The Gestalt Equine Institute of the Rockies combines a passion for horses and Gestalt therapy in a Gestalt-based equine assisted therapy training program.

We are offering a two year training program in Gestalt Equine Psychotherapy (GEP)™. You will learn the essentials of Gestalt therapy and the essentials of equine assisted psychotherapy. To our knowledge we are the only training program that combines these two naturally compatible forms of growth and healing. The following is a comprehensive description of the training program:

1. The core of the program consists of 8 training intensives that are spread over the two years. Each of these intensives are 4 days long typically starting on Wednesdays and going through Saturday.
2. Each of the intensives will include at least the following:
• Gestalt theory, practice, history and community building
• Equine assisted therapy, theory, and practice
• Emotional developmental theory and practice and how to integrate this with Gestalt Equine Psychotherapy (GEP)™
• Experiential practice therapy sessions with the other students and the horses either in the group or dyads
• One horseback riding lesson from our riding instructor
• Horse knowledge and care
• Special knowledge : such as Vet care, Farrier work,
  Ground work, etc.
3. In addition to the 8 intensives you will be asked to work on your horse knowledge and riding ability to be able to pass the "Horse Knowledge" Inventory that we have developed.
4. We are also asking that you complete 16 hours of supervision. The purpose of this is to help with any questions you may have. We have found in the past that this individual connection is very helpful in your growth as a therapist. As part of this supervision we will ask you to tape a session during the training intensive and review that with us.
5. We will also ask you to do readings and integrate these into the work you do in the intensives.
6. You will be asked to complete assessments for being a Gestalt Equine Psychotherapist™.
7. A prepayment plan is available to all participants. A 10% discount will be granted when a participant elects to prepay the tuition for an entire year (4 Intensives). A student must attend all four GEIR Intensives consecutively for that year. If a student misses one Intensive, the 10% discount will be rescinded and the student will be responsible for the full cost of tuition.

We will be providing a great deal of experiential work directly with the horses in this program. About 75% of this program will be hands on, both with horses and working with each other in an experiential way. Many equine programs do not include any, or have very little expectation that you will become a "horse" person. We will hold that you become both a "horse" person and a Gestalt therapist.

We want you to be able to leave this program feeling that you have a great deal to offer and that you can work in your desired area with a solid level of competence. To be able to do this we are including extensive training in Gestalt, Emotional Developmental Theory, Horses and Horsemanship. We will also expect that you do your own process as a person, horse person, and therapist in relationship to yourself and other.

Program Cost
The cost of the program is $950 per intensive. We will be meeting from 9 am to 5 pm daily. A light lunch and snacks will be included.