In her evocative memoir, STABLE: A Therapist and the Healing Nature of Horses, Emily Swisher forges a new path at an equine-therapy ranch first in Colorado and later in Montana to help people heal from their wounds and traumas. She dives deep into painful parts of her past as a young woman and interweaves it with stories of other inspiring individuals and groups she has supported, from victims of abuse and troubled children to the bereaved and broken-hearted. She sees the transformation of individuals, sometimes subtle and small, other times hard-won and miraculous, while healing her own long-buried scars and rediscovering the joy and fearlessness she lost along the way. Her message resonates that “working with horses is just one transformational outlet, serving to reconnect us to nature and, ultimately, ourselves.”
Steeped in wisdom, Emily Swisher creates lyricism through her life experience and empathy and the soul-stirring western landscapes. From a neurodivergent child who learns how to regulate his emotions and behaviors, to a woman healing from domestic violence learning how to assert her boundaries effectively, each story artfully captures the essence of our humanity and is a testament to our shared connection with nature. STABLE, a love letter to the transformative power of horses, explains why these extraordinarily intuitive animals have the ability to mirror human emotions, helping us to discover hidden parts of ourselves and remind us how “intoxicating it feels to be held in the vastness of the universe, reminding ourselves how miraculous it is to be alive in a world that interacts back.”
STABLE: A Therapist and the Healing Nature of Horses is available now for purchase on Amazon and Ingram.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Emily Swisher is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in equine interventions and trauma. With her expertise in trauma and equine interventions, Emily has authored several publications and spoken at conferences on trauma-informed care and mental health.
