David Sonatore, LCSW, SEP, Eponaquest Approved Instructor

David is a certified Experiential Learning with Horses Instructor. He graduated from the Eponaquest Program in Tucson, AZ in 2005 and has since completed his Somatic Experiencing Training – the body-based intervention discipline created by Dr. Peter Levine, author of Waking the Tiger and In an Unspoken Voice. He’s also a therapist in private practice and a Life Coach certified by Dr. Martha Beck.

Early on, David developed his clinical skills by working with inmates in the New York State Correctional System and outpatient clients at the psychiatric clinic of St. Vincent’s Hospital in NYC. 

In 2009, David partnered with Jane Strong to create The Equus Effect, a unique experiential learning with horses program, which has seen upwards of 2,000 participants since its formal rollout as a non-profit in 2012. In 2017, he concurrently began delivering the program at the renowned High Watch Recovery Center in Kent, CT. The Equus Effect program is currently being researched by the VA and Yale University through a 2-year study to determine feasibility and acceptability within a randomized clinical trial design.

He brings his inherent gifts of compassion, curiosity, and intuition to this work and has an uncanny sense of identifying the human concerns that lie beneath the surface. In his unique, empathetic way, David is able to help veterans and others in high-stress environments learn how to make sense of feelings and discover new ways of seeing through old patterns so that they can move from surviving to thriving. 

 

The Equus Effect | Somatic Experiencing with Horses