VICTORIA, British Columbia: "The doctor will see you now," the receptionist says, looking up from the clipboard she was so intently staring at a few seconds earlier. A nurse comes over to usher you towards the door behind the receptionist's desk. You enter the room and sit yourself down on the comfortable couch.

How would you react if you realized that, here to oversee your therapy for the day, is a horse?

Welcome to the Generation Farms, a rustic little horse operation just outside the Canadian city of Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The tranquil facility is run by Deborah Marshall, a registered clinical counsellor who has practiced for 20 years.

Her clients and patients come to spend some quiet time seeking her therapeutic expertise. What makes this establishment so unique is Marshall's choice of assistants- she uses horses to help heal her human patients.

Deborah calls it "equine-facilitated psychotherapy". "Horses have a magical way of really understanding what goes on with people." she told Canada.com.

She says horses are so sensitive that they might simply walk away from someone who is distracted and negative, or lick and love up to someone who shows their vulnerability.

And who can blame them? They enjoy equine massage so much, they're obviously glad to return the favour.

Canada.com relates another story told by Marshall, where she describes a patient suffering from deep-seated despair due to childhood sexual abuse; he had been undergoing long-term therapy, but wasn't seeing concrete progress until a visit to the Generation Farms.

In a completely unexpected turn of events, one of the least-social horses cantered from the back of the field and without any prompting, leaned his enormous head against the man's heart. Marshall says the horse stayed there for five minutes. The patient responded by wrapping his arms around the horse and despite his initial skepticism, found it gave him a newfound feeling of hope and acceptance.

The horses at the Generation Farms are the centerpiece of Marshall's specially-designed wellness programs. In addition to individual, customized psychotherapy, the facility also offers heart-opening workshops, leadership programs and "empowerment through horsemanship" training.

Wikipedia, reporting a study done by Hannah Burgon, claims that "therapeutic riding participants experience increased confidence and improved self-concept", which goes a long way in encouraging better socialization. By drawing on the unique bond formed by the horse and its rider, therapeutic riding also helps patients form more meaningful relationships with others, improve communication skills, and learn the value of staying in control.

Marshall's healing horses have evoked such interest and popularity that other clinical counsellors are incorporating equine therapy into their treatment plans.

In fact, Victoria-registered clinical counsellor Susan Duffy has already treated one of her patients with equine therapy. Though she borrowed the horse, she has found it to be very sensitive to human emotional energy, and therefore plans to make use of it in future treatments.

"It can help women, in particular, with setting boundaries," she told canada.com. "It gives people who might not respond so well to talk therapy a different approach - I see it being more body-centred."

Of the 1600 members of the B.C. Association of Clinical Counsellors, only five practise equine therapy.