Where horses help people uncover their innate wisdom, vibrancy and balance...

Human-Equine Alliances for Learning - HEAL - offers services and programs that promote human healing and evolution through the creative and non-violent experience of the horse-human bond.  HEAL founder and therapist Leigh Shambo, MSW has developed a curriculum for building active relationship with the horse that is powerfully transformative at the personal level, enhancing core psychological functioning and liberating the authentic self to interact congruently and intentionally with horses and with people. 

Programs for personal healing, the equestrian arts or for professional education

The HEAL approach provides the perfect context for effective therapy and personal/spiritual growth; it is equally valuable for equestrians who seek a richer, more conscious  relationship with their horse.  HEAL also offers training programs for professional counselors and riding instructors. Whether your goal is personal healing, professional development as a therapist or instructor, or simply an enriched relationship with your own horse and a new approach to horsemanship, there is a HEAL program that is right for you!

Recent research has indicated HEAL therapy's effectiveness and the HEAL approach  has been widely acclaimed in Shambo's workshops across the US, and in Canada and England.  Most workshops and individual sessions take place at the HEAL Center, located in Chehalis, WA.  Here, the teachings come alive through guided practice with horses, who respond readily and reliably to the movements of human consciousness.  

HEAL teaches a philosophy of reverence and authenticity and HEAL sessions and workshops are designed to help you practice and apply the philosophy in horsemanship and life. You will notice immediate effects in your sense of self, your relationships, and your life path. 

Private therapy or learning sessions may be undertaken to address specific mental health symptoms or problem behaviors, or for support and personal growth in times of change.  Individual or family sessions at HEAL's quiet and confidential therapy sites in Olympia and Chehalis, WA.  Suitable for adults, families and young people age 10 and up; flexible scheduling for out of area participants.

Workshops and group programs are available at our home locations and at other locations throughout the United States and Canada. Some workshops focus on therapeutic applications while others have a distinctly equestrian focus*. See Workshops & Services. 

Continuing Education credits for counselors are available for most of our training programs.

*  Workshops focusing on therapeutic applications of the horse-human bond do not require previous experience with horses and no riding is involved.

Improve your capacity for feel, timing, judgment and awareness-- the components of "spontaneous correct action" in training and riding. 

 Invisible Horsemanship clinics help you master the mental and energetic states that are the enlivening "heart" of gentle, creative and effective training.  Leigh Shambo offers expert coaching for developing intuition and energetic vibrancy while practicing  natural training and riding concepts.

HEAL offers state of the art therapeutic instruction to help riders and horses with communication and intuitive understanding.  This approach offers profound growth by working through issues such as fear, loss and grief, or excessive reactivity.  A very healing and calming approach for traumatized riders and horses.

"My horse and I took a giant leap forward in our relationship after spending valuable time with      Leigh."                             ~Cathy P., WA 

 Copyright © 2007 Leigh Shambo