A little bit about Sarah
Sarah grew up on a farm west of Gunnedah. After leaving Gunnedah in her teenage years, she lived and worked around Australia developing a variety of administrative, financial, technological, marketing and sales skills until 2001 when she returned to Gunnedah after having completed her practitioner certifications in Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Sarah began working locally as a therapist and in various community development roles as she continued her studies. She holds a Bachelor of Counselling from the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors in Brisbane QLD and a Master of Narrative Therapy and Community Work (First Class Honours) from the University of Melbourne VIC. In 2016, Sarah qualified as an Equine Assisted Psychotherapist with the Equine Psychotherapy Institute. Sarah is a level four member of and registered supervisor with the Australian Counselling Association. Sarah is a Director and the Financial Controller of her family's law firm, Rural Law with Peter Long.
Sarah's experience
Sarah has experience with a diverse rural and regional clientele working with individuals, couples, groups and as a Supervisor. Sarah works from a person centred, somatic and narrative perspective that centres people as the experts in their own lives, exposes socially and culturally constructed pressures and expectations and includes the body in the therapeutic conversation. Sarah's paper on using narrative practices to respond to stigma is published in the International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work. Click here to read it.
Joining with and advocating for horses
From her youngest days, Sarah has had an affinity for all animals and horses in particular, and so it was a natural progression to incorporate Equine Assisted Psychotherapy into her therapeutic work. At “Ngiyaani”, the property that Sarah and her husband Peter Long share, Sarah is assisted in her work by her four legged equine co-facilitators: Ned, Bon Bon, Noah, Jack, Ralph, Mabel, Ollie and Abel Donkeyotie. In 2020, Sarah began a PhD with the University of Queensland to investigate the well-being of horses who are engaged in equine-assisted psychotherapy work. Her topic is: Welfare and Ethical Considerations in Horses Engaged as Co-facilitators in Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy. Due to Covid, the PhD has been put on hold.