email equinetherapy007@gmail.com to book or ask
Psychiatrist Dr Anja Kriegeskotten - Founder of Equiliberty
Dr Anja Kriegeskotten MD, FRANZCP, Certificate of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Psychiatrist for children, adolescents, families and adults
EAGALA trained Mental Health Expert for Equine Assisted Psychotherapy
AAPT level 1
ARCH Arenas of Change
Dr Anja is a Psychiatrist trained in child and adolescent psychiatry, as well as general adult psychiatry. She has extensive experience and a special interest in treating trauma.
Dr Anja is also trained to use the EAGALA model of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. She has completed part I and part II as well as the advanced EAGALA training and the Skillset training. She attended two EAGALA Pacific conferences in 2012 and 2013. In the Equine Assisted Psychotherapy team Dr Anja holds the role of Mental Health Expert leading the psychotherapeutic intervention.
Dr Anja has additionally attended level 1 training in AAPT (Animal Assisted Play Therapy) and two ARCH Gatherings in Australia in 2022 and 2023 and also works with ARCH's narrative style.
Dr Anja holds current registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA - formerly Medical Board).
Dr Anja has been working in psychiatry since 1997 across Australia and specialised in child and youth psychiatry in 2004.
Her work experience includes working for Qld Health in a specialised team treating traumatised children and adolescents in foster care. For this role Dr Anja engaged in extensive professional development in treatment of childhood trauma. She has also worked at community mental health clinics in Qld and formerly in NT working with children and adolescents as well as adults. She has also participated in outreach to remote indigenous communities and mining towns.
Since 2014 Dr Anja has been in private practice to focused on animal assisted therapies by working with Romeo, a trained therapy dog in her private practice in Brisbane as well as providing equine assisted psychotherapy in Samford on Brisbane's north side.
Dr Anja specialises in animal assisted therapies
Dr Anja left the Public Service to specialise in animal assisted therapies and also works with therapy dog Romeo in her office.
Dr Anja has presented and given workshops on animal assisted therapies, and especially on equine assisted therapies for mental health at numerous conferences.
Dr Anja and Horses
Dr Anja has been fascinated by horses all her life and has been riding for over 20 years. She has owned horses since 1995. She has participated in endurance riding in the past, but now enjoys leisurely trail rides and competes in the discipline of Working Equitation. Dr Anja is delighted to specialise in equine assisted psychotherapy, thereby combining her passion for horses with her profession as a psychiatrist.
Dr Anja's Private Practice
Dr Anja is also available for private in-room psychiatric consultations at NCYP
Please call 07 3106 5447 to arrange an appointment.
Address:
NCYP - (click link)
Strathlink
Unit 4, 27 South Pine Road
Brendale 4500
(next to the Strathpine train station)
media presence
NEW since Oct 2024 - watch the international webinar on Autism and the Power of the Horse where Dr Anja co-presents with world leaders in this field including Prof Temple Grandin, Prof Stephen Shore from the USA, and DrTony Attwood, Michelle Garnett and Irina Amelina from Australia and Dr Igor Shpitsberg from Russia
Here is the link to the free webinar:
WATCH US ON TV
We're featuring on Scope
https://10play.com.au/scope/episodes
This episode of Scope (S5 Ep14) on the Brain and Mental Health features Equine Assisted Psychotherapy starting at the 17:24 minutes mark
Totally Wild on Channel 10 season 25, Episode 122 in 2020 features us in equine assisted psychotherapy
And Totally Wild TW26/163 (2020) shows therapy dog Romeo and his colleagues at work
Equine Specialist Kath
Kath Evans - Equine Specialist
Equine Specialist Kath Evans joined our EAP team in 2019. Kath recalls her life-long love for horses began well before she ever was lucky enough to own her first horse. Attending Pony Club in the 1970’s was a dream-come-true. Since then she’s had several trail horses and was fortunate to be sponsored in the sport of Endurance Riding in the 1990’s.
Juggling a busy full-time career was always challenging, but after recently retiring from nursing, Kath has been able to invest more time pursuing her equine passion. She now rides and competes regularly at Samford Equestrian Group (SEG), where she volunteers on the committee. An insatiable quest for equine knowledge and skills led her to immerse herself in relevant literature and attend numerous clinics and education opportunities, both locally and interstate. Kath continues to seek ongoing learning and is currently studying EA (Equestrian Australia) Coaching.
Kath is modest about her innate ability to teach animals tricks, especially horses. She finds this builds confidence and enhances the relationship – plus an added fun factor! With a strong understanding of equine behaviour and utilising gentle groundwork, Kath finds helping others with their horsemanship communication is immensely rewarding. Most recently, she’s conducted a number of demonstrations and hands-on opportunities for several non-profit organisations using her entertaining troupe of clever ‘liberty’ miniature horses - aka ‘Mini All-Stars.’
Kath recognises her equine relationships have been a continual strength throughout life’s challenges. Since first hearing about ‘Equine Therapy’ work, she felt drawn to the modality. She promptly jumped at the opportunity to attend a 5-day residential ‘Equine Assisted Therapy’ (EAP) course in 2015, where she witnessed first-hand the amazing transformative power of EAP for Veterans struggling with mental health, particularly PTSD. Kath is excited about the rapid global growth of Equine Therapies and the positive future for horses and people.