Equine Facilitators
Stephanie Bowman Czeresko, LPC
Mental Health Specialist, EAGALA Certified
Individual Designated Military Services Provider
Stephanie is the founder and Clinical Director of Pathways Growth & Learning Center, LLC. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor with over 20 years in the mental health field. She has worked both in private practice and in hospital settings, having worked at Palmetto Health in their Behavioral Health Day Treatment program. She has been an independent contractor with the Big Red Barn Retreat since 2015 providing Equine Assisted Psychotherapy to military populations.
Her experience with horses began as a young girl participating in 4-H, Pony Club and competing in local and regional horse shows. She has always appreciated the special bond between people and horses, believing this connection to have a unique therapeutic value. In 2006, Stephanie was introduced to Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. She was amazed at the power this type of therapy/learning has in working with a variety of issues. The experiential nature of these services quickly provides opportunities for insight and awareness that might otherwise take weeks of months to surface in traditional therapy. She became an Individual Designated Military Services Provider with EAGALA in 2019. This designation signifies that she has met a higher standard of clinical practice to work with military populations.
Stephanie is a firm believer that the varied paths that lead us to where we are today are never wasted. They serve to prepare us for the “trails” we will journey down in the days, weeks, months and years to come.
Christy Rew, CCC-SLP, HPCS
Equine Specialist, EAGALA Certified
Individual Designated Military Services Provider
An equine professional, Christy holds dual certification as an Equine Specialist (ES) from the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) and the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH). As an ES treatment team member, Christy facilitates mental health and learning objectives during experiential sessions by designing equine activities, providing pertinent observations, fostering horse-human relationships, and through interpreting equine behavior. She is also instrumental in ensuring both physical and emotional safety of all participants. In 2019, she earned the EAGALA Individual Military Designation. Christy is also a licensed Speech Language Pathologist, CCC-SLP, having spent most of her career in hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
Christy was raised in a military family and has over 3 decades of experience assisting military members and their families as a volunteer and a government service employee. Five years ago, Christy founded Hoofprint Meadows Therapy, LLC, a private practice providing Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies in Blythewood, SC. In this practice, Christy provides speech therapy to children and adults with special needs utilizing the movement and interactions with horses, also known as Hippotherapy. Christy is one of only eight Speech Language Pathologist in the country to have earned the designation of Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist (HPCS). Additionally, she further shares her knowledge and love of horses by giving riding lessons and teaching horsemanship skills.
For over four years, Christy and Stephanie have partnered to provide Equine Assisted Learning and Equine Assisted Psychotherapy to veterans, active duty military, community groups, and individuals with mental health issues.