Equine Assisted Therapy
Coming Soon - Isanti, MN
What Equine-Assisted Therapy Is
Equine-assisted therapy is a body-based, experiential approach to healing that takes place alongside horses in a natural setting. It is not riding. It is not horse care. It is therapeutic work — real clinical work — that uses the relationship between a person and a horse as the medium for growth, regulation, and change.
Horses are extraordinarily attuned to the nervous system of the person in their presence. They mirror what is happening internally — tension, openness, fear, calm — with a kind of honesty that bypasses the defenses we bring into a therapy room. What this means practically is that things that are hard to access through talking can sometimes become immediately visible and workable in the presence of a horse.
Olivia's approach is grounded in Natural Lifemanship — a trauma-informed equine-assisted framework built on the principles of relationship, connection, and the nervous system. It is clinical, evidence-informed, and deeply relational.
Who This Work Is For
Equine-assisted therapy at Lavender Shores will be open to anyone who feels called to it — there is no single population this work is designed for, and no single presenting concern that makes someone a good or poor candidate.
That said, this work tends to be particularly meaningful for:
People who find traditional talk therapy limiting
If you've done good work in a therapy room and something still hasn't moved — if the connection between insight and felt change hasn't fully happened — equine work can reach places that words alone don't always get to.
Mothers
The grounding, regulating, and relational qualities of equine work make it particularly well-suited for mothers navigating the postpartum period, identity disruption, or the quiet depletion that comes from giving so much for so long. There is something about standing next to an animal that doesn't need anything from you that can be genuinely restorative in a way that is hard to find elsewhere.
KAP clients seeking deeper integration
Equine-assisted therapy pairs exceptionally well with Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy. The body-based, present-moment nature of the work makes it a natural container for integrating what surfaces in a medicine session — anchoring insight into the nervous system rather than just the mind. Olivia plans to offer equine work as an integration option for KAP clients specifically.
Children and adolescents
Olivia has significant clinical experience doing equine-assisted work with young people and families. Children and teens often respond to this modality in ways that surprise even the most skeptical parents — it meets them where more traditional approaches sometimes can't. More information on offerings for younger clients will be available as the program develops.
The Setting
Eagle Woods Wellness, Isanti MN
Sessions take place at Eagle Woods Wellness — an established equine therapy practice on beautiful land in Isanti, MN. Olivia will be contracting through Catalyst Insight Collective to offer her services there, made possible by a wonderful ongoing relationship with the Eagle Woods owners.
This is where Arrow lives — Olivia's horse, and the heart of this work. Arrow shares the land with seven other horses, each with their own personality and their own way of showing up for the people who come to work with them. Also on the land: goats, chickens, cats, and dogs. People arrive carrying whatever they were carrying on the drive over — and then they step out of the car and there is Tobey the goat. Something shifts. That shift is part of the medicine too.
It is not a clinical facility. It is real land, with real animals, and a real herd — and that is precisely the point.
If you're curious about Eagle Woods Wellness and the broader work happening on that land, you can learn more by clicking below to go to their page.
Grounded in Natural Lifemanship
Natural Lifemanship is a trauma-informed, neuroscience-based equine-assisted therapy framework built around the principles of relationship and connection. It understands the horse-human relationship as a direct mirror of all human relationships — and uses that mirror therapeutically, with intention and clinical skill.
It is not about learning to ride or handle horses correctly. It is about what happens between a person and a horse when both are given the space to be exactly as they are — and what that teaches us about how we show up in every other relationship in our lives.
Equine Therapy as KAP Integration
KAP opens things. Equine work helps them land.
The body-based, present-moment nature of equine-assisted therapy makes it a natural container for integrating what surfaces in a medicine session — anchoring insight into the nervous system rather than just the mind. Olivia plans to offer equine work specifically as a KAP integration option.
If you are a current or prospective KAP client and this interests you, mention it when you reach out.
Stay in Touch
This program is in development and will be opening later this year. If equine-assisted therapy feels like something you've been looking for — for yourself, your child, or a client you're working with — send a message and Olivia will be in touch personally when the program is ready to launch.
You're also welcome to reach out now if you have questions, want to learn more about the Natural Lifemanship framework, or want to talk about whether this work might be a good fit before it officially opens.