When
25th - 29th November 2024
Spanning five days and four nights, specialist therapists will lead a unique and proven programme of change, in the powerful presence of our wild horses.
Itinerary
DAY 1 - A BEGINNING
The first task is to create the solid ground upon which your exploration can begin. It is the start of your journey, a moment for you to establish your own ways to keep yourself safe and productive, as well as open and accountable.
DAY 2 - UNDERSTANDING CONNECTIONS
Today your relationship with your horse begins. As you wordlessly choose each other and bond, your horse will see you, they will feel your energy. They will respond to your signals without opinion and without judgement. In turn, you will feel their strength, their security, and their power to move you.
DAY 3 - RECONNECTING WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH YOURSELF
Your relationship to your horse, and to the group, will now be deepening. Each interaction brings familiarity and understanding, but also new challenges. These challenges may create petty conflicts, or deep tensions, with the steady gaze of your horse compelling you to examine your responses.
DAY 4 - CREATING MOVEMENT
Today you will move from feeling stuck, to a sense of flow. As a herd, you will move past the conflicts towards collaboration, letting go of control and accepting unpredictability. As you let go of past anxieties, losses, and preoccupations, you discover new pathways and new motivations.
DAY 5 - SETTING DIRECTION
You are now resolved to find a purposeful path that will bring fulfilment, as well as resilience and joy. With this comes a sense of freedom in the choices before you. You are no longer burdened by the restraints of the past.
This unique programme is built for long-term change, whereupon after your last session, you'll focus on integrating yourselves with your experience. You'll explore the conflicting emotions such as relief, sadness, and the sense of possibility that may arise as the programme closes. You'll collectively name the struggles we want to leave behind, and fill that space with fresh ambitions.
The Experts
Professor Andreas Liefooghe
A life-long horseman, and a professor of psychology and psychotherapy, Andreas founded Operation Centaur, Europe’s foremost centre of equine-assisted psychotherapy. His latest book providing detailed evidence of the effectiveness of equineassisted programmes is the benchmark text in the field. “Trying to change makes no sense without knowing what keeps getting you stuck. Find what holds you back, and the rest is a walk in the park.”
Dr Susan Kahn
Susan is a Chartered Psychologist and Executive Coach who has worked alongside horses in her practice for over a decade. Her latest book on resilience and the power of failing fast, Bounce Back, is hailed as a landmark text. “There’s one sure-fire way to avoid failure: don’t try anything new – ever. But playing it safe is a recipe for stagnation. We thrive when we feel challenged and excited by what we’re doing.”
Raul Aparici
Raul is a speaker, executive coach and facilitator and is the Head of Faculty at the School of Life London, as well as the Programme Director for the MSc in Coaching Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London. He holds Master’s Degrees on Gestalt Psychotherapy and on Critical Theory, and has facilitated personal development and therapeutic programmes for thousands of people across the world. “Be curious. Through our work we will identify what our edges are, and push beyond.”
