Accredited Practitioner Register™ (PSA)

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Accredited Practitioner Register

UK Professional Standards for Equine Facilitated Interactions

The Athena® Herd Foundation established the Accredited Practitioner Register™ to define and promote professional standards that support the delivery of Equine Facilitated Interactions (known as, for example, Equine Assisted and/or Facilitated Learning, Therapy, Counselling, Psychotherapy, or Hippotherapy – defined here through independent regulation and the registration of individual practitioners.

The Register is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority in the UK under their accredited registers programme. Accredited Practitioners (PSA) are permitted to display the Accredited Registers Quality Mark—a clear sign that the Register and its registrants meet the PSA’s Standards for Accredited Registers.

Accredited Registers give employers, patients, service users, and the public confidence that practitioners have signed up to robust professional and ethical codes of practice.

Our Mission and Commitment to Excellence

The core objective of the Accredited Practitioner Register™ is to protect the public and promote confidence in the therapeutic and educational benefits of Equine Facilitated Interactions.

We achieve this through four key commitments:

Protecting the Public – Setting and upholding robust professional and ethical standards to protect clients from harm.
Building Confidence – Promoting and maintaining trust in the field of Equine Facilitated Interactions.
Defining Standards – Providing a clear and comprehensive framework for safe, effective, and ethical practice.
Ensuring Compliance – Requiring ongoing adherence to professional and ethical standards by all registered practitioners.

For the Public: Your Assurance of Quality

Choosing a PSA-accredited practitioner means you can be confident that they have:

Verified qualifications and experience
Committed to a strict professional and ethical code
Prioritised equine health and welfare in their practice
Met the benchmark of excellence required to display the PSA Quality Mark

This gives you peace of mind that your practitioner is part of a regulated professional community dedicated to safety, ethics, and quality.

For Practitioners: Join a Community of Excellence

The Accredited Practitioner Register™ is open to all UK-based practitioners in the Equine Assisted and Facilitated sector, regardless of:

Training provider
Qualification body
Specific area of EFI practice

To join the register, you must demonstrate that you:

Adhere to our professional standards and code of ethics
Place equine welfare at the heart of your practice
Commit to ongoing professional development
Maintain full compliance with all conditions of registration

Apply or Learn More

To find a practitioner, learn more about the register, or apply for registration, please contact our team:

Email: register@athenaherd.org

Professional Standards Authority

Press Release - 25th January 2024

"The Athena Herd Foundation (Athena) is a provider of equine facilitated interactions and a leading training provider for equine practitioners in the UK. It is the first Register accredited by the PSA that involves the direct use of animals to deliver therapeutic and wellbeing services."

Alan Clamp

Chief Executive Officer, Professional Standards Authority

"We are very pleased to accredit Athena. Bringing these practitioners into a broad framework of assurance is good for employers and the public and is the best way to promote quality." (2024)

Legal Disclaimer

Please note that the Athena® Herd Foundation is not liable for any loss, damages or injuries caused during the access or provision of services provided by Practitioners registered on the Athena® Herd Foundation Accredited Practitioner Register™. In addition, we advise all service users, clients and members of the public must themselves check the suitability of the services being provided by a registered Practitioner prior to engaging with the same.

As an accredited register we consider and review complaints about Practitioners raised by service users or clients about the services provided. Where considered appropriate this can lead to the imposition of sanctions by the Register. You can find out more about this process here.