Nature-based Therapy

This service involves partnering with nature and animals to assist with human mental, emotional, and social health. Stable Roots offers various out-of-office session structures, including farm-based and equine-facilitated wellness, local outdoor therapy, and walk-and-talk sessions. Activities are tailored to the individual, depending on their needs and goals.

Our counselling approach is trauma-informed and utilizes a three phase support model to promote safety, connectedness, and empowerment. Counselling services are facilitated by a Registered Clinical Counsellor with specialized training in animal-assisted and/ or nature-based interventions.

Our Story

Our vision grew from an adolescent’s experience of attempting to navigate mental health and educational systems during a very vulnerable time in her life. This left her with a deep yearning for something beyond the support services being offered to her at the time. It was within her relationship with her horse and in the connections made within this barn community that she was able to find solace.

She began imagining a space that could offer mental health support, connection with nature & horses, and educational opportunities - all within a nourishing, safe environment. She dreamed of natural space for people to heal, where they could find a sense of purpose and belonging, and explore their own interests through facilitated learning opportunities and in building healthy relationships. As she navigated her own wellness journey and worked towards high school graduation through alternative roots, her vision grew.

Finally, on healing land near Kamloops, BC, the seed was at last planted. With the nourishment, loving care, and collaboration with others within the community who dream the same dream, Stable Roots is now blossoming and bearing fruit. We look forward to welcoming you here.

Farm-Based Equine-Assisted

Sessions at the care farm involve connecting with the land and animals in safe, supportive ways, allowing individuals to expand their equine/farm knowledge base within the context of personal awareness and connected relationships.

Equine-facilitated wellness is an experiential modality with a specialized therapist. Sessions are uniquely customized, and structured based on the needs of the individual, as well as the needs of the horse that they are partnering with.

All outdoor offerings are 50 or 80 minutes long.

How does Equine Therapy work?

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In-town Outdoor Therapy

In-town Outdoor Therapy involves uprooting ourselves and transferring the work that occurs in a traditional office-based talk-therapy session into an outdoor setting within local city limits. Most often, sessions take place at a collaboratively selected green space, such as a park, garden, or beach. Opportunities for connecting with the natural environment and inviting nature into the therapeutic process are facilitated by therapists with specialized training in nature-based modalities.

All outdoor offerings are 50 or 80 minutes long.

Walk-and-Talk

Walk and Talk therapy is as it sounds -- a regulating, physiologically-nourishing and rhythmic way to move through the therapeutic process together. Sessions take place in local community settings, such as parks and trails, favourite neighbourhoods, and even right from the doors of the Stable Roots office. This is a popular offering for individuals seeking the benefit of movement alongside the value of talk therapy.

All outdoor offerings are 50 or 80 minutes long.

How does Equine Therapy work?

Horses are relationship educators by nature. They live in the here-and-now without ruminating in the past or future. As prey animals, they rely on their relationships within the herd to stay safe. Their attentiveness to the present moment has the capacity to illuminate relational patterns in the humans they work with, providing opportunities for healing through the bond of connection. Because they communicate on a level below the cognitive, in the emotional and somatic (body) realms, therapeutic work with horses creates powerful opportunities for integrative healing and growth.

Equine Facilitated Wellness (EFW) is an experiential modality that can have a counselling or a learning focus, depending on the scope of the facilitator and the needs of the individual. By fostering safe relational experiences, EFW provides opportunities to enhance awareness and shift patterns.

Our Equine Facilitated Wellness program is designed for individuals looking to expand their equine knowledge base and explore their equestrian pursuits within the context of personal awareness and connected relationships. Sessions are highly customized, and structured based on the needs of the individual, as well as the needs of the horse that they are partnering with.

The majority of our EFW sessions take place on the ground, though they may evolve to mounted lessons once a relationship built upon safety and trust has been formed. Over time, as the individual builds a relationship with the horse, the human may notice the development of their own instincts, increasing a feeling of safety and connection in themselves and with others.