Professional Development Trainings

Medicine Horse Center offers a comprehensive suite of professional development trainings. Your organization can pick from the menu below or tailor a day at Medicine Horse to fit your needs. All trainings combine hands-on time with our horses, use of mixed media arts, and experiential learning activities.

Trauma-Informed Care – Virtual or On-site

This training is grounded in an understanding of how the effects of trauma and toxic stress impact the physical, emotional and mental health of people, and especially youth. Strategies given help promote a culture of safety, empowerment and healing. If taken on-site, unmounted work with the horses assists participants in understanding the trauma brain and practicing staying grounded when confronted with the fight, flight or freeze response in others. Participants will leave with strategies for specific behavioral and programmatic challenges and leave with ideas to implement in their particular programs. 

Behavior Management Strategies – Virtual or On-site

This training compliments Trauma-Informed Care and highlights strategies for challenging behaviors. Learn how adults escalate behavior and identify strategies around de-escalation, avoiding power struggles, problem solving, working with apathy, responding to challenging behaviors, and more.

Combined Trauma-Informed Care & Behavior Management Strategies (On-site)

Spend the day at Medicine Horse with your team and immerse yourself in understanding behavior and learning effective strategies to respond in a consistent and compassionate way that promotes physical and emotional safety. The training involves unmounted work with horses and culminates in applying strategies learned to a vast array of scenarios tailored to meet the needs of the group.

Walk the Talk: Embodying Trauma Informed Care and Managing Burnout

We will reflect upon our motivation and desire to work in the programs and roles that we do. Participants will explore what gets in the way of responding in challenging situations, strategies to show up more effectively to support our clients, and clarify our own reasons for doing the work we do. This training will utilize a trauma-informed lens, in action! How do we embody the principles we strive for? How do we address vicarious trauma and avoid burnout, all while doing meaningful  and challenging work.

Wellness Days

This training is all about keeping  ourselves in balance as we do valuable work! Come play, create, and relax with Medicine Horse Center! We’ll cook you lunch while you spend some time reconnecting with joy. You’ll leave rejuvenated to dive back into your work. We have offered wellness days for a variety of professions, including teachers, school counselors, and non-profit employees.

Teambuilding & Retreats

Looking for a way to reconnect with your staff after spending months working from home virtually? Need a space conducive to strategic planning or visioning? Medicine Horse Center is the perfect setting to intentionally connect as an organization. Our facilitation team can tailor offerings to fit your specific goals. 

What participants are saying:

“The trainings offered by Medicine Horse staff about Trauma Informed Care and Behavior Management are invaluable.  The information and practices give me the tools to be a better program facilitator, parent, and human being. “  J.L., – Montezuma Land Conservancy

Yes, it was helpful. It is one of the best Behavior Management trainings I have ever attended! You are really great at what you do.”   A.A.- School Community Youth Collaboration

“I wanted to pass a long a HUGE thank you for last weeks training, and for hosting us at Medicine Horse. In the few days since the training, the leaders and myself have been implementing and reflecting on lessons learned. You had a massive impact on all of us and I really cannot thank you enough.”

T.D. – Southwest Conservation Legacy

“They did such a phenomenal job! I’ve been to quite a few Trauma-Informed trainings and this one was one of the best yet. It’s a heavy topic and can be triggering, but she did great at keeping it light and getting the information delivered.” B.F. -Pinon Project Family Center

“Working with the Medicine Horse staff, including the horses, was an amazing experience for my professional and personal growth.  Not only were we given an array of tools and techniques, Karen helped us understand the spectrums involved with trauma and traumatic stress.  This consists of environmental factors that we do not see or experience that contribute to behaviors. It gave me a whole new outlook when working with my target population. We were also given an amazing opportunity to focus on our own skills to promote self-care and composure.  This included stepping out of our comfort zone at times.  The training involves information as well as physically participating in practices that left me feeling rejuvenated and energized to continue my work with a growth mindset. We even got to spend time building and enhancing our connection with the horses. I really enjoyed working with every member of the staff at Medicine Horse and can easily say that it was the most impactful training I have experienced thus far.”  S.G. – Pinon Project Family Center