Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Metcalf.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I fell in love with horses before I was old enough for kindergarten. My own mom (who I share my Birthday with!) introduced me to horses and serving families with special needs. She introduced me to volunteering at Heartland Therapeutic Riding, inc. (in 2000) when I was 14 years old! Fast forward 25 years, in January 2025, I started the first Equine-Assisted Mental Health program at Heartland Therapeutic Riding. (And my mom is now a volunteer). Fulfilling my lifelong dream to offer equine-assisted psychotherapy and help families thrive while they are navigating complex medical needs is surreal. It is nice to pause and reflect, but we are growing fast and constantly adding to our curriculum and offerings for our Kansas City families!
After I became a NICU mom myself, I managed a March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program where she supported over 500 NICU families at the bedside, annually. I also served on the Family Staff Advisory Council for the Intensive Care Nursery at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. After decades navigating health systems personally, and professionally, I have supported families during emergency births, NICU admissions, emergency mental health crisis-intervention, inpatient psychiatric treatment, intensive outpatient mental health (IOP), and private outpatient therapy. Now, I just want to hang out in the pasture with the horses and show people how we can truly be okay again, no matter how painful life experiences can be.
Andi holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from The University of Kansas. Andrea is a licensed specialist clinical social worker in Ks and Mo. She holds a Perinatal Mental Health Certificate (PMH-C) and Advanced Perinatal Mental Health Psychotherapy through Postpartum Support International. Always passionate about Family Centered Care and continuing education, Andrea is also an EMDR Certified Therapist and EMDRIA Approved Consultant-in-Training with The Touchstone Institute- specializing in EMDR consultation for perinatal EMDR therapists. Andrea is also a Certified EMDR Therapist Trained in EquiLateral: The Equine Assisted EMDR Protocol ®.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, its been a freakin’ rollercoaster! When I was 14 years old, the first kiddo I worked with passed away. At 21, my best friend was killed in a motorcycle accident. When I was 25, my son was born at 24 weeks gestation (1 pound 8 oz). and spent 98 days in the NICU at Children’s Mercy and is diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The NICU was a world I didn’t know existed before being thrown onto it as a brand new, young mom. I got through it with my own therapists, and being with horses. Sitting in the NICU holding my micro preemie day in-and-out I had a strong sense that somehow, someday, I would walk with other women through their journey. I now KNOW that is possible to heal, no matter how stubborn or hopeless we find ourselves. My son has had 12+ surgeries in his 13 years, and he has been constantly in and out of medical appointments. After a divorce, four miscarriages, and a hysterectomy at 38 years old my body and soul are finally healing. I had to be dedicated to my own trauma therapy work as a client: through grad school, grief and loss, starting over twice, and parenting (a now teenager!).
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Heartland Equine-Assisted Counseling @ Heartland Therapeutic Riding?
Highlights:
• Founded in 1978
• Offers Adaptive horseback riding for individuals with special needs
• Offers Hippotherapy (Occupational Therapists)
• NOW OFFERING- Equine-Assisted Mental health/Counseling program started in January 2025!!
• 78 beautiful acres in south Overland Park, Kansas
• Indoor riding arena with heaters and fans for year-round comfort
• Large outdoor arena
• Groomed riding trails
• Sensory land bridges
• Hay barn and second indoor exercise arena
• Barn with 16 stalls, 7 tacking stalls, tack room and offices
• Indoor washracks with hot water
• 2 brome hay fields
• On-site horse and facility caretakers
• Over 15 acres of pastures with shelters for daily turn out
• Founder: When doctors suggested swimming or horseback riding to Jean Baum after telling her that her then 9-month old daughter might not walk, Jean decided to investigate therapeutic riding. Her friend Marge Allen invited her to a lecture by Lida McGowan who founded the Cheff Center for therapeutic riding in Michigan. After hearing Lida speak, Jean was convinced that Kansas City needed a therapeutic riding program. However, no one in Jean’s circle of equine friends was willing to take on the project. They were unnerved by the prospect of having children with disabilities on their property, much less riding horses.
In 1981, Heartland purchased 27 acres at 133rd and Antioch, where the program grew under the leadership of Jean—and later Patti Kortkamp—who was asked by Jean to run things when Jean moved from Kansas to Virginia. Sandy Rose and Joni Roeseler, who are current members of Heartland’s Board of Directors, were both involved in the early years as volunteer coordinators.
In the mid-1990’s, real estate developers became interested in Heartland’s property. Eventually, the property was sold and Heartland moved further south to its current location at 19655 Antioch Road with 78 acres of land. The facility was specifically built for therapeutic riding and was formally dedicated in 1998.
Heartland is a PATH Intl. Premier Accredited Center. Heartland was one of the first accredited therapeutic riding centers in the US. Today, there are more than 850 PATH Intl. accredited centers. Jean recently said, “Heartland has become ever so much more than I ever dreamed it would be.”
What is Mental Health Counseling?
Mental Health Counseling consists of assessment, treatment planning, and application of evidence-based treatment modalities by a clinically licensed mental health therapist. Treatment modalities available, but are not limited to, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), relational and narrative therapies, and Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
What is Equine-Assisted Counseling?
Heartland Equine-Assisted Counseling integrates evidence-based mental health treatments while clients are observing and connecting with horses. The interaction with horses provides feedback and mirrors the client’s emotions and behaviors during treatment, allowing for a deeper self-awareness, grounding and mindfulness practice, and a tangible shift of perspective for the client.
During Equine-Assisted Counseling sessions, the Licensed Mental Health Counselor (and PATH Certified Equine Specialist in Mental Health & Learning) facilitate experiential activities with horses, based on the client’s treatment goals. These activities offer tangible experiences for clients to receive bio-psycho-social feedback from the horse while practicing client’s nervous system regulation and coping skills. The client and therapist then process the experience with the horse within the context of mental health treatment modalities and goals thus establishing self-reflection, expression, insight, and shifts in cognitive perspective.
Uniquely, Andrea is a Certified EMDR Therapist Trained in “EquiLateral: The Equine Assisted EMDR Protocol®”. Founded by Sarah Jenkins MC, LPC, CPsychol, The Equine-Assisted EMDR Protocol™ also known as EquiLateral™ premiered Equine-Assisted EMDR Therapy (EA-EMDR). Using an experiential approach, EquiLateral™ involves EMDR therapy integrating with equine-assisted interactions to become Equine-Assisted EMDR (EA-EMDR) Therapy. EquiLateral™ also offers the first EMDRIA Approved, manualized, phased, equine-assisted trauma treatment model to be informed by an existing research-based standard of practice in trauma treatment.
Who can benefit?
Mental Health Counseling reduces symptoms of anxiety, depression, and traumatic events and teaches new strategies to manage emotions and provide relief and recovery from traumatic memories. Additional benefits of Mental Health Counseling include managing behaviors, increasing self-confidence, building communication and relationship skills, as well as identity exploration.
Adults and children (age 8+), couples, and families can benefit from a custom treatment plan. Your therapist will screen you for readiness for equine-assisted counseling and for potential barriers to a safe fit for our facility. If deemed necessary, you may be referred to additional services before being ready to start equine-assisted counseling sessions. Please reach out for a free phone assessment to inquire about your readiness!
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
What is luck? … If we define Luck as, “events-good or bad-that seem to happen by chance, beyond a person’s control, planning or effort”, then good and bad luck have both played a significant role in my life and business. For me, its hard to talk about luck without evaluating the perspective of what is good vs bad luck.
For the most part, I have always had a strong awareness of gratitude for the good luck in my life. My family of origin, childhood friends that I am still close with, growing up riding horses, and most significantly, having my son!
When hard things started to hit, HARD, for many years I perceived the grief and loss experiences in my life as “bad luck”- “it wasn’t fair”, it was unbearable and acutely painful. It HURT, physically and mentally. I couldn’t stand it! …Until I began to recover and heal my perspective of.. well…everything. When bad things happened, or someone died, I got angry and bitter-“more bad luck.” It felt defeating, especially as a Highly Sensitive Person with generalized anxiety.
However, through “good luck/good fortune” of being able to attend therapy, my own willingness to never stop learning and growing, I grew around the grief and shockingly found that I CAN handle it. My perspective shifted, and I began to realize an increasing sense of gratitude for the events in my life. I became able to see myself and my life differently. It is not just the random events, it is how we navigate the events, and how we respond to them. It is realizing that we can shift, we can change, and we can be okay despite the “bad luck”. “Good luck” is definitely the theme in my life and business now, but I haven’t always seen it that way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.htrkc.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartlandtherapeuticriding
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-metcalf-lscsw-pmh-c-3201a92a/
- Other: https://www.andreametcalf.net
