It's Not About the Activity: Thinking Outside the Toolbox in Equine- Facilitated Psychotherapy and Learning

Veronica Lac

May 2020 · University Professors Press

About this ebook

It's Not About the Activity: Thinking Outside the Toolbox in Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy and Learning offers a hands-on approach to building creative equine facilitated programs. Based on the HERD Institute® methodology, the book demonstrates the importance of a relational approach to creating impactful programs for a wide range of clients. Dr. Lac offers ethical and safety considerations, emphasizing the importance of both human and equine welfare in this work, and clearly delineates the differences in scope of practice between equine facilitated psychotherapy and equine facilitated learning. Additional case studies provide readers with a clear understanding of how to put theory into practice.

About the author

Veronica Lac, PhD, LPC, is the founder and executive director of The HERD Institute®, which offers training and certification for equine- facilitated psychotherapy and learning. She is also the founder and director of Share in The HERD, a non-profit organization that offers grants and scholarships for program development, training, and research in the equine-facilitated field. Veronica is passionate about increasing accessibility to and diversity of equine-facilitated services and providers and is committed to fostering collaboration within the field. 

       With 20 years of experience as a corporate trainer and mental health professional, and as a certified therapeutic riding instructor, Veronica brings an integrated perspective to equine-facilitated work. Her academic background includes a masters in training and performance management, a masters in Gestalt psychotherapy, and a PhD in psychology. She is trained in a number of modalities, including a mentorship in Adventures in Awareness with Barbara Rector, a pioneering influence in this field, and certification through the Gestalt Equine Institute of the Rockies. This has allowed her to combine her theoretical understanding with a relational and embodied approach to what she offers. Veronica is passionate about working with clients to enable them to reach their full potential, and is an experienced corporate trainer offering one-to-one coaching and organizational consultancy. Clients range from large corporate businesses to individuals, couples, and families. Veronica specializes in working with those who have eating disorders, trauma, and attachment issues and has developed equine- and canine-assisted programs for at-risk adolescents in collaboration with residential treatment centers and eating-disorder clinics.

       Veronica is passionate about research in the field of equine- facilitated psychotherapy and has multiple publications internationally in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, she is on the executive boards of a number of professional organizations including: American Psychological Association, Division 32 (Secretary; University Professors Press (Editor); and The Humanitarian Alliance. She is also a peer reviewer for The Journal of Humanistic Psychology and The Humanistic Psychologist.