The Center for Equine in Nature Assisted Social Work
Nature changes how we practice social work.
No farm required.
Equine & Nature-Assisted Social Work (ENASW) is a principle-based practice framework that brings the intelligence of the natural world into clinical social work — through theory, ethics, wisdom, and metaphor.
Unlike earlier models that required proximity to horses or green space, ENASW is designed to travel. Its core insights — about nervous system regulation, non-verbal attunement, boundaries, presence, and silence — apply in any practice setting. An office. A school. A community center. A farm.
ENASW was built on a simple belief: that nature has always been our oldest teacher, and that social work practice deepens when it draws on that wisdom — whether or not there's a horse in the room.
"Nature has always been our oldest teacher."
WHY THIS MATTERS
Something is missing from the way we train social workers.
Traditional social work education builds strong thinkers. But effective practitioners need more — the ability to regulate their own nervous system, read non-verbal communication, hold silence without discomfort, and bring their whole embodied self into relationship with clients.
ENASW gives you the framework, the language, and the practice to do exactly that. Grounded in systems theory, polyvagal theory, attachment, and critical social work ethics — and taught through the lens of nature's oldest lessons — this is the clinical education that changes not just what you do, but how you show up.
Mission
To advance equitable, embodied, and nature-informed social work education — so that every practitioner, wherever they practice, can bring more of themselves into relationship with the people they serve.
Vision
A social work profession where somatic awareness, relational presence, and nature-informed practice are core competencies — not electives.
Values
Accessibility: ENASW belongs to every practitioner, regardless of geography or proximity to animals and nature
Equity: Access to nature-informed education should not be determined by zip code or income
Integrity: Grounded in peer-reviewed research, NASW ethics, and anti-oppressive practice
Curiosity: We learn from horses, from nature, from silence, and from each other
Sustainability: Education that funds programs. Programs that generate research. Research that improves education.
The ENASW Framework
FOUR PILLARS
Theory
Grounded in attachment, biophilia, polyvagal, systems, the pedagogy of silence and person in-environment frameworks.
Ethics
NASW Code of Ethics, anti-oppressive practice, and professional boundary work.
Connection
Rooted in authentic, in-person experiences and somatic self-awareness
Metaphor
Using the intelligence of horses and nature as mirrors for clinical relationships.
Built on more than two decades of practice, research, and the horses who taught us.
ENASW was developed by Dana Spett, DSW, Founder and Executive Director of Pony Power Therapies and Social Work Faculty at Ramapo College, Rutgers University and Smith College. With three peer-reviewed publications, including a qualitative research study involving twelve credentialed social workers, and years of training practitioners in the field, Dana translated what horses teach — about presence, boundaries, non-verbal attunement, and nervous system co-regulation — into a framework that travels anywhere.