Equine-Assisted Somatic Experiencing® (SE)
How SE Shapes Our Approach to Equine-Facilitated Somatic Healing™
When many people hear the word trauma, they think only of what happened to them. But trauma is not in the event itself — it lives in the nervous system, in the way our bodies carry incomplete responses to overwhelming experiences.
Somatic Experiencing (developed by Dr. Peter Levine) is a body-based approach that helps us gently complete those responses. By slowing down, noticing sensations, and allowing the body to find its own rhythm again, we rediscover what has always been true: our systems are designed to move toward balance, resilience, and healing.
The Role of the Horses
Horses live in a state of embodied presence. They feel the subtlest shifts in energy, pressure, and intention. They don’t interpret, diagnose, or judge. Instead, they respond — authentically, immediately, and without pretense.
In their presence, we are invited to notice ourselves more fully: the tightening of a throat, the softening of a belly, the deep exhale that arrives without effort. Their way of being calls us back into contact with our own bodies and with the living field around us.
Equine-Facilitated Somatic Healing™ at Congruence
At Congruence Tucson, we weave Somatic Experiencing® principles with the wisdom of the herd and the grounding presence of the desert. We call this work Equine-Facilitated Somatic Healing™. It is not about “fixing” or doing something to you. Rather, it is about creating the conditions where your body feels safe enough to release, reorganize, and move toward its natural capacity for healing.
In practice, this may look like:
Slowing down until your system feels the ground beneath your feet.
Tuning in to the smallest impulses — a breath, a shift of weight, a subtle vibration.
Listening with presence as a horse chooses to approach, pause, or step back — and noticing what stirs in your own body in response.
Finding rhythm in the quiet companionship of the herd, where your nervous system is invited to settle and restore.
Honoring the Body’s Natural Capacity to Heal
When we use the word healing, we don’t mean a guarantee or a cure. We mean something deeper, more organic: the restoration of what is already within you. Your body carries an innate wisdom — the ability to mend, to complete unfinished responses, and to return to balance.
An Invitation
This work is for those navigating brain injury recovery, trauma, and chronic stress. It also serves those who feel called to explore leadership and life as a practice of conscious presence and relational integrity. If you’re more curious about our approach, you can find details about our sessions here.