Because the Horse Doesn't Know Who the Client Is: Why our personal growth matters so much

About this talk

In Natural Lifemanship, we understand that it is through reparative relational experiences that we heal. We also understand that in order for us to truly help our clients heal, we must walk a shared path with our clients. We cannot take our clients down a path of healing that we ourselves are not traveling. We cannot provide the safety of attunement and co-regulation if we ourselves are not deeply connected and regulated. Our personal awareness, development, and healing is vital to being an effective and ethical professional. The self we bring to our clients, our horses, and our therapy team is everything!

In their keynote address, Tim Jobe and Bettina Shultz-Jobe, NL Founders, will discuss what the science of interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theory tells us about the importance of our own process and our own healing. Our way of being in the world (and in our sessions) is everything because our horses respond to our internal states, not to the outward persona we seek to create. Our equine partner will respond to all who enter their space; simply put, the horse doesn’t know who the client is.

Tim and Bettina will also expand on what it means to help our clients experience a relationship that is reparative, and discuss how our own attachment (and detachment) history and wounding influences our ability to do this. Our own relational histories have an impact on the vulnerability we feel when we express a need, make a request, respond to a request, or seek connection in a relationship. This keynote is an invitation to deeply embrace a journey of personal healing through relationship with others, including your horses, because only then can you invite your clients to join you on this sacred path.