Skip to content

Mental Health in Education – Intervention Award

Mental Health in Education – Intervention Award

We are delighted to announce that we have won the Association of Mental Health in Education, Mental Health Intervention Award.

This award celebrates effective and innovative interventions to support pupils experiencing mental health difficulties. The winner will evidence how they go above and beyond in meeting the needs of their pupils and how they have sustained this across two academic years.”

Mental Health in Education Awards, 2024

We are honoured to have received the award and delighted for the team to be recognised on a national level for the hard work and commitment they put in to support young people in making positive changes. It is our mission to assist the individual in the many spheres of personal development, growth and learning, through the unique interaction that occurs between human and horse.

For the last 18 years we have been supporting the young people of Northamptonshire, we are lucky to have a 17-acre purpose-built site in the heart of Northamptonshire. This beautiful and tranquil environment provides a safe place for every client ‘just to be’ even for a short while delivering Equine facilitated learning and Therapy and our unique TSoC (The Seeds of Change) approach. We support more than 50 young people a week on programmes ranging from 6 weeks to more than 2 years. Our learner leader, CBT-based person-centred approach or the TSoC approach is focused on personal development, self-awareness and growth through working with horses. Horses have the most amazing ability to create boundaries for themselves and those around them, very much a herd creature, accepting and acknowledging a natural hierarchy, yet humble, honest, willing and kind. Playful and inquisitive, affectionate yet still with the ability to be their authentic self, always giving honest and helpful feedback to those working around them.

Many of the young people referred to us have experienced and found traditional ‘Talk therapy’ challenging and may have struggled to build a therapeutic relationship with one person. Sometimes certain unconscious barriers make it impossible to form a connection with the Therapist, Professionals or even adults in general, in what can feel like a fairly sterile indoor environment. Horses can provide that ‘third person’ element in the therapeutic alliance, making it easier for many clients to more naturally connect with themselves to be able to express and begin to link with what they are feeling and experiencing at that present time. It is the task of the skilled coach to enable the client to understand what is occurring through observations and feedback, enabling the young people to become more self-aware, and confident developing a greater resilience to work through their personal challenges. The TSoC approach is focused on allowing young people to learn through experience and reflection, creating opportunities to feel and become aware of a range of emotional responses with the horse as a mentor and mediator. This allows the coach to support the young person to explore these emotions and consider related behaviours. The horse’s role within the therapeutic relationship will vary this can include reflecting the young person’s behaviour, allowing the young person to project how they are feeling, and giving them more freedom to talk openly or as a confidant and source of comfort. Coaches work to facilitate the interactions and the relationship between the young person and the horse. Encouraging reflection and in turn the ability to transfer the skills and learning to their everyday life. Every session requires the coach to be innovative to help the young person link the learning to their everyday life. The key to TSoC isn’t the escapism that being in the peace of our centre offers although this supports the young person in building the therapeutic relationship, the real value to the young person is the effect of the transferable skills have on their entire life.

Latest Posts

People walking at The Acorn Centre - The Seeds of Change

Join our team! EFL – Coach

Coach – The Seeds of Change The Seeds of Change is a busy alternative provision, offering placements for
People walking at The Acorn Centre - The Seeds of Change

Join our team! Administrator

Administrator – The Seeds of Change The Seeds of Change is a busy alternative provision, offering placements for
Horse and young person

Join our team! Coach

Due to continued expansion, we are currently looking for a positive, enthusiastic and energetic individual to join our coaching team at our site just outside Walgrave in Northamptonshire.