Chelsea Doolittle, LMT, EGCM™, Chelsea Doolittle Coaching
Introduction: This capstone explores how the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method™ supports trauma release in non-verbal or minimally verbal individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. It demonstrates that healing is not dependent on verbal processing alone, and that the coaching triad, i.e., coach, client, and horse, can create a relational field where unspoken trauma may be witnessed, honored, and released.
Significance: As an Equine Gestaltist™ who has witnessed transformation through somatic awareness and presence, I feel called to extend this work to those often excluded from traditional modalities due to cognitive decline. This project offers a dignified, attuned space for individuals who still feel, sense, and remember, even if they can no longer speak.
Purpose: The purpose of this capstone is to explore how trauma can be accessed and gently released in non-verbal individuals through the relational dynamics of the EGCM™, using presence, energy, and somatic awareness as primary tools for connection.
Setting and Participants: Sessions took place on a private horse property in Reno, Nevada, where I partner with my horse, Avalon. The participant was an elderly woman with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s who communicated minimally through babbling. Her adult children and husband attended sessions as emotional witnesses and occasional assistants. Avalon participated at liberty in an outdoor round pen.
Capstone Description / Process: Over three and a half months, I facilitated six sessions using the EGCM™. Sessions began seated beside the round pen, later moving inside with Avalon, who was free to engage or observe. I closely attuned myself to the client’s somatic cues, including her breath, posture, micro-expressions, emotions, and shifts in babbling, as well as Avalon’s intuitive responses.
Though her speech was often disjointed or absent, at times she uttered words her family hadn’t heard in years, especially after I shared metaphors and emotional narratives meant to resonate on a deep, intuitive level. These verbal moments, though incoherent, were emotionally significant and marked by clear energetic shifts. She even cried at times.
Somatic cues such as posture changes, breathing patterns, and emotional release informed my process, alongside intuitive guidance from Avalon. In the round pen, her family supported her as she walked. Sessions became a sacred space where unspoken trauma met presence, patience, and love.
Capstone Results / Impact: The outcomes were subtle but meaningful. The participant showed consistent shifts, her energy softened, her face expressed recognition and emotion, and her babbling sometimes included new or previously unused words. These moments often followed metaphorical storytelling or horse interaction. Her family later noted increased calm, improved emotional regulation, and better sleep. They described moments of “presence” in her that hadn’t been there in years.
This suggests that the EGCM™ triad can hold space for trauma beyond words. The client’s body remembered and softened in the presence of connection and safety. The horse and I acted as co-regulators, helping ease emotional burdens that had never been spoken.
Capstone Evaluation: The evaluation was qualitative, based on my observations and the family’s feedback. I tracked shifts in mood, expression, energy, and babbling. Family members reported emotional breakthroughs, not only in their loved one but also within themselves, as they witnessed her in a new light and reconnected with parts of her, they thought were lost.
Future Directions: This capstone opens doors for serving non-verbal populations, those with Alzheimer’s, autism, or trauma that silences speech. I plan to offer EGCM™ to families seeking connection and healing for non-verbal loved ones and raise awareness of how the triad accesses trauma through presence, not words.
Acknowledgments: I am grateful to my equine partner, Avalon, the client and her family, my mentor, Melisa Pearce, for creating the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method™, and the EGCM™ community. Your belief in the unseen made this work possible.
References:
Pearce, M. (2018). What the Heck is Gestalt? Touched by a Horse Publishing.
Levine, P. A. (2010). In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness. North Atlantic Books.
Alzheimer’s Weekly. (2025, April 8). Horses improve life with dementia.
Ohio State University. (2014, May 16). Caring for horses eases symptoms of dementia.
Horse Illustrated. (2024, May). How equine-assisted therapy helps Alzheimer’s disease.