When the Horse Responds
Part 3 of 5. A man kicks a pylon across the arena and the horse yawns. On the mechanism behind equine-assisted work: not magic, but a prey animal that reads nervous systems instead of narratives.
Horse-assisted coaching for trauma and PTSD
Body-based horse-assisted coaching for PTSD and trauma, alongside or after therapy, in The Hague and Leiden. Here you experience safety and boundaries instead of talking about them. The horse doesn't respond to your story. It responds to your nervous system.
Recovery begins where language ends
Trauma is stored in your body. Not only in your thoughts, not only in your memories, but in your muscles, your breathing, your reflexes. Your nervous system has learned that the world isn't safe. And it goes on believing that, even once the danger has passed.
That's why talking alone sometimes isn't enough. You can explain what happened. You can understand it. And still you panic at an unexpected sound. Still you freeze when someone comes too close. Still you lie awake at night while knowing that nothing is wrong.
At a força I offer horse-assisted coaching for trauma and PTSD. Body-based, alongside or after therapy. For people who notice that their body hasn't yet caught up with what their head already knows.
What does trauma do to your nervous system?
Trauma is not a weakness. It is a survival response that got stuck.
Your autonomic nervous system has three settings: safe and connected; alert and ready to fight or flee; or frozen and shut down. With trauma this system becomes dysregulated. You switch to alarm faster than necessary. Or you stop feeling anything at all.
This is how body-based models of nervous-system regulation describe it — and although the exact neurobiology is still the subject of scientific debate, the pattern fits many people with trauma precisely.
It explains why you are sometimes tired and restless at the same time. Why you can't calm yourself with breathing exercises. Why your emotions sometimes come out of nowhere, or stay away entirely.
Horse-assisted coaching for trauma starts with recognising these patterns. Not by talking about them, but by feeling them.
How do I work?
My approach is grounded in the work of Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine and Gabor Maté. I follow the scientific discussion on nervous-system models critically and take training at the NICABM every year to keep this knowledge current.
Step 1: Safety first
Before we work with trauma, we make sure your nervous system has enough capacity. We practise setting boundaries, recognising your own alarm responses, finding anchor points in your body. The horse helps with this: it respects boundaries immediately and lets you experience what safety feels like.
Step 2: Letting the body speak
Only once there is enough safety do we start working with the tension held in your body. Not by retelling the story, but by feeling what happens when you stand with the horse. What does your breathing do? Where do you tense up? What happens when the horse comes closer?
Step 3: Discharging and integrating
Trauma energy that has been locked in needs to be released. That might be trembling, crying, breathing deeply, or simply standing still with a horse leaning against you. After every session we translate what happened with the horses into your everyday life. You'll get somatic exercises to take home.
What does this fit well with?
Horse-assisted coaching for trauma is not a replacement for therapy. It is a complement that works where talking therapy can't reach.
This programme suits you if you:
- are looking for something that works at the level of the body alongside EMDR or talking therapy
- notice after therapy that your head understands but your body hasn't caught up
- get stuck in talking therapy because you dissociate or can't reach your emotions
- function as a professional but collapse in the evening
- are dealing with work-related trauma as a veteran or first responder
For serious symptoms I refer on. Where needed, I work together with your therapist or practitioner.
The research
Horse-assisted interventions for PTSD are being researched increasingly well. Utrecht University is currently running the H-PWR study (Paardenkracht), in which veterans and first responders with PTSD are monitored during horse-assisted programmes. Both human and horse are measured physiologically.
Earlier studies show that interaction with horses leads to lower cortisol, improved heart rate variability and a reduction in PTSD symptoms such as re-experiencing, avoidance and irritability.
Want to read more? See the bibliography on my going-deeper page or the H-PWR study from Utrecht University.
Faith and trauma
For some people trauma touches on faith. On trust, on meaning, on the question of where God was when it happened. I work faith-sensitively: if that matters to you, it is welcome as part of your programme.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Can't find your question here? Book a free, no-obligation introductory call through my online calendar at the bottom of this page.
Is this therapy?
No. Horse-assisted coaching is coaching, not therapy. It works well alongside or after therapy. For serious symptoms I refer on and coordinate with your practitioner.
Do I have to talk about my trauma?
No. You don't have to say anything you don't want to. The work happens through your body and the horse. Sometimes words come with it, sometimes they don't. Both are fine.
How soon will I notice a difference?
That varies. Some people notice a shift in how they feel after a single session. A programme of several sessions gives your nervous system the time to change durably.
Can I combine this with my current therapy?
Yes, and that is often exactly where the strength lies. I'm happy to coordinate with your therapist if you'd like.
Read more
Curious?
Click the calendar icon to schedule a free, no-obligation introductory conversation with me quickly and easily.
You're welcome to come to the office, or we can meet by phone or video call.
