About Grace
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Grace Lawson Baker is an Equine Facilitated Human Development (EFHD) practitioner and Speech & Language Therapist. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Psychotraumatology and PTSD.
Grace came to horses and riding as an adult and quickly realised the emotional and psychological benefits she was experiencing. She saw that her relationship with her horses was strongly linked to how she overcame the challenges in the tapestry of her life - the loss of her father from a brain tumour, her mother’s recurrent journey through cancer and divorce.. They nourished her and ensured resilience, even during the darkest times. It was this observation that finally led her to training with IFEEL (International Foundation of Equine Assisted Learning) and the development of "Grace with Horses'. Grace was born with a complicated heart defect, which led to major heart surgery at age 7, at Great Ormond Street Hospital. As a result, Grace had limited opportunities as a child to challenge herself physically and it was not until adulthood that she was able to try out activities that she had only dreamed of. This included scuba diving, walking to Machu Picchu and running in the Great South Run. She didn’t start riding until her late 30’s. It was a chance swim with wild dolphins in Florida in her early 30’s that changed the course of her life. It led to Grace spending the summer as a volunteer working with a group of rescue dolphins. Up until that point, Grace had been working in the business world in a succession of roles which resulted in her co-founding the serviced-office company, Regus. This encounter with dolphins re-ignited a love of nature and motivated her to leave the business world and train as a Speech and Language Therapist. She has never looked back in her quest to be ‘the best therapist that she can’ – and has subsequently trained in a variety of fields such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Solution-Focused Therapy and Positive Psychology. |
Grace now lives at Graingers in West Sussex with her dogs and four horses. She is the proud grandmother (Meema) of Iliana and Sophia. The twin lights of her life!
"I heard a neigh. Oh such a brisk and melodious neigh as that was! My heart leaped with delight at the sound.."
Nathaniel Hawthorne