The Change EFL Can Bring to the Horse Co-facilitator – By Beth Goodwin

December 11, 2011 by Kathleen 

How the Horse’s Life is Enhanced and Benefited

Over the past 12 months as I have begun my journey as an EFL Facilitator I have been amazed at the positive changes I have seen in my own mare and the horses who have co facilitated sessions for my clients who choose to work with their own horses.

One of the first sessions I facilitated was for a woman with several horses. She asked that I work with her and one of her geldings. However, when I turned up to her property it was very evident that another gelding wanted to work with her. While this may be no surprise to many of us in this field, it came as a complete surprise to his owner. She reported that she felt this horse didn’t like her – she had had him since he was a foal, and he always walked away from her in the paddock, especially when she had a halter and a lead rope in her hand. She retired him from his dressage career early as she felt he didn’t like her or the work she was asking him to do.  His owner reported, “What I found very surprising was that the horse I least expected to want to participate made it quite clear he wanted to be very much part of this. He was the horse who wanted to help me the most and this stunned me.” He was right there beside his owner wanting a piece of the action. After the session the owner reported how much love she felt had come to her from the horse during her session. What is really amazing to me is this “love story” has continued ever since, even 12 months down the track his owner still reports how he is there at the gate to meet her, and is happy to be caught.

Another interesting case was with a warm blood mare and her owner.  Her owner felt she had reached a bit of a plateau with her mare in their dressage work. There were also other things going on between them. When I made contact with the client a few days after the EFL session, she reported a real change in her mare and the previous relationship. She said she didn’t feel like she had to baby the mare anymore (she bred her) and that she had had some “exceptional “rides on this mare. She was really pleased with the change and it was way beyond what she had expected.

A teenage girl asked me to facilitate a session between her and her pony. She wanted to have a better connection with her pony among other things. Her Arab cross pony, while reasonably sensible, could be quite challenging for her. When I made contact with her a couple of days after the session she reported how “We had a lovely beach ride today and he seems very relaxed and settled around me, even when there were some dramas this afternoon”. Then a day later, “He was even more great today after a ride through the forestry; prancing along at a fast walk with his ears forward the entire time!”

The owner of a very upstanding and talented mare asked me to facilitate a session for them both. By now word was getting out that the EFL work was really benefitting the horses and the relationship between the owner and their horse. This horse had been chased by a previous owner, with a flag, into a wire fence. She was very weary of people and finding it hard to trust her present owner. She could not be paddocked with other horses as she hid behind them and was almost impossible to catch. At the beginning of the session this mare looked dissociative. During the session she slowly softened like cheese melting – kept her form but soft around the edges. On following up with the owner a few days later she reported a significant change in the mare. She felt both she and the mare had changed and they had a much more trusting and positive relationship. Several weeks later, the owner reported even more significant changes in her mare. She is now in a paddock with the rest of the herd and very happy to be caught. She can now be floated places as she stays in the float and doesn’t rush out the minute her chest touches the breast bar. The owner reported how she loads her and stands with her and “tells her stories”. She feels the mare listens and then continues to stand there after the story is complete. The owner also has ridden her bare back and jumped her – both for the first time. The owner reported how she had never jumped in her life before but trusted the mare to show her how. She said she was feeling really positive in herself and that she and the mare were helping each other. The day I saw the mare, several weeks after her session, she was happily eating hay with her paddock mates, looking very content with herself with a lovely clear and sparkling eye.

I have also noticed changes in my own mare after she has co facilitated a session with a client. She always seems very proud of herself and she glows with health for days after wards. On one particular occasion her change was really marked. She had worked with a client with cancer. After the session my mare looked like she had just had a body work session – her normally dippy back had come up and she looked like I had just washed and polished her with some show sheen. I took a photo of her and sent it to friends. They found it hard to believe she was the same horse. This change in her lasted for several weeks. I wondered who was actually healing who?

A change like this was also reported by another client who worked with her own 26 year old gelding in an EFL session. A few days after the session she commented how he seemed so much more alert and interested in what was going on around him. Several weeks after the session she said this change had endured.

However by far the most remarkable change in a horse I have co facilitated a session with has been with an 8 year old Hanoverian gelding. He began an early career in dressage with a previous owner and was starting to show intermittent lameness by the age of 5. His present owner was given him as a case study project for her equine sports massage practice. He was progressing nicely. However New Years Eve 2010, he got a fright in the night, and ran into a wire fence. He was found in the morning and by this time he was a mess, with lacerations and cuts all over his body. He was so bad the vet suggested euthanasia. However the owner felt she needed to give the horse a chance. At the time of the EFL session it had been 7 months since his accident. While his body had healed, his mind had not been so fortunate. He had been hyper alert ever since the night of his accident. Even the slightest movement around him and his head would go up rigid and he would take off around his paddock. Anything out of the ordinary upset him. He also found it very hard to be separated from his paddock mate.

He co facilitated two EFL sessions in the one day – one with his owner and one with someone else. In both sessions he found a “happy place”. While he was holding space for the clients to work, it also seemed like they were holding a space for him to work. Several times during the sessions the other horses in paddocks nearby would start running around but this horse just stayed totally focused on the client while in a really relaxed and “zoned” posture. His owner reported that this was really unusual for him since his accident – in fact unheard of. What is even more astounding is that he has maintained this chilled out demeanour ever since the day of his sessions. He is now able to be paddocked on his own, if required, without any fuss. He happily carries on eating while chaos is happening around him. He is really focused on his work and is not distracted by what is going on in his environment. When his owner takes him for a walk in the forest, he is totally focused on her and not wanting to return to his paddock mates as he had done in the past. His owner reports that he is “no longer spooky and lacking in confidence but rather confident and inquisitive”. She can’t get over “how mellow he has become”.

When I started out on my journey with EFL someone asked me who my primary target market was. I replied without thinking about it too much, that it was helping people to have a better relationship with their horses. At the time I wondered where this had come from in the recesses of my mind, but what had me wondering even more was how this was going to be achieved. In my training to that point, I had not seen any really positive effects on the horse co-facilitators. While they had not necessarily been adversely affected there didn’t seem to be any really positive effects either. I could see how if the owners could be more “in their bodies”, congruent and authentic then they would be easier to be around for both other people and horses. I never really expected to see the extraordinary changes clients have experienced both in themselves and in their horses. As one client commented, “equine facilitated learning is an amazing experience and I believe that we are only just scratching the surface of its real potential for humans and horses.”

Beth Godwin

www.AquilaCoaching.co.nz

How Horses Help Us To KNOW Ourselves

December 8, 2011 by Kathleen 

How Horses Help Us To KNOW Ourselves

 Efficacy of EFL supported by the latest brain research by Kathleen Barry Ingram

Co-founder of The Epona Approach

Describing the work with horses as co-facilitators in human development is not an easy task.  Simply stated the horses really do help us to know ourselves.

I can’t tell you how often I have witnessed a client coming out of a quiet session with a horse and heard them say: “It was magic! I felt like myself for the first time. My heart just opened and these tears came flowing out—but they felt free, open —you know not jammed up in my throat”.  I could go on and on about what people felt in the presence of the horse and what other people witnessed, but I think you get the point. Guess what, it is not magic but is a process scientists now can actually name which happens only in relationship.  What the client and others felt, saw, and experienced is the limbic connection of two beings. Relationship does affect the revision of these pathways in the brain through the processes of limbic resonance, limbic regulation and limbic revision or restructuring. 

The book, A General Theory of Love is an excellent source for much of the research on this subject.  Some of the information contained in this book about how a therapist’s relationship with a client is the determining factor in long term healing; this can be applied to how and why equine facilitated learning works.

[P. 192] “A General Theory of Love

 Thomas Lewis, M.D., Fari Amini, M.D., Richard Lannon, M.D.

Because our minds seek one another through limbic resonance, because our physiological rhythms answer to the call of limbic regulation, because we change each others’ brains through limbic revision—what we do inside relationships matters more than any other aspect of human life.

1. 1.       “The first part of emotional healing is being limbically known [limbic resonance]—–having someone with a keen ear catch your melodic essence…………..a precise seer’s light can still split the night, illuminate treasures long lost, and dissolve many fearsome figures into shadows and dust. (pg. 170)  “

Limbic regulation happens through relationship.  “But people do not learn emotional modulation as they do geometry or the names of state capitals. These concepts are stored in the neocortical brain. People and animals absorb the skill from living in the presence of an adept external modulator [the horses with congruent and authentic facilitators], and they learn it implicitly.”[1]

Research on how we learn and how much we retain supports what the horses have been teaching us all along. Implicit Knowing which comes from actual experience supports experiential learning, in this case the work with horses. Explicit knowledge, while necessary and important, is not experienced directly but rather through study, education and the experiences of others.

I can’t begin to tell you how passionate I have become about some of the newest brain and body research and information coming from very reliable and dedicated scientists and clinicians. Most of my professional life, I have practiced as a clinician whether I am conducting a session as a psychotherapist, coach, mentor or teacher.  The many “miracles” I have been a part of fills me with awe and hope for the ability of people to learn new things, change, and have better lives. The work that I do with the horses has transferred to everything I do and teach since these brilliant beings are so good at helping people come back to their true selves.

The 3 brain theory: Brain in the head; brain in the heart; and brain in the gut supports the work with horses who have a much larger heart field and gut than humans.  In fact, too much thinking and remembering can take us out of the moment without enough brain activity for feeling and experiencing.  We now know that intelligence is distributed throughout the body.  When you have a direct experience it does not go directly to the brain in the head.  The first place it goes is to the neurological networks of the intestinal tract (brain in the gut) and the heart (brain in the heart).  If we do not feel our values and or goals, we cannot live them.  The brain in the heart actually seeks out new experiences and is open to new possibilities which will intuitively matter to you in your life and work. The brain in your gut “reads” what others feel and measures the coherence and congruence of the other’s feeling state and checks it against its own inner state of coherent values, beliefs, and passions.  This is why horses, as prey animals, are so good at measuring the inner state of people, checking them out for any incongruence, and responding from their guts and hearts and not from the brain in the head where language can distort and deny what is actually happening.

The book, The Brain That Changes Itself [2] has some of the best information on the neuroplasticity of the brain.  Neuroplasticity of the brain is the term used to describe the capacity of our brain for creation of new neural connections and for growing new neurons in response to experience.  In the process of experiential learning with the horses, the experience itself, which is very new for most people, i.e., being with a horse without doing anything can actually assist the client in forming and developing new neural connections.  I often give a simple explanation like this:  The horses help the humans to see, feel, and believe in the possibility that the old super highway way of being and responding to a familiar person, stimulus, thought or action can be replaced by a new path—much like the road less traveled.

In Daniel Siegel’s latest book, Mindsight, he eloquently and factually supports the efficacy of experience in relationship to help people grow and change.  He believes that most people come into the world with the brain potential to develop mindsight, but the neural circuits that underlie it need experiences to develop properly[3].  He describes mindsight as our seventh sense and tells a story of a ninety-two year old man who was able to overcome a painful childhood to emerge as what he calls a mindsight maven.  Siegel believes, as do I, that it is never to late to stimulate the growth of neural fibers that enable mindsight to flourish.  His concept of “feeling felt” is what most people and horses desire to live exciting and meaningful lives.

In equine facilitated learning this sense of feeling felt is necessary whether we are working on the ground or riding the horse.  The sense of feel that many individuals describe in natural horsemanship is this implicit way of knowing another being.  The explicit learning and knowledge we receive from our teachers and the horses, although very necessary, is not enough to really make the changes our clients and students are seeking.

Equine facilitated learning can and does transform the client’s limbic brain which takes much more repetition than does the “quick fix” of most brief therapies which address only the neocortical brain.  The neocortical brain can rapidly change didactic information but without the whole body, the brain in the heart and the gut; only ones’ thoughts and information change.  This, in my opinion, is why so many people “understand” why they might do “such and such” differently and still go about life unconsciously without full engagement and lasting results.  When all 3 brains are in agreement and the person is living from a conscious place, life becomes a symphony with each day bringing new challenges, joys and sorrows.

The horses and good facilitators both with listening hearts can really help people be open to the possibilities of change and with limbic revision guide them towards the probability of a new life.  One of the consistent ways of doing this is what I call holding the sacred space of possibility. This is a space, nestled between two heart beats, where two beings breathing together co-create the possibility for lasting and sustainable change.

Kathleen Barry Ingram, MA

© June 2011

Kathleen continues to teach internationally in training programs in the UK, Canada and the United States.
For more information on Kathleen and her mentorship programs contact her at www.sacredplaceofpossibility.com

 

 

 

CANCELLED! The Sacred Pause: Living in Uncertain Times: February 14 – 19, 2012, Tubac, AZ

November 29, 2011 by Kathleen 

RETREAT CANCELLED

A mid-winter retreat in sunny southern Arizona at Pocket Sanctuary at Kenyon Ranch

Connect with a group of women gathering to seek serenity in the uncertainty of these times and discover new ways to wait patiently in this Sacred Pause. Together we’ll explore the art of surrendering to what “is” by becoming “naked” with nothing to hide, “vulnerable” with nothing to defend, “empty” with nothing to lose, “in the unknown” with nothing to fear, and open to what is meant to happen.

Facilitators are three Elders: Mary Louise Gould, Holotropic Breathwork Practitioner, Kathleen Ingram, Counselor/Coach, and Eve B. Lee, Shamanic Practitioner, who will guide the gathering in activities including meditation, Holotropic Breathwork, shamanic journeying, reflective round pen work with horses, inspired writing, walking the labyrinth and working with dreams.

To prepare for the retreat and to begin to answer the question: “Where do we go from here?,” participants will read  When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd.

Cost:  $1850 per person including meals and lodging

Nonrefundable Deposit:  $400 by January 16, 2012  (The program requires a minimum of 7 participants)

Save 10% for payment in full ($1665) by January 2, 2012

Save an additional $100 apiece for you and each friend you bring!

For more information contact Mary-Louise Gould at MLGould125@aol.com or 520-975-6126, or log on to www.EquineMagic.com

Horse work will be done at Equine Voices Rescue and Sanctuary: www.EquineVoices.org

Equine Facilitated Therapy, Coaching and Learning Workshop: November 19-20, 2011, Corrales, New Mexico

October 1, 2011 by Kathleen 

Experience two days of sharing, learning and collaborating on the next level of Equine Facilitated Therapy, coaching and learning in New Mexico! Join us  November 19-20 at Equine Alchemy Southwest in Corrales, New Mexico (just outside of Albuquerque, NM).

Reconnect with the “why” of your work! Featuring Kathleen Ingram and Lisa Murrell, and hosted by Susan Murrell Castañeda, MS, NBCT, this workshop will include community and partnership activities, Group Master  Mind Time, and Experiential Equine Time.

 November 18: Optional “Meet and Greet” wine and cheese networking event with Kathleen and Lisa: $20

 November 19-20: 2 day workshop: $497 (Includes healthy lunch and snacks each day.)

* Payment plans and limited student scholarships available -contact Lisa Murrell for details.

Click here to register for workshop.

Chocolate Turtle Bed & Breakfast
1098 West Meadowlark Lane
Corrales, NM 87048
(505) 898-1800
www.ChocolateTurtleBB.com

Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm
4803 Rio Grande Blvd,  NW
Albuquerque, NM 87107
(505) 344-9297 or Toll Free at 1-866-344-9297
www.LosPoblanos.com/accommodations

Nora Dixon Place
312 Dixon Road
Corrales, NM 87048-7723
(505) 898-3662
www.NoraDixon.com

Sandhill Crane Bed and Breakfast
389 Camino Hermosa
Corrales, NM 87048
(505) 898-2445 or (800) 375-2445
www.SandhillCraneBandB.com

 

DATE CHANGE: Coaching Mastery through The Way of the Horse with Kathleen Barry Ingram, Lisa Murrell, and the Equine Alchemy Herd; OCTOBER 12 -14, 2011 Stone Ridge, NY

September 12, 2011 by Kathleen 

Due to flooding, downed trees and a general mess with the aftermath of Hurricane Irene my August training, Coaching Mastery Through the Way of the Horse, with Lisa Murrell in New York has been rescheduled for October 12 -14, 2011.  Thankfully, Lisa and her horses are safe and well.

Now that Lisa’s place is up and running again, we are excited about presenting the Coaching Mastery workshop as a certified Equine Facilitated Training program for coaches.

For questions about this workshop, please contact Lisa Murrell at: info@equinealchemy.com

To register:  www.EquineAlchemy.com

Coaching Mastery through The Way of the Horse with Kathleen Barry Ingram, Lisa Murrell, and the Equine Alchemy Herd; August 30 – September 1, 2011 Stone Ridge, NY

August 18, 2011 by Kathleen 

Are you ready to to go ‘Alpha’ in your coaching/EFL practice? Combining horses and coaching is the next level for coaching AND Equine Facilitated Learning. Join Kathleen Ingram, Lisa Murrell, and the Equine Alchemy Herd in New York for 3 days of sharing, learning and collaborating on the next level of coaching and EFL, August 30, 31 and September 1.

Many times coaches feel like there is so much more that their client needs to make a real transformation in their lives; that no matter how powerful their coaching is, no matter how many years of experience they have, they haven’t been able to support their clients to this transformation.

Coaching Mastery through the Way of the Horse is what you have been seeking.   Through International Coach Federation Coaching with horses, you can guide your client to the next highest version of themselves.

Cost: $1497 (Includes healthy lunch and snacks each day)
Early Bird Registration by August 19th: $1097
Bring a partner for 10% discount when you register by August 19th!

Visit www.EquineAlchemy.com to register.

 

 

Radio Interview from Paradigm Shifters

August 14, 2011 by Kathleen 

Listen to the latest interview with Kathleen on Paradigm Shifters:

 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 

Believe in the Moment Radio Interview

August 14, 2011 by Kathleen 

Listen to the latest interview with Kathleen on Believe in the Moment Radio.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

An Informational Day for Mental Health Professionals; Thursday, August 18, 2011; 9:30 am – 3 pm; Silverdale, Washington

July 16, 2011 by Kathleen 

How Equine Facilitated Learning Can Support and Enhance Your Client’s Process

Kathleen and Drea will present the latest information on Equine Facilitated Learning; discuss how EFL can support and enhance your practice; and explore the viability of work with horses for depression, anxiety, PTSD and other mental health issues.

Kathleen has just returned from a successful trip to the United Kingdom where she worked with members of the military from the British Combat Stress organization.  A 2 day pilot program (through the IFEAL organization) was presented to 4 soldiers who experience PTSD; work with the horses proved beyond expectations the viability of EFL with individuals under the care of mental health professionals.

Cost: $150 (Lunch included)

To pay by credit card (through Pal Pal), contact Drea at:
drea.b.bowen@gmail.com

To pay by check, mail check to:
Drea Bergqusit Bowen
12620 Willamette Meridian
Silverdale, WA 98383

Afternoon experiential sessions optional:  Individual sessions from 3 pm – 6 pm available with Drea, Kathleen, and the herd.  Contact Drea for limited time slots and costs: drea.b.bowen@gmail.com

About Silverdale and the Ranch:
Drea’s ranch is located just 10 minutes from Silverdale, where you can find hotels on the water, Silverdale Water Front Park, shopping, a brand new YMCA, and great food all within walking distance of your hotel.

Silverdale is located on the beautiful Kitsap Peninsula, surrounded by Puget Sound; the Olympic Mountains to the west and the Cascade Mountains to the east. Summer is an amazing time of year to visit.If you wish to extend your stay there are a tremendous number of things to do in Silverdale. Darkness does not fall until 10:00 PM, leaving plenty of time to play after our day together. Kayaking (Drea has 2 and can round up more if needed), hiking, a ferry ride to Seattle, a visit to the Olympic Peninsula, or a ferry to Victoria, BC are a few suggestions.

Getting to Silverdale:
The Seatac Airport has a shuttle to the Silverdale Hotel and arrangements for a ride can be made if you choose to stay at the ranch.

Accommodation Suggestions:
Silverdale Beach Hotel – located on the water front, offers a restaurant and lounge.
Oxford Suites – boasts a water view and offers a lounge.
Oxford Inn – located one block from the water.

Drea is offering a sleep-in horse trailer with a queen air bed and electricity that could accommodate 1 person. $20 per night. Use the facilities in the house.

Drea has a 27’ Sea Ray that can accommodate 2 people; it will likely be in the water at the marina, a 15 minute drive from the ranch.The marina is magical in the summer, with the Purple Martins are so busy that time of year. The boat has a kitchen and bathroom, the marina offers a deli and showers. $40 per person.

Drea is also offering space in the back yard with easy access to the bottom floor bathroom for those who wish to pitch a tent. $10 a night with the option to coordinate food for breakfast.

CONSCIOUS GENERATIVITY

June 13, 2011 by Kathleen 

Recently a good friend, Eve Lee, and I were sitting on her porch overlooking a pond where geese, ducks, and a family of sand hill cranes called home.In the nearby arena her three geldings waited for us to do “our work.”It was a beautiful spring morning with steam rising from the river beyond; an idyllic mid-west morning with a good friend and a great cup of coffee.

Our musings turned towards our life’s work and the impact we both felt we still wanted to make on the world.By previous generations’ standards we “should” be talking about retirement, but retiring from what?Subsequently, I have spent the last couple of weeks playing with words and ideas to describe how I want to live my life and inspire others.

Inpondering, I recalled Erik Erikson’s 8 stages of life concept.Erikson (1902-1994) believed that culture has a massive influence on behavior and that more emphasis should be placed on the external world.His teaching was contrary to the beliefs held by the Freudians of his time.Erikson felt that the course of development is determined by the body (genetic biological programming), the mind (psychological), and the culture (ethos) of the time.Interestingly, Erikson based his premise partly on his studies with the Sioux Indians.

When Googling his name I found that Erikson’s 7^th stage – which he describes as “Middle Adulthood” (35 to 65) – is when we can be in the state of Generativity, or self-absorption and stagnation.This stage of generativity applies the basic human strengths of productivity and care. He believed that this stage, where an individual has the option of caring for others and being productive, is a necessary step in development; without this people may fall into a place of self-absorption and stagnation.

The last, or 8^th stage (65 to death), he describes as Integrity or despair.The basic strengths of Wisdom can be felt when we can look back on our lives with contentment and know that we have made a contribution. We have gained wisdom and compassion through caring for others; committing to a cause or belief greater than our individual egos, and inspiring future generations. Since most of us do not have personal role models in continuing beyond 65 years of age, I believe that our opportunity is to combine the Generativity of the Middle stage with the Wisdom of the of Late stage,thus my concept of Conscious Generativity.I also realized that, although, the discussion was centered on how Eve and I want to live, teach, and inspire others, this concept of Conscious Gernerativity applies to many of the people I engage with on a daily basis.

For example, in the late 80′s and early 90′s IBM was laying off workers who once thought they would stay with IBM until “full retirement” at age 65.Many of the people were confused, scared and totally unprepared for a new career.An outplacement firm hired me to provide a series of inspirational talks designed to motivate and encourage a revised frame of reference for the former employees’ current situations.One of the talks I gave was called, “There are no more Gold Watches.” Some received the news of early retirement with anger and resentment feeling they had been “done wrong”.However, a few people took this as an opportunity to create and design a new life.Since the IBM lay offs I have counseled, coached, mentored, and taught these people, the ones who are interested in seeking a better way to live and to reach out to others.

Sunshine

The field of Equine Facilitated Learning was not even practiced consciously until the early 90′s.We did not even have a name for it then, but trust me the horses were doing the work and just waiting for us to listen (See “Unexpected Grace”) As I describe in “Unexpected Grace,” it was the horses that really taught me how to “hold the Sacred Space of Possibility” for people and for our animal friends.

One would have to be living under a rock today to not be affected by the confusion, fear, and uncertainty generated by the recent economic, political, and environmental events of the last couple of years.Since most of us are still in the process of Generativity (creating, providing and generating), it is more important now than ever for each of us discover our life’s work.When I talk about moving from possibility to probability—it is about living bigger from the heart.So please join me in this concept of Conscious Generativity and challenge others to do the same. As the Hopi elders teach, “We are the Ones We Have Been Waiting for.”

Kathleen Barry Ingram, MA
© June, 2011

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