, or part of the environment is helping us move toward the therapeutic goals we have identified. Activities are selected because they support the individual child, not simply because they are available at the ranch.
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Parent or caregiver involvement is often an important part of therapy with children and adolescents, although the amount and type of involvement varies. I consider your child's age, developmental needs, treatment goals, confidentiality, and clinical needs when determining how caregiver involvement can appropriately support treatment. This may include parent consultation, discussion of treatment goals and general progress, support for skills outside of therapy, or opportunities to strengthen understanding and connection within the family.
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I consider your child's clinical needs as well as how they respond to the environment. The ranch is a living setting that may include animals, nature, changing weather, insects, movement, sounds, uneven surfaces, and some unpredictability, although therapy can also occur indoors.
During the consultation and early assessment process, I consider whether the flexibility and characteristics of the setting are likely to support your child's treatment or whether another environment may be a better fit.
What Role Might Horses Play?
Horses may become part of psychotherapy when their involvement meaningfully supports a client's treatment goals.
Intentional interaction with or observation of horses as part of psychotherapy can occur at different levels. A client may:
Observe horses from a distance.
Spend time near the herd without direct interaction.
Notice thoughts, feelings, physical responses, or relationship patterns that arise while observing or being near horses.
Participate in an intentionally structured interaction with a horse.
Engage more directly with a horse when doing so is clinically appropriate.
Direct interaction is not assumed simply because a client comes to Herd & Soul.
Before incorporating horses more intentionally into treatment, I consider the client's needs, interests, expectations, treatment goals, comfort within the environment, responses to the ranch setting, and whether horse involvement offers a meaningful therapeutic purpose.
The role horses play may also change over the course of therapy. Some clients may spend substantial therapeutic time in proximity to horses. Others may incorporate horses occasionally. Some may participate in counseling at Herd & Soul without directly interacting with a horse.
What Concerns May Be Addressed?
I individualize counseling according to assessment, treatment goals, developmental needs, and the needs of the person seeking care.
Depending on clinical fit, counseling at Herd & Soul may address concerns related to:
Anxiety and excessive worry
Trauma and trauma related difficulties
Emotional regulation
ADHD and executive functioning challenges
Autism related needs
Grief and loss
Relationship and attachment concerns
Stress and difficult life circumstances
Life transitions
Self understanding, coping, and emotional awareness
Together, we identify the focus and goals of treatment and determine which therapeutic approaches are most appropriate for the work.
Is Herd & Soul the Right Fit?
Herd & Soul may be a good fit for clients who are interested in clinical counseling that allows for greater flexibility in setting and therapeutic experience.
You do not need horse experience, and you do not need to want direct interaction with horses.
At the same time, the ranch is a living and changing environment. Depending on where a session occurs, you may encounter animals, insects, dirt, uneven surfaces, changing weather, natural sounds, movement, and some degree of unpredictability.
You are not required to participate in every aspect of the ranch environment. Indoor counseling remains an important part of my practice, and I make decisions about where and how therapy occurs with consideration for your needs, preferences, treatment goals, and what is clinically appropriate.
Herd & Soul may be less well suited for someone whose primary expectation is guaranteed direct interaction with horses during every therapy session or who is specifically seeking a recreational, horsemanship, or riding experience rather than clinical mental health counseling.
An initial consultation gives us an opportunity to talk about what you are seeking from therapy, answer questions about the setting and my approach, and consider together whether Herd & Soul appears to be an appropriate fit.
Call now for a Free 15 minute consultation