A cornerstone of our programs is community building and leadership. Though these constructs are sometimes held in tension, our framework is informed by Kohanov’s (2013) work, which asserts that power is best “held” through collaboration, and that a nonpredatory approach modeled by horses/herd behavior has much to teach us about social intelligence, leadership and innovation.

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Perry believes that no matter the trauma, what is most important is how the trauma affects their relationships in the contexts of their loved ones, themselves, and the world (Perry & Szalavitz, 2017). Building and sustaining relationships throughout life create a sense of safety. Relationships where people are harmed by the ones that are supposed to love them, being abandoned by them, and not having the one on one relationships can be incredibly detrimental (Perry & Szalavitz, 2017). Perry believes that recovery from trauma can be found in relationships through rebuilding trust, confidence, and finding safety and love (Perry & Szalavitz, 2017).Though discouraged by the hyper-professionalism of some therapeutic roles (Girvin & Frank, 2021), human connection and authentic relationships that extend into community building are critical.

The exercises within this book offer everyone who works with horses - beginner to expert - an understanding of how humans interact with horses and why these two species, a master predator and the ultimate prey animal, have such a deep, natural connection. 

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk is a psychiatrist known for his research on post-traumatic stress, focusing on attachment, neurobiology, and developmental aspects of trauma. This book shows the evolution of trauma in the profession over the past 20 years, including what has been learned about the ways the brain is shaped by traumatic experiences. The book also reviews how traumatic stress is a response of the entire organism and how that knowledge should be integrated into healing practices.