Equine Assisted Therapies
Mary Pat Paulson is a Certified Life Coach partnering with horses to help clients transcend growth and exponentially speed up awareness of themselves in the process. She is certified as ESMHL (Equine Assisted Mental Health and Learning) with PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) International and has trained for the past eight years with foundational horsemanship as well as EAGALA methods. Her focus is young women struggling with life’s issues who are interested in moving forward into their future. She has worked with recovery clients, eating disorders and chemical addictions as well as many others who just want to have fun while learning in the serenity of a ranch setting with beautiful well trained horses. Mary Pat Paulson is currently a PATH Therapeutic Riding Instructor-in-Training with Hearts Equestrian Riding School in Santa Barbara. She loves to teach first time riders as well as beginning through intermediate riding. Children and teens love learning with her relaxed easy manner while gaining life lessons at the same time. These life lessons are integrated into their weekly lessons through the principles of hard work, responsibility, attention to detail, stress reduction, personal boundaries, connection, respect and caring behavior. The endless analogies learned through horsemanship and riding result in tools that can be taken outside of the arena into home, school and work life. Locally, in affiliation with Sharyn Henry of Red Hat Cowgirl, her facility is located in a beautiful equestrian area in Thousand Oaks.
Life Coaching with Equine Assisted Learning (EAL)
* Increase Decision-making and problem-solving skills
* Enhance creative and critical thinking processes
* Improve communication and interpersonal relationships
* Enrich self-awareness, empathy and understanding
* Develop emotional and stress related coping techniques
* Learn the importance of personal boundaries
* Instill leadership skills naturally with the horse
* Build sense of self-worth, self-concept
* Improve communication
* Build trust and self-efficiency
* Develop socialization skills and decrease isolation
* Learn impulse control and emotional management
* Set perspective
* Learn their limits or boundaries.
Beginning and Intermediate Riding Lessons
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Learn how to groom and care for your horse
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How to tack up a horse
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How to mount and ride a horse
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Basic riding foundation
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Life lessons thrown in!
Located in a private, safe barn environment.
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EAP (Equine Assisted Psychotherapy) options are available.
Mary Pat partners with local therapists, psychologists and recovery homes to add equine therapy to their individual or group practice(s). Please call to schedule a time to talk about the possibilities of adding equine therapy to your practice in a private barn location.