Equine-Assisted EMDR Trainings now open! Learn more

Equine-Assisted EMDR

Created by Sarah Jenkins

Equine-Assisted EMDR addresses the many challenges that both EMDR therapy and Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) providers experience when working with complex trauma.

Inspiring Therapists

Healing Hearts

Discover the power of Equine-Assisted EMDR

EquiLateral: The Equine-Assisted EMDR Protocol™

EA-EMDR combines EAP and EMDR Therapy. Using an experiential approach, EMDR therapy integrates with equine-assisted interactions to become Equine-Assisted EMDR (EA-EMDR).

Comprehensive & Integrative Treament

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is a comprehensive, researched, & integrative treatment of choice for trauma treatment. EquiLateral: The Equine-Assisted EMDR Protocol, premiered the integration of Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) and EMDR therapy.

Sarah has really done an amazing thing in finally blending the systematic, regimented protocol of EMDR with the intuitive, somatically and energy based practice of partnering with horses. It truly feels like science meets art in an alchemical mix that is transformational for clients and practitioners.
Gillian Ashley-Martz
MSW, RSW, RCC
In 2014, I felt the need to start a non profit to work with our military. As a Certified EMDR therapist & new horse owner I thought there must be a way to combine the two disciplines. Viola! I happened to see Sarah's Equine-Assisted EMDR training posted on the EMDRIA website. Now, 5 years later, we established Equines For Freedom. With Sarah’s guidance & expertise we have developed a successful program treating veterans & first responders with complex PTSD.
Ann Marie Lewis standing next to a black horse.
Ann Marie Lewis, MA, PA Licensed Psychologist
Clinical Coordinator, Equines for Freedom
This Equine Assisted EMDR training was the most professionally and personally helpful and inspiring training I have ever participated in. I feel a renewed sense of excitement about my work as a psychotherapist as well.
Lori Olson Headshot
Lori Olsen
MC, LPC, SEP
Sarah’s EquiLateral training provided me with the missing pieces I’ve searched for since attending my first equine-assisted therapy training in 2007. She is an expert in understanding trauma and its impact. She teaches a purposeful method of integrating EMDR therapy with horse-assisted interactions. Sarah’s sensitivity, authenticity and zest create a lively and emotionally safe learning environment.
Clarisse Charland, M. Ed., CAGS, MLADC
Grey Horse Counseling

How do we help them to heal?

We want our clients to heal their hearts. We want them to feel safe and grounded, but we also know that it may not be that simple. How do we help them to trust us when perhaps other humans hurt them the most?

Latest blog posts

What causes our systems to use dissociation as a strategy? The fact is, it’s all about attachment and trying to preserve it, but also managing the distress and conflict about that very safe drive to attach. There’s conflict. 
Feeling that our internal state, our emotions, were “held” by others, and processed, was a foundational need in childhood. To process it, as children, we needed the presence of an attuning other in the outside world, our caregiver to “hold” that distress to help us regulate, settle, calm, and let it move through.

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