Veronica Lac is the founder and executive director of The HERD Institute®, which offers training and certification for equine- facilitated psychotherapy and learning. She is also the founder and director of Share in The HERD, a non-profit organization that offers grants and scholarships for program development, training, and research in the equine-facilitated field. Veronica is passionate about increasing accessibility to and diversity of equine-facilitated services and providers and is committed to fostering collaboration within the field.
With 20 years of experience as a corporate trainer and mental health professional, and as a certified therapeutic riding instructor, Veronica brings an integrated perspective to equine-facilitated work. Her academic background includes a masters in training and performance management, a masters in Gestalt psychotherapy, and a PhD in psychology. She is trained in a number of modalities, including a mentorship in Adventures in Awareness with Barbara Rector, a pioneering influence in this field, and certification through the Gestalt Equine Institute of the Rockies. This has allowed her to combine her theoretical understanding with a relational and embodied approach to what she offers. Veronica is passionate about working with clients to enable them to reach their full potential, and is an experienced corporate trainer offering one-to-one coaching and organizational consultancy. Clients range from large corporate businesses to individuals, couples, and families. Veronica specializes in working with those who have eating disorders, trauma, and attachment issues and has developed equine- and canine-assisted programs for at-risk adolescents in collaboration with residential treatment centers and eating-disorder clinics.
Veronica is passionate about research in the field of equine- facilitated psychotherapy and has multiple publications internationally in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, she is on the executive boards of a number of professional organizations including: American Psychological Association, Division 32 (Secretary; University Professors Press (Editor); and The Humanitarian Alliance. She is also a peer reviewer for The Journal of Humanistic Psychology and The Humanistic Psychologist.
Books
Lac, V. (2020). It’s not about the activity: Thinking outside the toolbox in equine facilitated psychotherapy and learning. University Professors Press. PURCHASE HERE
Lac, V. (2017) Equine-facilitated psychotherapy and learning: The Human-Equine Relational Development (HERD) approach. Elsevier/Academic Press
Articles & Book Chapters
Lac, V. (2019) Human-equine relational development (HERD) approach to working with clients suffering from bulimia nervosa. In Trotter, K.S. & Baggerley, J.N. (Eds.), Equine-assisted mental health interventions: Harnessing solutions to common problems, New York, NY: Routledge.
Lac, V. (2015) Hopes and dreams: Impact of therapeutic riding for families with ASD children, Scientific and Educational Journal of Therapeutic Riding, 20, 32-43.
Lac, V. (2015) Amy’s story: An existential-integrative equine facilitated psychotherapy approach to anorexia nervosa, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, DOI:10.1177/0022167815627900
Lac, V. (2014) Horsing around: Gestalt equine psychotherapy as Humanistic play therapy, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, DOI: 10.1177/0022167814562424
Lac, V., Marble, E., & Boie, I. (2013) Equine Assisted Psychotherapy as a Creative Relational Approach to Treating Clients with Eating Disorders. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 8:4, 483-498
Lac, V. & Walton, R. (2012). Companion animals as assistant therapists: embodying our animal selves. British Gestalt Journal, 21:1, 32-39.
Presentations
Goodall, C. & Lac, V. (2019 November) Empowering women through The Daring HERD®, Presented at PATH International Annual Conference, Denver, CO.
Lac, V. (2018, November) Making the invisible, visible: Neurodiversity and embodiment, Presented at PATH International Annual Conference, Orlando, FL.
Lac, V. (2018, March) The Human-Equine Relational Development (HERD) Approach to equine facilitated psychotherapy in action, Presented at 11th Annual Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference, Boulder, CO.
Lac, V. & Crabtree, E. (2017, November) Walking the thin grey line: Scope of practice in EFPL, Presented at PATH International Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX
Vallejos, L., Rubin, S., St John, D., & Lac, V. (2107, March) Becoming an effective multicultural ally: Strategies and tools for effective advocacy in a diverse world, Presented at 10th Annual Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.
Lac, V. (2017, March) The Human-Equine Relational Development (HERD) Approach to equine facilitated psychotherapy, Presented at 10thAnnual Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.
Lac, V. (2016, Nov) Embodied Space: Equine-facilitated psychotherapy and anorexia nervosa, Presented at 50th Annual PATH International Conference, Williamsburg, VA.
Lac, V. (2016 August) Coming home to relationships: Embodied experiences of gestalt equine psychotherapy, Presented at 124th Annual American Psychological Association Convention, Denver, CO.
Lac, V. (2016, March) Embracing neurodiversity through horses: Impact of therapeutic riding on families with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Presented at 9th Annual Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference, San Francisco, CA.
Lac, V. & Crabtree, E. (2015, November) Gestalt equine psychotherapy and rider biomechanics: An integrated approach, Presented at PATH International Annual Conference, Cleveland, OH
Hoffman, L., Krug, O., Lac, V., Mansilla, M., Rubin, S., Schneider, K., & Yang, M. (2015, May). The contributions of Saybrook University to existential-humanistic psychology: Past, present, future. Symposium presented at the World Congress for Existential Therapy, London, England.
Lac, V. (2015, May) Embodied presence in equine assisted therapy, Presented at First World Congress for Existential Therapy, London, UK
Granger, N. Jr., Hoffman, L., Alsoraimi, N., Bargdill, R., Belton, G., Christensen, R., Granger, A., Hamlin, N., Lac, V., Moats, M., & Reynolds, N. (2015, March). The use of poetry to facilitate multicultural dialogues. Symposium presented at the 8th Annual Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference, Chicago, IL.
Lac, V. & Crabtree, E. (2015, March) A stable connection: An introduction to Gestalt equine assisted therapy, Presented at Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference, Chicago, IL
Lac, V. & Crabtree, E. (2014, October) Why do our students cry? Presented at International Society for Rider Biomechanics Symposium, Lexington, KY.
Lac, V. (2014, June) Culture as body process. Presented at The 3rd International Conference for Existential Psychotherapy, Guangzhou, China.
Lac, V. (2008, July) Voyage into uncertainty: Working with difference, Presented at AAGT Conference, Manchester, UK.