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Willow Equine provides conscious approaches to counseling, leadership development and wellness with the aid of horses, aimed at reducing the impact of trauma. Horses provide a unique support while processing through traumatic experiences, providing a deeper level of healing and grounding. Like the horse's mind, the human mind is capable of resting, acting, responding, and then resting again. Once the human has experienced trauma, energy becomes locked in the body and the central nervous system cannot return to rest. Anxiety results from people's tendency to be on high alert in a fight, flight, or freeze response. Despite our innate desire to heal and let go, humans are often raised to suppress difficult feelings and experiences.
This work is client driven, meaning clients take the lead! There is always a licensed mental health professional, a certified equine specialist, and the horses in each session. Their role is to ensure physical and emotional safety, while setting up experiences, supporting clients, and facilitating the learning process.
Meet Us
Katie has always had a passion for horses and a deep desire to see people succeed. She understands the desire for authentic relationships in life, which horses naturally offer.
Katie founded Willow Equine, in 2012, to serve civilians seeking counseling, personal growth, and optimized leadership capabilities. In 2017, she founded Soul to Soles Connection. The vision and commitment to wellness, nature and horses are the foundation for Soul to Soles Connection and Willow Equine.
Katie is a Reiki Master, an Advanced Eagala certified equine specialist with her Eagala Military Designation and has her ARCH Designation in mental health, military, and coaching. She supports clients to look beyond “their limiting box,” break through their walls and onto their higher self. Her intuitive ardor lies with embracing Horse Medicine for Higher Purpose and Balance. Katie’s unique skill sets, combined with the power of the horses, drive clients across the finish line in life.
Maria has always had a passion for helping individuals, couples, and families cope with difficulties in their lives. Her desire is to help clients experience healing and life change. Maria is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor, the Clinical Director for Willow Equine and Soul to Soles Connection. She has worked with children, adults, and families in a variety of settings utilizing a trauma focused, root causes, cognitive-behavioral, systemic model, and assists clients with a variety of emotional, behavioral, personal, and relational problems.
Maria is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Restoration Therapy, and utilizes the Enneagram in treatment. Maria is an Advanced Eagala certified mental health professional with her Eagala Military Designation as well as her ARCH Designation in mental health and the military.
Maria Russell, LCMHCS
Clinical Director & Therapist
Katie Stankiewicz, CPC
Founder & Equine Specialist
Animal assisted therapy has been a passion of Julia’s since earning her master’s from the University of North Carolina. She has been working professionally with horses since 2014 and enjoys working with animals to help people understand and cope with their trauma or situations. Julia has seen what it has done not only for others, but herself. Sharing this type of healing experience with clients, is not only exciting but an honor.
Julia works with adolescents, young adults, and adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses, domestic violence, and relationship challenges. She is co-owner of Davidson Family Therapy in Cornelius, NC and has a therapy dog named Boone. Julia is an Eagala certified mental health professional with her Eagala Military Designation as well as her ARCH Designation.
Julia Rose, LCMHC
Therapist &
Boone Rose, Therapy Dog
Lindsey has spent the majority of her life working with horses, and knows first hand how supportive they can be for people in their healing journeys. While the basis of her horse experience comes from her personal, competitive riding background, Lindsey has been eager to bring horses into her professional life; a passion that fueled her through her graduate studies at Wake Forest University.
In her clinical work, Lindsey enjoys working with older teen girls (16+), women, couples, and groups as they navigate through trauma, eating disorder recovery, relational challenges, anxiety, and identity exploration. She believes that pairing therapeutic processing and reflection with horses and movement in a nature based setting provides a unique perspective and advantage over traditional office work. Her treatment approach is trauma informed, relationally based, and somatically integrated. Lindsey has training in the Fundamentals of Natural Lifemanship, Gottman Level 1 Couples Therapy, and is working towards her Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) credential.
Lindsey Gage, LCMHC
Therapist
Mary Perkins Kinken is a North Carolina Board Certified Pastoral Counselor. She holds degrees from Centre College, Duke University, and the Graduate Theological Foundation. She is a psychotherapist, ordained minister, supervisor, writer and facilitator.
Integrating psychodynamic theory, theology and holistic health/energy work, Mary sees individuals, couples, families, and groups through her practice in Davidson.
She provides equine-facilitated therapy and is a mental health clinician for Willow Equine, Inc., in Mooresville. Mary also serves as an adjunct faculty member for Davidson Centre for the Professions.
