The National Association of Certified Professionals of Equine Therapy (NACPET) is a Non-Profit Corporation, which was established in 2008 to bring a level of standards and guidelines to the field of Equine Therapy for Mental Health. These reputable values and principals were created to enhance this innovative and exciting; yet brief and experiential approach to therapy.
In fact, the need for such a governing board is great and necessary because of this modality being so new. It was founded by Greg Kersten in 1998, and called Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP). Since then, the approach has been called Equine Facilitated Therapy (EFT), Equine Assisted Mental Health (EAMH), Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), Equine Facilitated Mental Health (EFMH), Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning (EFEL), and Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP), Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT).
In other words, like any new approach to therapy, Clinicians are branching out and other organizations are forming. This isn’t a negative thing by any means, just use the example of Sigmund Freud. However, it does need to come under one umbrella (Governing Board, i.e. AMA, APA, BBS, CAADAC, CAADE, NAADAC) to gain credibility in the field of Psychology. Thus, this is where NACPET comes in. In fact, the concept of this Certification Association was first established in 2003 by Pegasus Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and all ideas and documentation was copyrighted at that time. The documentation and ideas of the Association were shared with Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) and the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). The idea of having a governing board was too new to EAGALA; and was interesting to NARHA, but they were more focused on the Disabled at that time. Moreover, NACPET is striving to increase public awareness of Equine Therapy and its benefits, as well as create more opportunities for scientific studies by third parties, short-term and long-term. Integrity, by the highest set of standards and ethics in this field, under one Board, will result in bringing this fascinating and powerful form of therapy to the forefront of Psychology.
