The Healing Power of Horses at Charlestown’s Beachwood Integrative Equine Therapy

Even before the pandemic, America’s mental health crisis was a very real concern, affecting tens of millions of people each year, with Rhode Island consistently ranking high for depression and other stress-related illnesses. This inspired Lynne Bryan Phipps – an architect, sailor, competitive equestrian, and Yale Divinity ordained minister – to create Beachwood Integrative Equine Therapy, a center that uses the responsive power of horses to treat cases of anxiety, trauma, and PTSD in the pastoral setting of Charlestown.

Shortly after Beachwood’s founding in 2016, Brown University established an ongoing study to evaluate the results of its specialized approach. Phipps’ Integrative Equine Therapy (IET) protocol proved so successful that word of mouth brought clients from around the country. Today, there are centers in Palm Beach, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, with six more scheduled to open over the next year.

Phipps details how Beachwood’s IET offers its own unique contrast to other equine therapy centers. Clients do not ride or take care of the horses; the process focuses solely on building a relationship between the client and the horse. Every client is different, but the protocol remains the same every time.

In a series of seven sessions, each lasting an hour and a half, clients visit the paddock of grazing horses with a certified IET therapist by their side to walk them through the entire process. The first session involves choosing a horse by standing before each of the center’s three horses and interacting with them, deciding which one they feel most connected to. Phipps explains, “The horse reads the client and responds, the client responds to the horse, and a bond is formed. It’s almost like a dance.” The next six sessions are spent standing in the paddock, reading and interacting with their chosen horse and noticing changes. Phipps explains that we can’t control our reactions to traumatic triggers because it’s the body reacting, not the mind; this process allows clients to build new neural pathways to handle emotional traumas without feeling easily triggered or scared.

Because horses are prey animals by nature, they’re always aware of what’s going on in their environments to ensure their survival. Much like humans, horses live in connected communities with complex social structures. When they sense danger, they’ll alert each other and react in sync to create safe spaces for themselves through subtle movements. Once they feel there’s no longer any threat, they return to their lives as usual, as though nothing happened. These subtle gestures play a critical role during the client’s session. While the horses work to create their own safe space, the client feels and reacts to their own internal emotions and intentions, which the horse senses and reflects back onto the client like a mirror, creating a safe, non-judgemental, and empathic space.

The horses are carefully selected, specially trained European breeds called warmbloods, known for their keen intelligence and powerful ability to read emotions and make strong connections with humans. “We know everything about each of our horses’ life histories,” says Phipps. “They don’t have any traumas of their own so they’re able to live fully in the present moment and not be burdened by the past. They’re bred and trained specifically for this method of therapy. They choose to do it and they love doing it.”

As simple as the technique sounds, Phipps affirms that IET is shorter and more cost-effective than traditional talk therapy, explaining that slow, gentle steps and patience make a huge difference. She concludes, “Softening and allowing yourself to work through your feelings is courageous.” Learn more at BeachwoodRI.org