About us
Spending time with horses can have a profound affect on humans. Few of us have the time or can afford to keep a horse, but many of us would like to get close to them without having to take riding lessons.
My name is Janet Haney, and I have been a practicing psychotherapist for twenty years within the Lacanian psychoanalytic tradition. I am also the founder of Bree Equine Encounters Ltd, a company that I created in order to establish an equine facilitated psychotherapy (EFP) service at Kingsmead Equestrian Centre and to fund visits to people in institutions. Bree opens up a space where you can have a therapeutic encounter with horses which will help you to rethink something in your life that often gets overlooked and undervalued.
EFP is also part of a movement that is reimagining how we make use of horses and how horses can help us reshape our relationship with nature and the environment.
Bree has been designed to offer carefully supervised and safe individual encounters at Kingsmead. I will be with you to help you to understand and translate what is going on between you and the horse. The encounter is one where your feet will be firmly on the ground.
Bree offers three different ways to think about what you want to do:
- For people who rarely have a chance to get close to a horse, Bree welcomes you if you want to begin to know the impact of meeting a horse. Perhaps you have a desire to re-acquaint yourself with horses after many years absence, and gain new insights into your relationship with these wonderful creatures. Come for some sessions (I suggest at least three) to initiate or renew the relationship.
- For professionals who care for other people (e.g. therapists, blue light card holders etc) and who are curious about what facilitated equine encounters might offer them, their colleagues, and those they care for. I would suggest a set of six sessions to give you a chance to experience the way this works over time, and it would give you a chance to experience a few different activities with some different horses.
- For people who would like to try equine facilitated psychotherapy for regular sessions over a longer period of time. This would be suitable for anyone who wants to work on a particular issue. This would also be suitable for anyone who has plenty of experience of horses, or who owns a horse, but who is currently facing a crisis or a difficulty in their life.
I will accompany you throughout your time at the equestrian centre; I am an experienced and qualified therapist (more details of my training and experience below) able to help you through what can sometimes be an emotional and challenging journey. The horses are key partners in the work, and I will be there to help you to translate what's going on between you and them.
Training, qualifications & experience
I began my formation as a psychoanalyst back in the 1990s with an MA in Psychoanalytic Studies at Brunel University. I began a personal analysis and went to work at Warlingham Park Hospital as an assistant nurse to gain experience with people at their wits end. I entered a training with the Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research and the European School of Psychoanalysis. I joined the New Lacanian School and the World Association of Psychoanalysis in 2008 where I continue to take an active part in work with colleagues across the world, and where my practical work is supervised. I joined the The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy in 2006 where I am registered (No. 78429). For the equine facilitated psychotherapy, I studied with LEAP in Bracknell, qualifying (Level 5) in 2024 (https://leapequine.com/practitioners/janet-haney-facilitated-equine-encounters/)
Member organisations *
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Areas of counselling we deal with
Other areas of counselling we deal with
There is a very long list of labels of thing that purport to name various mental ailments. I have only ticked two of them, anxiety and depression, because they are the generic search terms most people use. It is not necessary to have a label to come along for an encounter with the horses. If you want to know something about how things work in life and how they go wrong, then you are welcome to come and ask the horses to see what kind of help they can offer. If you want to come simply for the experience, that's ok too.
Therapies offered
Fees
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
When you come for your first meeting you will be able to say more about your situation and what you hope to get out of the work. We can then discuss the rhythm and duration of the work and find a price for future sessions.
The initial session can last up to 90 minutes, and includes time with the horses.
You can call me to make an appointment and clarify any questions.
I will accompany you throughout your time at the equestrian centre.
Part of the fee goes towards funding visits by Kingsmead horses to hospitals and institutions nearby.
Further information
Sessions take place at a friendly, well established equestrian centre close to public transport. There is a sheltered place to talk, a quiet place to observe the horses and a variety of spaces in which to interact with them. Bree takes care to hold the boundaries of the work so that you feel safe and know your place alongside the life of the riding school.
The work with Bree is private and contained, but it is done near to others.
