Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy September 2025

Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy™ Live Event, September 26 and 27, 2025, 9 am - 3pm Mountain Time [First Light Farm in Wellington, CO], and includes a 3 hour live webinar with the instructors on September 19, 2025 from 12 noon-3 pm Eastern Time [replay available]

Lead Faculty: Dr. Elizabeth Warson, originator of Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy™; Dr. Cathy Malchiodi, Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Therapy Founder and Director. Early Bird Pricing thru September 18th, $649 /Regular Registration $699 begins on September 19, 2025, so register early for best price.

Early Pricing $649- Space is limited!

Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy™

13 CE or Professional Development Hours

From Dr. Elizabeth Warson: "As an avid rider and descendant of horse and mule trainers, I’ve personally experienced the healing power of horses and their herd dynamics. My journey as an equine specialist and equine-assisted psychotherapist grew from my deep connection to the expressive arts. I believe the combination of equine therapy and expressive arts forms a unique healing practice that fosters co-regulation and self-regulation through sensorimotor experiences. This process creates transformative opportunities for meaning-making. Reflecting on my own childhood, where drawing on any surface was my way of expressing myself, I recognize that my artist, writer, and horse-riding grandmother saw early on that art would lead me to a career as an expressive arts therapist."

"In my practice, both mounted and unmounted equine therapy play integral roles in fostering healing. Mounted therapy involves the physical connection between rider and horse, offering a unique opportunity for embodied regulation, trust-building, and emotional processing. Through riding, individuals experience a deeper sense of grounding, balance, and coordination, which supports emotional and physiological regulation. Unmounted therapy, on the other hand, emphasizes the connection with the horse from the ground, focusing on nonverbal communication, boundary-setting, and mutual respect. It allows for a more reflective process, where individuals engage with the horses in a way that supports self-awareness, self-regulation, and relational skills. Both forms of therapy integrate expressive arts and sensorimotor approaches, offering a holistic pathway to healing.

"Since 1997, my practice has evolved to integrate expressive arts and therapeutic riding for residential treatment centers, where I’ve facilitated process groups and used phototherapy techniques to help create personal narratives from therapeutic riding and groundwork experiences. This work has included youth offenders, individuals with TBI, sensory processing disorders, ASD, acute stress disorder, and cPTSD. For me, equine-assisted expressive arts therapy has become an embodied, ‘felt sense’ experience that emerged from collaborative programs with indigenous communities, reaffirming the healing power of ‘bottom-up’ interventions. This approach now focuses on sensorimotor exploration and hemispheric integration, using bilateral stimulation to support regulatory processes. Key practices in this work include response artwork, such as painting, clay, and nature art, mindfulness-based bilateral movement and artmaking exercises, visual journaling, fiber arts, and sound therapies like humming, drumming, and singing."

Instructor(s)

Institute Faculty | Supervisor Elizabeth Warson, PhD

Elizabeth Warson, PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, NCC, EMDR III, EXAT, EAP II, is a trailblazing force in the integration of equine-assisted therapy and expressive arts. As the founder of American Indian Art Therapy, her work stems from extensive faculty research at George Washington University and Eastern Virginia Medical School. Currently based in northern Colorado, Elizabeth operates Healing Pathways LLC, where she combines EMDR with art and horses, drawing on her expertise as a certified EMDR practitioner and consultant, Registered Art Therapist-Board Certified, certified Eagala professional and an EquiLateral trained equine-assisted EMDR therapist. As a faculty member at the Trauma-Informed Practices & Expressive Arts Therapy Institute, Elizabeth teaches both in-person and online courses focused on polyvagal-informed, equine-assisted, nature-based, bilateral stimulation, and sensorimotor-informed expressive arts therapy. Her research interests span stress and pain reduction interventions for Native American cancer survivors, culturally responsive practices, and trauma-informed methods. Her significant contributions include receiving a 2010 National Endowment for the Arts grant for her community-driven Coharie Heritage Empowerment Project, emphasizing cultural preservation. Elizabeth’s academic journey includes a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art, an MA in Art Therapy from Vermont College, and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from Colorado State University. She has presented extensively at regional and national conferences, focusing on medical art therapy and culturally-responsive interventions, and has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Recently, she co-authored E.Qi: Equine & Expressive Arts Inspired Qigong with collaborator Sifu Kurtis Tilley. In addition to her therapeutic work, Elizabeth is a professional artist whose sculptural pieces have been exhibited both nationally and internationally, earning her an Ohio Arts Council fellowship award. Her multifaceted approach bridges art, counseling, and equine therapy, creating impactful experiences for individuals and communities alike.

Institute Faculty Cathy Malchiodi, PhD

Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPCC, LPAT, REAT holds a doctorate in psychology, a registered expressive arts therapist, and is a licensed art therapist and mental health counselor and has published numerous books, chapters, and articles in the field of art therapy including, Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy: Brain, Body, and Imagination in the Healing Process, Creative Interventions with Traumatized Children, Breaking the Silence: Working With Traumatized Children, and Understanding Children's Drawings, which are standards in the field. She has trained counselors, therapists, and teachers throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe. In 2011, Cathy founded the Trauma-Informed Practices Institute to meet the need for professional education in the use of arts therapies, expressive therapies, mind-body approaches and resilience-building in trauma integration and recovery for children, adults and families. You can learn more about Dr. Malchiodi at her website https://www.cathymalchiodi.com/

Optional Course for Nature-Based Expressive Arts Certificate Training

This Live Event is offered as a continuing education course and also as optional hours if you are completing the EXAT or EXA-CE designations with our Institute. However, it is also part of the Nature-Based Expressive Arts Therapy Certificate program.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will there be a recording that I can watch after the Live Webinar Session?

Yes-- we record the lecture portions of the live webinars for replay and you can watch them for 365 days after the event. We do not post the experiential portions of the event to protect participants' confidentiality.
When are the Sessions?

A Live Webinar Session on September 19, 2025 from 12 noon-3:00 pm Eastern Time via Zoom to introduce you to the materials. Live, in-person, meetings September 25 and 26, 2025 at First Light Farm in Wellington, CO. [you will receive directions after registration] 9-3pm MST.
Will I receive a Certificate of Completion?

Once you complete all the required sections of the course site, you will automatically receive a Certificate of Completion for "Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy "
If I do not currently provide Equine-Assisted Therapy, why should I take this course?

Equine-Assisted approaches are increasingly becoming part of work with trauma survivors as well as other individuals with various challenges. In this course, we will explore how equine impact therapy sessions by their presence; there will not be any "on-horses" component to this training. Gaining a deeper understanding of these approaches is important to all practitioners who work with individuals with traumatic stress. Various approaches found in Polyvagal Theory and vagus nerve research, sensorimotor and bilateral stimulation methods, and expressive arts therapy are foundational to equine-assisted treatment.
Does this course count toward the EXAT and EXA-CE designations?

Yes, of course! This is great opportunity to add to your knowledge of how expressive work can be integrated with equine-assisted work and understand the principles that support this integration.

Herd Meditation: A Short Film

Attuning to Equine and Nature

Continuing Education

Continuing Education Information

Counselors/National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6557. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC are clearly identified. Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Art Therapy Credentials Board [ATCB]. The ATCB recognizes a variety of CEC activities, including those in the areas of professional and mental health counseling. These activities are clearly outlined in their recertification standards provided to all ATR-BCs in their recertification year and on their website. A minimum of six CECs must be earned in the area of ethics each cycle. If you are licensed as an art therapist in your state, please check with your state board to verify what types of CEC activities are acceptable for license renewal.

California Marriage and Family Therapists, Social Workers and Professional Counselors. As of July 1, 2015, the State of California /Board of Behavioral Sciences [BBS] amended its regulations for continuing education providers to include National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as a "board-recognized approval agency." If you are licensed as a marriage and family therapist, social worker, educational psychologist or professional clinical counselor in California, NBCC Approved Continuing Education Providers are recognized by the BBS to fulfill continuing education requirements. As of July 1, 2015, required CE hours can be accumulated through self-study and distance learning.

Course Curriculum

Look for More Resources and Information on this Curriculum as We Get Closer to Our Meeting

1. About Your Instructors | Elizabeth Warson
2. Syllabus, Goals and Objectives of this Course
3. Course Content & Enrollment
4. Lodging and Transportation
5. Site | First Light Farm | Address
6. Overall Agenda
7. 2-Day Agenda | Sept. 26 & 27
8. Checklist
9. Introduce Yourself Here!
10. Menu | Sept. 26 and 27 | TBA
1. What is Expressive Arts Therapy? A Review or an Introduction!
2. The MSSS Model of Expressive Arts
3. Resensitizing the Body Through Expressive Arts
4. Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy
5. Visual Journaling | Research & Guidelines
6. Felted Grounding Stone
7. Let It Go Bowl
8. Cyanotype
9. AWE Cards
10. Pony Pondering Inspiration Cards
11. Scripted Agenda
1. Film Presentation: Foundations of Sensorimotor Expressive Arts Therapy with Dr. Cathy Malchiodi
2. Bilateral Movement & Artmaking | Hemispheric Integration Across the Midline (Warson & Warson, 2023)
1. Equine Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy Group
2. EAGALA
3. PATH International
4. Equine-imity
1. Final Steps to Your Certificate
2. Course Evaluation
3. Regarding the Use of Material in this Course
4. Final Questions