Horses Healing Heroes

Horses Healing Heroes is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing no-cost equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) to military and veterans who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and related issues, serving those in the Northern & Central California region.

EAP is done in a team environment with a mental health professional, a horse specialist, the horses and the clients. It is not riding or horsemanship, it is psychotherapy that allows clients to heal and grow through their experience. As prey animals, horses are fully present, vigilant, without agenda or judgment, and mirror back their direct experience with humans. Like humans, horses are herd animals and rely on each other for safety and survival. They don’t deny or mask their feelings and human masks and personas don’t fool them.

Sessions are designed to create metaphors working on dynamics related to relationships, isolation, hypervigilence, fear, trust, powerlessness, frustration, tolerance, communication, and other psychological effects resulting from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and related issues.

HHH is part of The Real Warriors Campaign, a program of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), an integral part of the Defense Department’s overall effort to encourage warriors and families to seek appropriate care and support for psychological health concerns. DCoE is part of the Military Health System and works across the entire continuum of care to promote resilience, rehabilitation, and reintegration for warriors, families, and veterans with psychological health concerns and traumatic brain injuries.