About Haley

Haley’s thoughtful approach and intuitive nature, paired with the loving guidance of her horse partners, creates an incredible haven for lasting change.

Trained and Certified in the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method® developed by Melisa Pearce, her aim is to help women feel empowered, live freely and authentically, thrive in relationships with oneself and others, experience deep healing and change, and uncover truth and purpose.

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When we embrace ourselves whole, we rise.

No one is “too damaged.” We were all born whole, fully aligned, and embodied in our truth and joy. Then life happens. But we can always return home to ourselves. No matter what experiences or pain you carry, you always have the choice to return to your truth and joy. You don’t have to be stuck in your pain forever. That’s the silver lining of life in general I feel. There is going to be a break in the clouds and my vision is that Rising Free Retreats can be that source of opening and hope someone has been searching for.

“Finding yourself is not really how it works… Your true self is right there, buried under cultural conditioning, other people’s opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. Finding yourself is actually returning to yourself, an unlearning, an excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you.”

– Emily McDowell

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Hi, I’m Haley.

After spending 10+ years in the heart of Denver, Colorado, inspiring solutions for some of the world’s most iconic brands, I hung up my corporate shoes, slipped on my cowgirl boots, and got back to my roots in more ways than one.

In returning home to Montana, I was also in the process of returning home to myself. You see, I spent a large part of my life living life on other people’s terms, resisting my inner wisdom, and abandoning my truth in order to feel accepted and loved. I refused to look at the places where I learned what parts of myself were worthy of love and what parts weren’t. I walked through life holding up a standard of myself that was impossible to keep.

A few years ago, following the most heart-wrenching and devastating loss of my life, I lost my job, my home, and myself. I remember thinking to myself it was going to take a miracle for me to crawl out of this one.

Until this point in my life, my identity had been tied up in other’s beliefs, in others’ expectations, in my career, my image, and what other people thought of me. I had become a hardened shell of what others wanted me to be, walking through life with only the parts of me that I thought were accepted. But when I found myself with so much loss in the palm of my hands, I had no idea who I was anymore.

In the weeks following the loss of my job, the Touched by a Horse Equine Gestalt Coaching certification program found me. And in a situation when it would have been so easy to say no, I said yes. I said yes to myself, and through the process I embraced a mentor and an amazing community of women who stayed by my side, even when I wanted to run. And in the last two years I’ve learned that even though I felt lost, I didn’t have to embark on a long journey to find myself, because finding ourselves isn’t really how it works. My truth wasn’t something I had to go searching for. Rather, it’s something I could return home to. The answers to who I was didn’t lie out in the world. The answers are and have always been within me.

This is Gestalt — completing the unfinished business in our life and reclaiming our wholeness.

As I stand here today, my truth is that it takes compassion, courage, and curiosity to rise with our grief in the aftermath of loss. Because when we rise with our grief instead of trying to fix it, something rises in us. In my own grief, I resurrected the very parts of myself I was trained to mistrust, hide, and abandon in order to keep others comfortable. These parts are now my life force, my vessel, and my keys to freedom. I’ve left my throne of comfort to find enlightenment. I no longer bury myself in contentment, but instead live out loud. I live fiercely, moving with what moves me. And there’s something refreshingly magically about being in this place. It breathes new life into the relationships I have and am cultivating. I feel calm, I feel at peace. I feel more thoughtful in my approach to life and in every interaction. Life isn’t rushed, instead it’s savored and remembered. I am more connected to my life and everything and everyone with me. But most importantly, I am more connected to myself.

I’m not living to be perfect, or to play a role — I am living to be present in my unwavering authenticity, living out my purpose and bringing people together to help them do the same.

In my grief I embraced myself whole, and I’m here to help you do the same.

Saying yes to myself changed my entire life. So today, as you read this, I hope you say yes to returning home to your true self.

What qualifies me to work with you?

The EGCM Practitioner Certification Program is recognized as one of the most rigorous and comprehensive in the industry.

What qualifies me to work with you?

Equine Gestaltist@2x

As an Equine Gestaltist, I am trained in the core competencies of trauma-informed care, gestalt principles, equine knowledge, human dynamics, somatic insight, co-active coaching, workshop facilitation, systems theory, chakra energy fields, and much more. To put into perspective the depth of training I received in the above, over the course of the two-year program I clocked over 274 hours of in-person training and development under the close guidance of Melisa Pearce, the founder of the method. Top that with numerous days of student practice coaching, class calls, a 5-hour midterm, and a 15-hour final exam, plus countless hours of course material, reading, and business development.

Outside of the coursework, and something I can’t quite quantify, is clearing up my own unfinished business. For two years I was challenged to go outside my comfort zone, dig deep, and fully show up with everything that I was needing to heal so that I could hold space for others and help them do the same.

As I sit here today I can honestly say that I have left the program, not only with a very deep toolbox, but as an immensely changed woman. A woman who has grown leaps and bounds, lives in the present moment and is fully standing in my most authentic truth ready to illuminate a path for others to return home to their true selves.

“Haley is one of the most intuitive coaches I’ve seen. Soft-spoken and kind-eyed, but don’t let that fool you. She will draw out what a person needs to find peace.”

— Lizette, Houston TX

“Haley is amazing at listening, being empathetic, and being a safe place to share deep emotions. I felt safe enough to share the emotional pain that I had held to be true for most of my life. Thank you.”

— Marcy W., Brooklyn WI

Are you ready to rise into a more meaningful way of living?

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