"What kinds of embodied and relational learning can come from developing a responsive relationship with a horse? What insights might such ways of learning offer counselors and educators? In this book, the authors explore how women challenged by disordered eating develop transformative relational and embodied experiences through Equine-Facilitated Counseling (EFC). Embodiment refers to how we engage with others and the world in often habitual and taken for granted ways that shape who we are and the relationships we have. These habitual ways of being provide us with a sense of stability, but they can sometimes become constraining and problematic (as in the case of eating disorders). Our corporeal engagement with the world structures such habits, but it can also afford us opportunities to experiment, modify, and challenge problematic patterns, and in some instances, create new and preferred ones. The horses that participate in EFC present a vastly different sort of other who can help clients interrupt their sedimented ways of being and foster moments of responsivity that hold the power to become transformative. This theoretical context presents a different way of thinking about and practicing counseling – one that adds to a growing language of embodiment across a variety of disciplines. Chapters set forth a theoretical context for understanding the following: relationally embodied processes of stability and change, EFC, client stories from our research associated with riding horses in EFC, and implications we see for practice across different healing and learning contexts. "

Catalyzing the Field presents a diverse series of applied case studies about the second-person dimension of contemplative learning in higher education. As a companion volume to the editors' previous book, The Intersubjective Turn, the contributors to this book explore various pedagogical scenarios in which intentional forms of practice create and guide consciousness. Their essays demonstrate that practice is not only intellectual, but somatic, phenomenological, emotional, and spiritual as well. Along with their first book, Contemplative Learning and Inquiry across Disciplines, the editors craft an essential body of work that affirms the fundamental importance of contemplative practice in institutions of higher learning.

“Nicolette Hahn Niman sets out to debunk just about everything you think you know . . . She’s not trying to change your mind; she’s trying to save your world.”—Los Angeles Times “Elegant, strongly argued.”—The Atlantic (named a “Best Food Book”) As the meat industry—from small-scale ranchers and butchers to sprawling slaughterhouse operators—responds to COVID-19, the climate threat, and the rise of plant-based meats, Defending Beef delivers a passionate argument for responsible meat production and consumption–in an updated and expanded new edition. For decades it has been nearly universal dogma among environmentalists that many forms of livestock—goats, sheep, and others, but especially cattle—are Public Enemy Number One. They erode soils, pollute air and water, damage riparian areas, and decimate wildlife populations. As recently as 2019, a widely circulated Green New Deal fact sheet even highlighted the problem of “farting cows.” But is the matter really so clear-cut? Hardly. In Defending Beef, Second Edition, environmental lawyer turned rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman argues that cattle are not inherently bad for the earth. The impact of grazing can be either negative or positive, depending on how livestock are managed. In fact, with proper oversight, livestock can play an essential role in maintaining grassland ecosystems by performing the same functions as the natural herbivores that once roamed and grazed there. With more public discussions and media being paid to connections between health and diet, food and climate, and climate and farming—especially cattle farming, Defending Beef has never been more timely. And in this newly revised and updated edition, the author also addresses the explosion in popularity of “fake meat” (both highly processed “plant-based foods” and meat grown from cells in a lab, rather than on the hoof). Defending Beef is simultaneously a book about big issues and the personal journey of the author, who continues to fight for animal welfare and good science. Hahn Niman shows how dispersed, grass-based, smaller-scale farms can and should become the basis of American food production.

Clinicians have long recognized that trauma therapy provides a pathway to recovery, and Equine-Assisted Mental Health for Healing Trauma provides that pathway for those who work with horses and clients together. This book demonstrates a range of equine-assisted mental health approaches and step-by-step strategies for facilitating recovery from trauma for children, adults, and families. Chapters address topics such as chronic childhood trauma, accident-related trauma, complex trauma and dissociation, posttraumatic growth in combat veterans, somatic experiencing and attachment, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), reactive attachment disorder (RAD), relational trauma, and sexual trauma. Experts also provide case studies accompanied by transcript analyses to demonstrate the process of trauma healing. Clinicians will come away from the book with a wealth of theoretical and practical skills and an in-depth, trauma-informed understanding that they can use directly in their work with clients.

Edgy and suspenseful young adult fiction that explores topics teens want to read about. Tia is spending the summer working at a special ranch designed to "scare straight" at-risk youth. She tries to bond with Sage, a street kid who has been given one last chance to get her life together. But Sage resists Tia's overtures, and when money goes missing, all fingers point to the troubled teen. At Risk combines a satisfying mystery plot with a sympathetic portrayal of teens grappling with dark pasts and uncertain futures.

Horses—majestic and powerful beings that hold spiritual and emotional appeal—are a life passion for equestrians around the world. Whether you are an experienced or beginner equestrian, Sharing the Present helps horse lovers relate to their horses in a completely transformative yet simple way. The Brodheckers explore the popular practice of mindfulness and its tangible impact to deepen the horse-human bond. Through simple exercises often used in mindfulness therapies, you can acquire skills that help you to notice what your horse is experiencing, to more accurately read the messages that are being conveyed, and to respond in an intentional manner. The twelve mindfulness exercises included in the book will help equestrians and horse lovers strengthen relationships with their horses. For those experts who practice equine-assisted learning and therapy, these mindfulness exercises can also be incorporated into sessions with your clients.