Have you ever met someone to whom you were immediately drawn? Maybe the expression on the person's face, the sparkle in their eyes, their manner of speaking, or maybe their words when they spoke touched a special place in your heart? This has happened to me many times over the years. Some of the people have become friends to last a lifetime. Others merely moved in and out of my life in a brief moment. Recently, I met another of these special people, Leslie Vogt, M.A., LLC, at the Franktown Animal Clinic while I was there with my golden retriever, Shiloh, for his post-op checkup.

Leslie, I soon found out, is a gifted transpersonal and experiential psychotherapist who uses nature and her two horses--Miraaj and Mali--in helping her clients to look within themselves to find the answers to the problems in their lives and to find the healing necessary to live a full and rich life.

In October I visited with Leslie, her horses, her black lab, Licorice, and Chester, her gray tabby cat, at her home--and office--in Franktown to see what her transpersonal psychotherapy is all about and to get firsthand experience for this article. I admit I was nervous about the visit because I'm afraid of horses, and they can sense it. So, when Leslie took me out to the barn to meet Miraaj and Mali, her two Arabian fillies, I was tense and stiff.

The 'girls' just looked at me, snorted, and went back to eating. Leslie assured me that they knew my fear and were allowing me 'space' to get used to them. Then, over the course of an hour as Leslie and I talked about her practice and she fed her horses, I began to relax.

Soon each horse came over to me and actually licked my hand. That has never happened to me before! Never have I had the nerve to offer the back of my hand to a horse to be nuzzled (or eaten!) or had a horse breathe in my face to share its 'essence' with me and pick up my 'essence' in return. This was a powerful and mind-expanding experience.

While I was there, Leslie explained how the horses relay messages to her telepathically and show her by their behavior what is troubling her clients, thus opening the path for her clients to self-understanding and healing.

Below is an interview with Leslie that outlines her training, the services that she offers to her clients, and her life goals. After meeting with her several times, I have found that she is a gifted, earth-connected psychotherapist with a loving heart and light-filled spirit.

Jonna Turner
www.jonnaturner.com

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Jonna Turner: What is your educational background and training?

Leslie Vogt: I obtained a B.A. in Business and started an M.B.A. to support my work at a large corporation. Somewhere in those years of working, I knew business and 'chasing the dollar' was not my passion but simply the right place to be to support my family as a single mother. After a successful career, I took some time off to be with myself on our planet and to spend some excellent time with my mother as she prepared for her final journey on earth.

During this time I felt I wanted to do something more gratifying for myself and others, but I didn't know what that was. I knew I wanted to do something that included my love of the outdoors. Several people in different areas of my life had suggested that I become a therapist. I always said, "No." Yet, the name Naropa University kept popping up. So I took a weekend course here and there and finally committed to the Transpersonal Counseling Psychotherapy program at Naropa. I felt the Buddhist-influenced program offered course work that fit into my personal commitment to lead a mindful life, which included a spiritual aspect related to my love of the outdoors and all living beings. It was there that I became enthralled with the magic of the horse as a partner in my therapy practice.

In addition to the traditional course work at Naropa, I expanded my learning in more nontraditional ways of healing: Past Life Regressions and Rituals as Healings. I became a Reiki Master, became certified in the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA), and spent three wonderful years as a volunteer at the Medicine Horse Program, an equine-assisted psychotherapy program for at-risk youth.

Jonna Turner: What kind of services do you offer your clients?

Leslie Vogt: I offer a contemplative approach to both traditional and nature-based psychotherapy. Clients may identify a specific problem to work on and participate in short-term therapy, or they may desire to make broader changes in their lives and commit to a longer process with more sweeping changes on an intrapersonal, interpersonal, and/or spiritual level. I work with my clients to explore and resolve life's challenges one-by-one.

If my clients choose, we can go out to work with my horses. Horses can feel reality, feel past 'the story.' That is the magic of horses. Also, if my clients choose, we can go out into nature and use any or all of Mother Earth's gifts as reflections of life's challenges. We can hike, walk, or rock climb, and nature is there to reflect truth. My job is then to move that truth in a way to support increased self-esteem, self-acceptance, self-love, and personal responsibility.

In addition to my private practice, I teach Mindful Meditation in the surrounding communities of Castle Rock, Parker, and soon in Elizabeth, Colorado. There is also such a need to support men and women in transition that I am lucky enough to volunteer at the Women's Crisis and Family Outreach Center in Kiowa, Colorado where I am able to see firsthand the resilience of people as they grow and change despite the trauma of being victims of abuse.

Jonna Turner: How are your "equine girls" involved in the therapy that you offer?

Leslie Vogt: The horses are involved in a way that's appropriate to reflect what is true for each client. There is no riding in this process. All the work is done on the ground, so the clients and the horses are in a grounded, mutual relationship. I go into the process without an agenda and trust the horses to 'Know' the way for the clients.

Jonna Turner: How do you communicate with your equine girls?

Leslie Vogt: It depends. Communication in the horse world is body language, body language, body language! Horses are very clear in what they want, when they want it, and how they want it, without thinking right/wrong, good/bad, or with baggage from yesterday or thoughts of the future. So, I listen. And....there are times when I get clear, telepathic communications from them. So, I listen.

Jonna Turner: Can other people learn to communicate with horses (animals) or is it just a gift some people are born with?

Leslie Vogt: I believe that the ability to communicate is the gift. I feel that we each need to be open to all ways of communicating with all beings. My meditation practice has taught me to be fully present in the moment to "hear."

How often do we dismiss what we hear as not possible? Or, how often is our life so full of thoughts, actions, or sounds that we can't or don't hear? Often in psychology the "hearing" of others gets a label: from projection to schizophrenia. Projection is simply "giving your feelings to someone or something else." Schizophrenia is when the brain does not operate in the way it is intended. I believe we can all hear more than the sounds labeled by man as "real," and that these sounds are not just projections or our brains gone haywire!

Jonna Turner: Do you work with other animals in healing?

Leslie Vogt: Yes. Any animal can bring our deepest thoughts, feelings, or fears to the surface. Then we can embrace them, heal, and grow.

Jonna Turner: What are your life goals?

Leslie Vogt: To learn, to grow, to love ... over and over and over again! To give others access to the tools to learn, to grow, to love their way through a meaningful, rich life.

Jonna Turner: How can clients reach you to set up an appointment?

Leslie Vogt: Clients can reach me at 303-660-1622 or by e-mail at leslie@leslievogtcounseling.com. My Web site is available for viewing at www.leslievogtcounseling.com.