Prepare to be Touched By A Horse®
The world’s finest equine assisted coaching certification program.
It will not only prepare you to be a successful coach.
It will change your life!
Why Choose the Touched By A Horse® Equine Coaching Certification Program?
The Only Program Based on the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method/EGC Method® Created by Melisa Pearce
Melisa Pearce is the founder of Touched by a Horse® and the creator of the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method® and the Gestalt Coaching Method®. Melisa is lifelong horsewoman. She has also been a practicing psychotherapist, Master Coach and Gestaltist for more than thirty years. She is the author of several books, including her latest “What the Heck is Gestalt” (2019). More About Melisa
The Certification Training Views the Horse as Your Active Coaching Partner
The Touched By A Horse® Equine Coaching Certification Program considers the horse as an integral partner in the coaching process. In the course of your training, you will directly observe how the horses participate in coaching sessions and the value that they offer. While many of our students are experienced horse owners, this is not a requirement. Nor is riding horses. We insure that you have plenty of experience and are comfortable working with your horse coach partners prior to graduation.
The Cirriculum Includes a Thorough Overview of the Skills Required to be a Successful Entrpreneur
To insure the success of our graduates,The Touched By A Horse® Equine Coaching Certification Program covers all aspects of becoming a successful entrepreneur, including identifying your niche, marketing your business, creating your website and on-line presence, dealing with liability & insurance issues and even developing your elevator pitch! We make sure that all graduates are not only fully prepared to be a coach, but a successful entrepreneur as well.
How it Works
Effort
3-5 Hours Per Week
Course Length
2 years
Commitment
Weekly classes
Class Size
Under 15 Students
Model
The Equine Gestalt Coaching Method®
Format
Telecall, webinar, & hands-on
Who Is Melisa Pearce?
Melisa has spent her life with horses and has been a leading figure in the horse-human healing movement since the late 1980’s. Through thousands of hours in the presence of her equine companions, she developed a deep awareness and intuitive understanding of the emotional landscape of horses. While they’ve served humankind in every way over the centuries, Melisa believes that horses’ true purpose on this planet is to heal.
Melisa has also been a practicing psychotherapist, Master Coach, and Gestaltist for more than thirty years. She has combined this expertise with the healing gifts she saw in horses to develop the the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method®. Now in its 10th year, her certification program has graduated nearly 200 coaches, who provide equine assisted coaching to clients all over the world. Melisa is also the author of several books, including her most recent – “What the Heck is Gestalt” (2019) – a user friendly and comprehensive guide to Gestalt.
Program Details
Students will develop in-depth skills in the Six Core Competencies required for certification as a Touched By A Horse® equine coach.
Gestalt and Human Dynamics
The Equine Gestalt Coaching Method® incorporates Gestalt theory. Gestalt is a German word loosely translated to mean wholeness. The process of Gestalt in coaching can be seen as a journey to wholeness. Most therapeutic approaches look to the past, the unknown, and the unknowable, forming labels and diagnoses to explain behaviors. Our Gestalt coaches, or “Gestaltists”, take a more natural and holistic view. Looking to the present and the many parts of self within, one is seen as a totality of life experience during which defenses and strategies form. Our coaches are taught to guide their clients in fully experiencing themselves, holding that each client has inherent healing wisdom that is outside of their present awareness.
Equine Knowledge
Students will observe directly the healing power of horses in coaching sessions and are provided with the horse knowledge to develop a horse as a coaching partner. This includes knowledge of equine behavior and communication, including an understanding of the horses body language and healing energy fields (chakras). Practical aspects are also covered, such as horse selection, facility requirements and safety.
Somatics and Intuitive Insights
Based on Gestalt principles of wholeness, students will discover the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method® is experiential in nature and moves beyond talk therapy to include the felt experience of a person in their body as a means of gaining personal awareness. Special emphasis is given to the importance of developing intuition and its potential to harness the vast powers of the subconscious.
Workshop Facilitation
Students will learn the skills necessary to lead both workshops and individual coaching sessions, including creating the proper container, setting boundaries, and confidentiality. This will also include practical aspects such as legal releases, safety checks and co-facilitation skills and issues.
Coaching Skills
Students are taught a comprehensive tool-kit of highly-effective and proven coaching tools and techniques for helping others meet their challenges and opportunities. Through both classroom teachings as well as textbooks written by leading experts in the fields, students are provided with an in-depth understanding of tools and concepts such as individual typology and temperaments, principles of Neuro-lingusitic programming, SMART plans, individual developmental stages and family genograms. They also learn to guide their clients in developing personal visions and values.
Business Development
Most of our program graduates enter into the program with the intention of establishing their own coaching practice. To insure the success of our graduates that do go onto being an entrepreneur, we provide our students with all of the necessary tools to start their own coaching practice. This includes guidance in writing a business plan, identifying specific a target market and niche, creating an online presence (including a website) and other marketing strategies that have proven to be successful for our graduates. Running your own business is not a prerequisite for joining the program, as some graduates explore joint ventures capitalizing on complimentary backgrounds in finance, marketing, horse ownership and experience, etc.
From Our Graduates
These graduates of the Touched by a Horse® equine coaching program not only have thriving coaching practices, but personally felt the transformative power of the program.
“It is a powerful, deeply transformational experience that has changed the entire course of my life for the better. This program is not just about learning new skills. It is about lasting personal change; a positive shift from the inside, out.“
“Becoming an Equine Gestalt Coach has been the most amazing journey. As an EGC coach, my equine partner and I now have the honor of using all I have been taught to guide others to discovering their personal journey.”
“This program not only provided me with superior skills, it also led me through a personal transformation. It helped me to create a vision that, with Melisa’s guidance and continued support, has become a reality. That vision is reflected in my passion for bringing a voice to my equine partners and to those I coach.”
Melisa’s Writings
Borrowed Benefit in an EGC Method Group Setting
by Adrianna Alexander Exquisite Strides, LLC Introduction: In this study, I analyzed client outcomes within a group setting utilizing the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method™, focusing on its correlation with the concept of “borrowed benefit.” Significance: Numerous...
Authenticity as it Relates to Gestalt
by Wendy Dinnerstein, EGCM® Best Life Now Coaching LLC Introduction: Gestalt coaching has shown me that embracing authenticity leads to fulfillment. It helps uncover concealed parts of ourselves and catalyzes authenticity. My equine partners also provide valuable...
Collective Healing and the Power of Presence
by Kelly Dukarski, Gestaltist A Wild Omen, LLC Introduction: This capstone project endeavors to shed light on the therapeutic potential of equine interactions and the interconnectedness among living beings. It elucidates that cultivating mindfulness to embrace the...
Ready to Apply?
Request a Free Handbook
We keep our class size small, so space is limited. Fill out the application and our admission team will call you to answer questions and make sure the program is a good fit for you. There are two starting dates, January 2nd and July 1st each year.
Interested but not sure you want to enroll yet? The Certification Program Handbook is an in depth overview of everything you need to know about the program. Get yours now.