Connected Relationships: An Equine Experiential Learning Workshop for Therapists Working with Trauma

Presented by:

Melanie Marklein, PhD

Cynthia Degnan, PhD, MSW, LCSW

in partnership with Pegasus Path

Connected, attuned relationships with self and others are essential to our health and vitality. Connections are meant to be protective and nurturing forces in our lives. As therapists working with survivors of relational trauma (and often recovering from our own history of traumatizing relationships), we are aware of how abuse, neglect, enmeshment, or objectification experienced early in life can seriously impair one’s ability to experience connection in adulthood. We also know that deep healing from trauma that occurred in close relationships can only happen in the context of a relationship that is experienced as safe. Being a safe source of connection for our clients requires our presence, receptiveness, and authenticity.

In this experiential workshop, participants will learn how to cultivate the kind of presence that allows our clients to experience us as a safe connection. The ground activities and interactions with horses will help increase awareness of how we experience connection and what our own patterns are when it comes to connecting with others. Being present with ourselves and connecting to our own internal experience is an essential part of creating a safe space for clients.

Learning Objectives

• Increase self-awareness
• Understand how attachment affects the brain and nervous system
• Understand how to help clients develop an internal sense of connection (i.e. secure attachment) through attachment and detachment
• Use nonverbal communication to help clients regulate and experience connection
• Be able to regulate your own body energy to communicate boundaries and to make andrespond to requests in relationships

This workshop is for therapists who want to learn how to work more effectively with clients who have difficulty trusting others and forming healthy relationships due to a history of attachment or relational trauma. No riding is involved, and no horse experience is required.

Due to the limited number of spaces available for this workshop, we will be unable to offer refunds for cancellations.