Who holds the helper?
A two-day equine-assisted retreat for therapists, counsellors and helping professionals.
2027 dates:
29 and 30 May;
17 and 18 July;
25 and 26 September
Rest. Reflect. Reconnect.
A two-day immersive retreat to reconnect with why you came to this work and a space for you to be held.
Working closely with people is rewarding, yet demanding. You hold steady for others through distress, rupture and repair; you carry what they cannot yet carry themselves. Even with good support and trusted colleagues, the work can feel lonely; sometimes another person's story quietly echoes one of your own.
This retreat is an invitation to step onto an island of safety for two days. A space made with horses as quiet companions to the process, where you can settle, soften and re-centre.
It is not training. It is not performance.
It is a place to exhale.
Who this is for
This retreat is for anyone whose work means holding space for others. Therapists, coaches and counsellors; doctors, nurses and carers; teachers, social workers, lawyers, and the many people whose role is to sit with another's difficulty and help them carry it.
If your work involves absorbing other people's weight, this retreat is built for you.
You do not need previous experience with horses, and you do not need to be trained in Internal Family Systems.
What we'll explore
Drawing on Internal Family Systems (IFS), embodied practice and the relational intelligence of horses, the two days move through four threads:
How our own parts and burdens are activated by the people we work with, and what to do when that happens.
How self-energy is restored, rather than performed.
How horses respond to what is underneath the surface, and what that reveals.
How a community can hold what supervision sometimes cannot
What you'll leave with
Renewed clarity about the work you do and why you began it; a lighter internal load, with tools to keep it that way; deeper trust in your own internal system; and a felt sense of belonging in work that can otherwise be isolating.
What’s included
Guided experiential sessions with the LEAP herd; reflective circles with peers who speak the same language; gentle body-based practices to restore regulation; quiet time, a fire pit, and unhurried conversation. Refreshments are provided on both days.
What a day looks like: both days run from 10:00 to 16:00, moving between guided sessions with the herd, peer circles, body-based practice and quiet time by the fire pit.
Wellness add-ons available on the day
Equipilates, individually or in a group; reflexology for grounding and recovery; Reiki with the herd. These are bookable separately at the retreat, with details circulated nearer the time.
Your facilitators
Jo-Anne Karlsson is a Marriage and Family Therapist, US-trained psychotherapist and equine facilitator, and the director of LEAP Equine. She holds Internal Family Systems (IFS) to Level 2 and is working on her Level 3 and certification and is trained to Level 4 in Brainspotting. She works systemically with complex trauma, dissociation, and compulsive and addictive behaviours in private practice as well as runs an online programme for young people aged 15-23 years. Over more than a decade of relational work with horses and clients, she rewrote both the Level 4 and Level 5 Crossfields Institute diplomas in equine-facilitated practice; the first Ofqual-regulated qualifications of their kind. Her approach is unhurried and relational; she works at the pace the person and the horse set, not the pace of a curriculum.
Philip King brings an integrative therapeutic approach to the retreat, drawing on his training in IFS, CBT and EMDR and his work in nature. He is accredited as both an individual and team coach by the International Coaching Federation and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, is trained in Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP/EAP) with LEAP Equine. Philip has a Masters degree in Mental Health Studies with a specialism in CBT from the United Medical and Dental Schools of the Guys and St. Thomas’s, University of London. Before moving into therapeutic work, Philip practised as a barrister and taught law for over a decade at Birkbeck, University of London; he understands, from the inside, the particular weight carried by those in high-responsibility professions.
Have Questions?
Tell us a little about your work and what's drawing you to this retreat
The retreat and price
£497 + VAT per place. LEAP members and previous attendees: £447 + VAT; email us for your member code before booking.
Your place includes
Guided experiential sessions with the herd; reflective peer circles; body-based regulation practices; quiet time and a fire pit; refreshments on both days.
Lunch and accommodation are arranged by you; we send a list of local options on request. Places are limited to eight per date, and preparation begins once your place is confirmed; for this reason, all bookings are non-refundable.
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Choose your dates and secure your place with the Book Now button.
£497 + VAT.
Not sure if it's the right fit? Send your enquiry above, or email support@jkassociatestherapy.com about your work, and we'll come back to you.