Equine Therapy at Triple L Ranch
With our Healing Hearts program, we are offering an experiential learning program that promotes the development of life skills for educational, professional and personal growth through equine-assisted activities. With a focus on individuals managing trauma, dealing with mental health challenges, or navigating significant life changes, we provide an environment to help create new toolsets for individuals to overcome challenges in the day-to-day.
Program Details
Triple L Ranch Healing Hearts is a ground-based program (no riding) working with horses as our partners. Our sessions combine HeartMath Trauma Informed Care and Equine Assisted Learning.
We provide:
· Safe experiential learning environment
· Certified equine facilitators to assist you in your journey toward healing and personal growth
· Identify patterns and consider their usefulness
· Invitation to practice new behaviors
· Receiving real time feedback to new behaviors
· Opportunity to explore new ways of healthy self expression
· Development of life and communication skills
· Reciprocity and warmth as a result of the relationship-building with our horses
Program fees:
$165 per 50-90-minute session. Package discounts are available for multiple sessions, please email us for more information.
Kind words from our participants
I experienced a fairly traumatic childhood full of emotional neglect, grief, and general tumultuous-ness, and a difficult time as a teenager where more trauma occurred. As a young adult, I began trying to work through these things because I recognized that my coping methods were very detrimental and unhealthy… self harm, eating disorders, and other numbing behaviors. Tried therapy on and off. I was trying really hard to begin to heal when I experienced an extremely traumatic loss- it felt like any progress I’d made was wiped away and I was completely broken and lost. Therapy felt pointless. Hope for the future and myself comes and goes for me.
All this being said, it isn’t until coming to Paige and having her facilitate EAL/Natural Lifemanship sessions with her and her horses that I’ve experienced true, consistent hope again. This is partially because it’s wonderful to work with someone who has such a pure vision, who truly wants to help the next generation of Hawaiians and locals succeed and have a more hopeful future full of tools and skills. It also is because this work works; through being with the horses and practicing the breathing exercises I can almost always feel an immediate difference in my anxiety levels. It’s done wonders for my nervous system. For a long time I’ve felt unable to be calm down, unable to take a full breath, just going from thing to thing to distract myself. Working with the horses has taught me to breathe and engage with the present. And even though this work is work, it brings up hard stuff and can be uncomfortable, it’s the first form of therapy I’ve experienced that leaves me feeling hopeful and generally better afterwards rather than drained and more hopeless. I’ve felt more of a difference (and improvement) in my overall mental state in the almost 4 months I’ve been working with Paige than I have in the last 4 years, and I think that speaks volumes.
— Anonymous participant
Meet our Facilitators
Our facilitators are certified EAL professionals and trained in the Resilient Heart: Trauma Sensitive program. Please note that they are not licensed therapists or psychotherapists, and we do not work with medical insurance for the program at this time.
Paige Deponte, Founder & Executive Director
Paige Deponte has traveled the world, but Maui has always been her sanctuary—a place of peace and grounding. A survivor of complex trauma, Paige is a dedicated advocate for healing and resilience. Her journey of giving back to Maui’s community began in 2011, after the passing of her husband. During this difficult time, she found solace and joy in her horses, whose sentient and inspiring souls sparked a profound sense of purpose. In 2021, Paige founded Spirit Horse Ranch, a Trauma-Informed Care Equine-Assisted Healing Center, to provide a space for children and adults affected by trauma to heal and build brighter futures, especially within Maui’s community.
Paige holds multiple certifications, including EAL Academy Certified Facilitator, Natural Lifemanship TIC-EP, HeartMath Certified Mentor, Brainspotting Trained, Art Therapist, Certified Belief Clearing Practitioner, and Youth Mental Health First Aid. She cherishes her ranch life with her family of four children, ten grandchildren, her beloved horses, and her loyal Australian Shepherd, Blue. Paige’s unwavering passion lies in protecting and nurturing the future of every Maui community member.
Maurissa Deponte, Facilitator
Maurissa Deponte is a dedicated single mother of three incredible children. Raised primarily on Maui, she graduated from Seabury Hall and has also had the enriching experience of living and traveling abroad in New York and Italy. Despite her travels, she finds her heart firmly rooted in Maui, where the mountains and ocean bring her a profound sense of peace. Growing up on her father’s ranch, surrounded by horses, was a formative and cherished part of her upbringing. Her travels with her mother and older brother further deepened her appreciation for her island home and the diverse individuals she encounters daily.
Maurissa is an EAL (Equine-Assisted Learning) Certified Facilitator, Natural Lifemanship TIC-EP (Trauma-Informed Care Equine Professional), Brainspotting trained, and certified in Mental Health First Aid. Her natural empathy and deep connection with others make her a compassionate and effective guide in helping program participants on their healing journey.
Meet our Healing Horses
Our healing horses are well trained and suited for our programs. They each have amazing personalities and are free here to express themselves as the deeply loving crew they are.
FAQ
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The HeartMath Institute has been researching the heart-brain connection and learning how the heart influences our perceptions, emotions, intuition and health. The program helps tap into the power and intelligence of your heart which awakens you to the best version of yourself. Tuning into the heart’s wisdom creates a profound shift within that helps the individual approach situations with more emotional balance, compassion, clarity and personal confidence.
We use Hearthmath’s programs and tools: Heart-Focused Breathing Technique™, Quick Coherence® Technique, Heart Lock-In® Technique, Freeze Frame® Technique, HeartSoak™ Technique Shift, and Lift™ Technique.
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Equine-assisted learning (EAL) is an experiential learning approach that promotes the development of life skills for educational, professional and personal goals through equine-assisted activities. Through a collaborative experiential learning process, participants use past experience, trial and error, reflection, generalization and metaphors to facilitate learning.
EAL helps clients seeking:
* Better understanding of themselves
* Team building and role definition for families, groups, teams and community
* Increased self-esteem and body awareness
* Recovery from trauma, loss or substance abuse
* Improved communication and coping skills
* Parent skill building/training
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The unique relationship found between the client and the horse with TSHR ground based equine program often leads to benefits including but not limited to:
* Greater sense and understanding of self
* Increased ability to ask for what you need and want
* Improved concentration and problem solving skills
* Increased self-esteem and confidence
* Improved communication and listening skills
* Finding your voice
* Feeling acceptance/belonging
* Feeling less frazzled
* Development of trust
* Feeling better prepared to balance responsibilities
* Vision about what they want for their life
* More clarity on how to support your family and not lose yourself
* Building social skills
* Increased assertiveness
* Decreased aggressiveness
* Enhanced motivation and energy
* Improvements in self-control
* Learning to master fears
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Individuals of all ages and levels of cognitive development can benefit from EAL at TLRHH. Clinical studies suggest that EAL is effective in treating:
* Depression
* Anxiety
* Low self-esteem
* Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
* Behavioral problems
* Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
* Autism
* Tourette’s syndrome
* Conduct disorder
* Aggression and Substance abuse
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8 yrs old and up. Younger children may be considered depending on the individual circumstance. Please contact us for assistance.
Contact us for more information
Please contact us to request more information, or visit our Nonprofit organization The Spirit Horse Ranch for funded Community programs. If you would like to support our vision and mission for Maui, please click the link below.