Meet Sara & The Horses, Heart & Soul® Herd

Sara B. Willerson, LCSW is an equine guided professional in North Texas. She is a graduate of Hollins University and Smith College School for Social Work.  Horses have been part of her life since childhood. In 2001 she was given a book by her father, The Tao of Equus, by Linda Kohanov, that changed her path personally and professionally. Upon reading this book, Sara knew that her passion and purpose had finally joined up! After completing an Equine Experiential Learning apprenticeship program with Eponaquest in 2003, she created Horses, Heart & Soul®, LLC, an Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy practice for children and adults. Now located at WolfTree Ranch in Pilot Point, TX, Sara and a very special herd of horses offer transformational healing in a nature based setting.

Sara is a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International. She is an Advanced Approved Instructor with Eponaquest. She has presented at multiple conferences including the NASW Texas Conference in Austin, TX (2005), The European Society for Trauma and Dissociation Conference in Belfast, Ireland (2010), The Women of India Leadership Summit in New Delhi, India (2013), the National NASW Conference in Washington D.C. (2014), the Healing With Horse Symposium in Aubrey, TX (2016), The Texas Association for Play Therapy conference in Austin, TX (2017), the PATH Region 8 Conference (2017) and Eastern Kentucky University’s “Living With Animals” conference in Lexington, KY (2019). Additionally, she was an Adjunct Professor at Texas Christian University (Ft. Worth, TX) with the Department of Social Work and taught their course on Animal Assisted Therapy & Social Work from 2018 – 2021.

Her equine facilitated psychotherapy practice has been showcased in several publications, including Southwest Airlines’ “Spirit” magazine (Sept. 2006), the self published books, Journey To The Heart Through The Way of the Horse (2013) and Straight From The Stalls; Horse Inspired Wisdom Journal (2017), chapter co-author in The Use of the Creative Therapies In Treating Depression (2015), and chapter author & co-author in Equine Assisted Mental Health Interventions (2019). She previously hosted two Internet radio shows, “Horses, Heart & Soul” and “Messages From The Herd” (with friend and colleague Mary Miller Jordan) on NaturesChannel.FM showcasing “Horse Wisdom Straight From The Stalls.” Sara and the Horses, Heart & Soul Herd were also featured in the 2018 documentary film, High Sensitive Youth In The Horse Heart Space by Jolanda Ellenberger.

Sara’s professional experience has focused on working with clients who have experienced trauma, anxiety, grief and loss, and life transitions. Horses, Heart & Soul, ® currently offers individual, couples, group, and workshop sessions for adults. Together with her equine partners, Sara invites humans to experience the transformational healing power of the horse outside of the traditional office environment.