Private individual sessions tailored to each client’s therapeutic goals and needs, providing a safe and supportive environment for personal growth and mental health. Effective therapeutic model for veterans, first responders and victim survivors navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, or addiction. EAP is a non‑riding, experiential therapy where individuals build meaningful connections with horses to support emotional wellbeing, self‑awareness, and personal growth. See EAP tab for further information and booking process. .
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy
A gentle, powerful path to emotional healing
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is an experiential, non‑riding therapeutic approach where clients build meaningful connections with horses to support emotional wellbeing, self‑awareness, and personal growth. Recognised internationally, EAP is effective for veterans, first responders, adults and anyone navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, or addiction. Across Australia, more people are discovering how the presence of horses can help them slow down, regulate, and reconnect — both with themselves and the world around them.
Why horses?
Their sensitivity makes them remarkable therapeutic partners
As prey animals, horses are highly attuned to body language, tone, and emotional energy. They respond in real time to the people around them, offering honest, non‑judgemental feedback. This creates powerful opportunities for clients to notice their own emotional patterns, relational habits, and internal states.
The work is not about riding or training. It’s about presence, awareness, and authentic connection.
Our approach
Ethical, evidence‑informed, and centred on wellbeing
At Your New Beginnings Counselling, we follow the Equine and Animal Assisted Psychotherapy Institute (EAAPI) model — a leading, internationally recognised framework grounded in ethics, safety, and welfare for both humans and horses.
In this approach:
This depth of training and ethical commitment is reshaping equine assisted practice across Australia.
Healing through presence, not pressure
A space to reconnect
Many clients describe EAP as grounding, freeing, and deeply restorative. Sometimes healing happens through words — and sometimes it happens in quiet moments shared with a horse, in the rhythm of breath, or in simply being seen and accepted.
In a world that often feels fast and disconnected, horses invite us to pause, breathe, and return to ourselves.
What happens in EAP sessions??
Private individual sessions are tailored to each client’s therapeutic goals and needs, providing a safe and supportive environment for personal growth and mental health. A typical Equine Assisted Psychotherapy session takes place in a safe, natural setting such as a paddock or yard, guided by a trained and certified EAP practitioner.
After a brief check‑in to understand the client’s needs, the practitioner offers a tailored relational experience with one or more horses, providing clear guidance and appropriate support throughout. Using the EAAPI Model, clients may engage in horse observations, meeting horses at liberty, lead‑line work, or herd‑based experiences, depending on their goals and the responses of the horse. The horse’s natural reactions offer insight into emotions, patterns, and boundaries, while the therapist supports reflection, regulation, and gentle exploration, creating a grounded and meaningful therapeutic experience.
We are ready to accept enquiries and are taking bookings for EAP sessions from May 2026. All EAP sessions are to be booked directly with Leanne.
Please use the EAP Bookings & Enquiries form on this page
