Both therapy and coaching work with the present moment, helping the client build awareness about patterns and why they do what they do, including uncovering and working with limiting belief systems. Therapy is more focused on healing the past, whereas coaching is more goal and future oriented. To be alive is to experience some level of trauma, but if a client's trauma is interfering with their life and is the main focus of concern, then therapy is needed. Couples therapy is needed if trauma is getting in the way of healthy relating. Both couples coaching and therapy can help couples build tools and relate and communicate better. When I coach my scope of practice is limited to coaching and I will refer coaching clients to a therapist if the issues are more than coaching can address. Coaching is not currently regulated and I can see coaching clients residing anywhere. Therapy is regulated by the state, therefore I am limited to therapy clients within the state of Colorado.

PACT stands for Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy and was developed by Stan Tatkin. PACT draws from neuroscience, attachment theory, and biology to help couples understand how to create a win-win system that benefits the couple. Our brains are wired in ways that make relationships challenging, and understanding how to counter some of these negative automated responses and instead turn toward love are crucial for long-lasting relationships. It is not feelings of love that lead to loving behaviors, it is loving behaviors that lead to feelings of love. Successful long-term relationships are built on understanding your partner’s “drivers manual” and through loving behaviors.

Horses are incredible at helping humans slow down and regulate our nervous systems, at mirroring relational patterns and self-limiting beliefs, and at revealing any incongruences between words, thoughts, and emotions. Working with horses offers immediate feedback and fast-tracks awareness and healing. Studies have shown that humans and horses help regulate one another and our nervous systems relax together. Equine-assisted work is experiential and present-moment focused. Equine-assisted work is not horsemanship, but sessions may include exercises such as haltering and walking with a horse or grooming a horse. The farm is also home to wild animals such as hawks, owls and rabbits, who play a therapeutic role as well. Equine-assisted therapy and coaching is well-suited to all age groups and groups and families.

Most of my clients prefer to work via telehealth, but I also offer in person sessions in an office setting in Boulder as well as regular or intensive Equine outdoor sessions held on South Boulder Road in Boulder, Colorado.

Trust yourself. I offer a complimentary phone or video session to help answer any questions and for us to get to know one another. Feel free to ask anything that will help make you more comfortable. You may discontinue coaching or therapy at any time.

If schedules and budgets allow, we will begin with weekly sessions for at least 4-6 sessions. Typically clients begin weekly and then when they feel ready they transition to bi-weekly, then monthly, then we close our work together. Many couples stay for long-term care, finding that they use their session time as a time to check-in and refine their goals and any new issues that arise. Like anything, prevention works better than treatment after an issue arises. Working on the relationship in neutral or good times helps smooth out the difficult times. Duration of our work together is up to you, but tends to be anywhere between three to six months to years. Some couples and individuals find the help they need in several sessions. The client may discontinue coaching or therapy at any time.

Gillian Pierce, MA, MPA, LPC, PACT II, Licensed Professional Counselor, Pyschobiological Approach to Couples Therapy Level II, graduated from Naropa University’s Mindfulness Based Transpersonal Counseling Masters Program, current adjunct faculty at Naropa University, certified mindfulness instructor (Naropa University Mindfulness Instructor Training) and yoga instructor (Para Yoga and Anusara).