About Braving the Arena

Braving the Arena Counseling was born from a quote by Theodore Roosevelt and the love of horses.

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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

~Theodore Roosevelt​

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​Braving the Arena Counseling originally started as ConnEQction by Lindsey Vickers as a way to provide equine assisted psychotherapy and learning in they Kyle and Dripping Springs, Texas area as there was not many equine assisted psychotherapy services south of the river in Austin. While Lindsey was attending a master's program to become a therapist, she contracted with licensed mental health professionals and attended equine assisted psychotherapy sessions as the equine professional. Lindsey then became a licensed professional counselor in the state of Texas in 2023 and changed the name of the practice to Braving the Arena Counseling to more accurately reflect the equine assisted psychotherapy journey. Lindsey believes no one should take advice or listen to others who are not also in the arena and doing the work to heal.