Meet Ryan and Hannah Clay | MSW Mental Health Therapists

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ryan and Hannah Clay and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan and Hannah, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The idea of our business was to make an ethical, affordable, and evidenced based practice in Equine Assisted Mental Health. We noticed there were many other practices that were doing “Equine Therapy” but many of them were not being kind to the animals and not doing actual therapy. Both owners of the business are Master’s level therapists using evidenced based practices to incorporate the horses into our work. We do not accept insurance as it is limiting to our practice. By accepting money directly we are able to incorporate a sliding scale to help those that typically are unable to afford Equine Assisted Mental Health services. The animals incorporated into the business are personally owned by the owners and are a part of their family so they are treated with kindness and respect and not like a tool.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The thing that sets us apart from others in our field is that with our sliding scale and payment methods we are able to accept clients that typically would not be able to afford these services. We are also unique in the sense we incorporate animals into our mental health therapy sessions.

Hannah and Ryan went to the University of Denver and received their Master’s in Social work. At the University of Denver they received certificates in Animal Assisted Social Work as well as Equine Assisted Mental Health. They met in one of their internships and formed a relationship and were eventually married. Being married Hannah and Ryan formed Happy Appy and started advertising their services. It was challenging in the beginning as they had no client base to start off with but with patience they were able to attract a clientele and become a viable business.

Happy Appy wants to help normalize therapy and educate people on actual Equine Assisted Mental Health. Many of the other services provided by organizations claiming to do Equine Therapy do not actually have a licensed therapist and are not doing Mental Health therapy. We are in this business to help others and we make our services accessible, affordable, and ethical.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would take our friend up to Thornton which is approximately 20 minutes away from our location. We would go to Today’s Hawaiian for some authentic Hawaiian BBQ. After having a delicious and filling meal we would then go to Grandma’s Sweet Tooth Ice Cream and Candy Store to get some delicious sweets as a dessert and for later. If we really wanted to make a day of it we would then go to Denver to see the Denver Zoo as a COVID safe activity.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We would like to dedicate our shoutout to Nina Ekholm-Fry. Nina is the director of the Equine Assisted Mental Health Practitioner Program at the University of Denver. Both Hannah and Ryan went through her program and have received mentoring from her. Nina specializes in incorporating horses into therapy with a strong focus on ethics and animal welfare. Nina has given countless hours of her time to helping Happy Appy become a viable and successful business by giving her insight and input. Nina is easily one of the smartest people Hannah and Ryan know.

Website: https://happyappytherapy.weebly.com/

Instagram: @happy.appy.eamh

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happy.appy.eamh

Other: Psychology Today Professional Profile https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/80621/807334?sid=615fab1e77859&zipdist=5&ref=1 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/80621/818620?sid=615fab1e77859&zipdist=5&ref=2

Image Credits
Stephanie Evensen Kristin Rashid