Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy Live Webinar Series

Three-Session Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Equine-Assisted and Expressive Arts Approaches Starting June 3, 2021; 9 CE or Professional Development Hours

From Dr. Elizabeth Warson: "As an avid rider and a descendent of horse and mule trainers, I know firsthand the healing power of a horse and herd behavior. However, my journey as an equine specialist, and now an equine-assisted psychotherapist, evolved from the expressive arts. This combination of equine and expressive arts is a healing art in itself culminating in a co- and self-regulatory sensorimotor practice, resulting in transformational meaning making experiences. My own drawing practice as child–literally on any surface–signaled to my artist, writer, and horse-riding grandmother that art would be a pathway to my career as an expressive arts therapist.
What has unfolded in my practice, since 1997, is the integration of expressive arts and therapeutic riding for residential treatment centers in the form of process groups; the use of phototherapy techniques to create personal narratives from therapeutic riding/groundwork experiences with youth offenders, individuals diagnosed with TBI, sensory processing disorders, acute stress disorder, ASD, and PTSD. However, for me, equine-assisted expressive arts therapy as an embodied “felt sense” experience emerged from our collaborative programs that were “situated” in indigenous communities: this approach reaffirmed the healing aspects of “bottom up” interventions. As a result, sensorimotor exploration and hemispheric integration across the midline (bilateral stimulation) comprise the foci of the equine-assisted expressive arts therapy approach with respect to regulatory processes, for example, response artwork (painting, clay, nature art), mindfulness-based and bilateral movement, visual journaling exercises, fiber art (felting, weaving), and sound (humming, drumming, singing)."

Instructor(s)

Institute Faculty

Elizabeth Warson, PhD

Elizabeth Warson, PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, NCC, EMDR III, EXAT, EAP II, Certified EMDR Therapist, EMDR Consultant in Training. is the founder of American Indian Art Therapy, based on her faculty research associated with the Graduate Art Therapy Programs at George Washington University and Eastern Virginia Medical School (2004-2013). Elizabeth currently resides in northern Colorado where she maintains an equine-assisted and arts-informed private practice, Healing Pathways LLC. As a faculty member for the Trauma-Informed Practices & Expressive Arts Therapy Institute, she teaches in person and online poly-informed, equine-assisted, and bilateral stimulation/sensorimotor-informed expressive arts therapy courses. Since 2003, her research interests comprise stress and pain reduction interventions for American Indian cancer survivors and their family members, culturally responsive stress reduction and visual journaling, and trauma-informed interventions. Elizabeth is a recipient of a 2010 National Endowment for the Arts (folk and traditional art) for a community-driven Coharie Heritage Empowerment Project, focusing on cultural preservation. Elizabeth received her BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1989 and an M.A. in Art Therapy from Vermont College of Norwich University in 1993. She completed her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies, with a specialization in research, from the School of Education at Colorado State University in 2008. Elizabeth has presented at regional and national American Indian and Alaska Native conferences on topics related to medical art therapy, stress and pain reduction interventions, culturally-responsive art therapy, visual journaling interventions, and narrative-based art therapy. Her publications comprise over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in books. As a professional artist, she has exhibited her sculptural work nationally and internationally and is a recipient of an Ohio Arts Council fellowship award.

Institute Faculty

Cathy Malchiodi, PhD

Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPCC, LPAT, ATR-BC, REAT holds a doctorate in psychology and is a licensed and board-certified 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/

Required Course for Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy Certificate Training

This Live Webinar Series 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 Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy Level One Certificate with Dr. Elizabeth Warson; this training is a separate live, on-site course that will be offered for the first time in June 2021. Please check back for the exact date and registration process of this Certificate training.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Will there be recordings that I can watch after the Live Webinar Sessions?

    Yes-- we record the lecture portions of the events for replay and you can watch them for 45 days after the event. We do not post the experiential portions of the event to protect participants' confidentiality.

  • When are the Live Webinar Sessions?

    June 3, 2021 from 4 pm to 6 pm, June 10, 2021 from 4 pm to 6 pm, and June 24, 2012 from 4 pm to 6 pm. All times are US Eastern Time/New York Time

  • 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 Live Webinar Series." To qualify for Level One of Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy Training with Dr. Elizabeth Warson, additional training sessions are required on site with her. More information will be posted shortly on how to register for this learning opportunity.

  • 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. 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, 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.

Course curriculum

  1. 1

    • ▶️ ZOOM LIVE format: notes and tips!

    • Walkthrough this Live Webinar Site and Its Features

    • About Your Instructors

    • Syllabus, Goals and Objectives of this Course

    • Special Note About Materials and Expressive Arts Assignments!

    • Introduce Yourself Here!
  2. 2

    • ▶️ ZOOM Link and Supplies!

    • What is Expressive Arts Therapy? A Review or an Introduction!

    • The MSSS Model of Expressive Arts

    • Resensitizing the Body Through Expressive Arts

    • Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy

    • Concept Analysis of Equine-Assisted Therapies

    • Intersubjectivity Horse & Humans

    • Ethics and Animal-Assisted Interventions

    • Safety and Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy

    • Template for Visual Journal

    • After Session One...Share Just One Thing Here

    • Please UPLOAD an image from Today's session!

    • Warson PPT

    • Replay of First Hour of Session One
  3. 3

    • ▶️ ZOOM Link and Supplies!

    • What is Sensorimotor Expressive Arts Therapy? An Integrative Approach to Trauma and Restoration of the Self via Psychology Today

    • Film Presentation: Foundations of Sensorimotor Expressive Arts Therapy with Dr. Cathy Malchiodi

    • Equine Facilitated Trauma Therapy and the Role of Polyvagal Theory

    • Equine-Facilitated and Somatic Therapies

    • Neurological Changes and Equine-Assisted Therapy

    • Emotion Regulation & Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy

    • Warson Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (Colorado) Release

    • Somatic Awareness Inventory

    • Dysregulation Measurement

    • Program Evaluation Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy

    • Culturally Responsive Natural Horsemanship

    • Processing Sensory Information

    • Visual Journaling

    • American Indian Medicine and Expressive Arts Therapy

    • Biomarker Research in Art Therapy

    • Bilateral Movement and Artmaking

    • Warson Consent for the Use of Client Artwork

    • After Session Two...Share Just One Thing Here

    • Please UPLOAD an image from Today's session!

    • Random Mapping Slide

    • Warson June 10 PPT

    • Replay of First Hour of Session Two
  4. 4

    • ▶️ ZOOM Link and Supplies!

    • Part One: Interventions

    • Part Two: Applying Equine-Assisted Approaches

    • Equine-Assisted Therapy and ACEs

    • Elders and Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy

    • Indigenous Wellness and Animal Assisted Therapy

    • Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy and Treatment of PTSD and Youth

    • Mechanical Horses?

    • Equine-Assisted Learning and Aboriginal Youth

    • Complex Trauma and Equine-Facilitated Therapy

    • Action and Equine-Assisted Intervention

    • Patient Centered Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy

    • Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy with Aboriginal Peoples

    • Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    • Equine-Assisted Therapy with Youth

    • Service Learning & Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy

    • After Session Three..Share Just One Thing Here

    • Please UPLOAD an image from Today's session!

    • Warson | PPT | June 24

    • Replay of Session Three
  5. 5

    • Janet Jones MD (horse and human neuroscience)

    • Beverly Kane, MD (emotional self-regulation and horses)

    • Allan Hamilton MD (Zen Horse)

    • James Warson MD (equestrian medicine)

    • Horses and Humans Research Foundation

    • Equine-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapy Facebook Group
  6. 6

    • Final Steps to Your Certificate

    • Course Evaluation

    • Regarding the Use of Material in this Course

    • Final Questions

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. 

Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors. Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute is an Approved Continuing Education Provider by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors. Our Texas Provider Number is 2318.

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. 

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