Going deeper: the science behind horse-assisted coaching
This page sets out the research a força builds on: polyvagal theory, interoception and co-regulation, with documentaries and a bibliography. Including the critique of that theory, because that belongs here too. Knowing that something works isn't enough; I want to know why, and you should be able to check it.
Why this works is not a matter of belief
As a former researcher, it isn't enough for me to say that horse-assisted coaching works. I want to know why. And I want you to be able to check it too.
On this page you'll find academic research into horse-assisted coaching, documentaries showing what it looks like in practice, and the theoretical basis I build my work on: polyvagal theory, interoception and co-regulation.
I take training at the NICABM every year and keep up with the literature. This page is updated regularly.
Documentaries
To begin with, a short lecture from the Universiteit van Nederland, in which Theo Verheggen explains from a scientific standpoint what is and isn't accurate about animals as ‘healers’.
Below are two excellent documentaries about horse-assisted coaching.
The first is ‘Stiller Kamerad’ from 2019. A German documentary following three veterans with PTSD as they work with horses. All three struggle with trauma from their military service and suffer enormously as a result.
The second is a short Dutch documentary from 2024, titled ‘Spiegel’.
This intimate documentary is about horse-assisted coaching with young people facing a range of difficulties. It is a modest account of what horses can achieve.
Gabor Maté is a physician and author, known for his work on addiction, trauma and the connection between body and illness. The Wisdom of Trauma is a documentary based on his book The Myth of Normal. Maté describes trauma not as an event that happened to you, but as what happened inside you as a result of that event. The wound that remains in the nervous system, not the scar on the skin. His central thesis: behind almost all chronic suffering — addiction, depression, autoimmune disease — lies an unprocessed history of trauma. Not as a cause in any simplistic sense, but as the ground on which the body learned to survive in ways that once protected and now hold back. For horse-assisted practice, Maté's work is relevant because he takes the body seriously as a carrier of memory and meaning. And this is precisely the layer the horse responds to.
Opportunities for reintegration in the workplace
The UWV regularly uses horse-assisted coaching for reintegration. In this video you see Daniëlle (WIA). She has been doing horse therapy for months.
The horse Amber helps her deal with the tension she experiences as a result of her complex PTSD. Her contact with Amber is very important to her reintegration.
Prefer to read?
Bibliography
Polyvagal theory, trauma & the body
Porges, S.W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory. W.W. Norton.
Grossman, P. et al. (2026). Why The Polyvagal Theory Is Untenable. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 23(1), 100-112. PMC12937499
Porges, S.W. (2026). A Scholarly Response To Grossman Et Al.’s Evaluation Of Polyvagal Theory. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 23(1). PubMed
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. Viking.
Maté, G. (2003). When the Body Says No. Knopf Canada.
Maté, G. (2022). The Myth of Normal. Avery.
Levine, P.A. (1997). Waking the Tiger. North Atlantic Books.
Gendlin, E.T. (1978). Focusing. Everest House.
Kuhfuß, M., Maldei, T., Hetmanek, A. & Baumann, N. (2021). Somatic experiencing — effectiveness and key factors of a body-oriented trauma therapy: a scoping literature review. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 12(1). DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2021.1929023
Kearney, B.E. & Lanius, R. (2022). The brain-body disconnect: A somatic sensory basis for trauma-related disorders. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1015749
Payne, P., Levine, P.A. & Crane-Godreau, M.A. (2015). Somatic experiencing: using interoception and proprioception as core elements of trauma therapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00093
Neurodivergence & interoception
Price, D. (2022). Unmasking Autism. Harmony.
Aron, E.N. (1996). The Highly Sensitive Person. Broadway Books.
Mahler, K. Interoception: The Eighth Sensory System. AAPC Publishing.
Silence, presence & the epistemological contract
Kavedžija, I. (2025). Silence as Presence: Affective Spaces of Silence and Care. Medicine Anthropology Theory, 12(2). DOI/link
Morgan, L., Nadar, S. & Keygnaert, I. (2025). ‘Stay with the body’: facilitating integrative silence in community centred integrative trauma informed care. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 16(1). PMC12175188
Knol, A.S.L., Desmet, M., Huiskes, M., Vanheule, S. & Koole, T. (2020). How Speakers Orient to the Notable Absence of Talk: A Conversation Analytic Perspective on Silence in Psychodynamic Therapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584927
Lepak, M.M. (2022). Utilization of Presence Awareness in Trauma Therapy. Trauma Care, 2(4). DOI: 10.3390/traumacare2040049
Bioy, A., Santarpia, A. & Malet, P. (2022). Clinical Perspectives on the Notion of Presence. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.783417
Pfeifer, E. & Wittmann, M. (2020). Waiting, Thinking, and Feeling: Variations in the Perception of Time During Silence. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00602
Co-regulation, attachment & equine assisted work
Feldman, B., Tupikina, L. & Santolini, M. (2024). From Self to Group to Community: Integrating Developmental and Multilevel Approaches in Somatic Therapy. Group, 48(4). DOI: 10.1353/grp.2024.a962318
Want to know more?
Are you a coach and would you like to learn how to apply this science in the arena? Take a look at the Train-the-Trainer programme, OR are you interested in horse-assisted coaching for yourself?
Schedule an introductory call through my online calendar.
My own publications
Alongside the literature below, I write about high-masking neurodivergence, trauma and the three-axes methodology myself.
