Our Team
Therapists at the Central Oregon Wellness Ranch are highly credentialed professional counselors that specialize in trauma and have training in working with the Veteran culture. They additionally have obtained certifications in equine facilitated mental health interventions and are trained in natural horsemanship.
Our therapists specialize in working with military and veteran populations in addition to clients who are dealing with trauma.
Tammy Harty
Owner & Founder - Licensed Professional Counselor, MS, LPC, Executive Director of Central Oregon Wellness Ranch
Tammy became interested in Equine Assisted Therapy in 2007 as a part of her own healing journey and as a survivor of domestic violence. Tammy began volunteering at a Therapeutic Riding Center and became passionate about incorporating horses into therapy and facilitating personal development. From there, she pursued a master’s degree in counseling at Oregon State University with a clinical focus on Equine Assisted Psychotherapy.
Hope Porterfield
LCSW
Hope is one of the other licensed therapists and she is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who works with ages 5 and up, focusing on children, youth and families. She specializes in trauma and addictions including gambling and has a heart for working with family systems and collaborating with systems of care to support clients. She is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) and other therapeutic practices to provide a diverse approach to therapy. She prioritizes person-centered trauma informed therapy to meet clients where they are in their journey. She is also a credentialed clinical supervisor.
Krista Brown
MS, LPC-Intern
Krista is a Navy veteran, former first responder, and passionate advocate for mental health and healing. Her journey into counseling has been shaped by her life experiences, years working with individuals in crisis, and a genuine belief in the power of human connection. She has a particular heart for veterans, first responders, and those navigating trauma and life’s challenges. Krista believes our experiences shape us, but they do not have to define who we become. She values authenticity, compassion, and meeting people where they are, recognizing that healing often begins with simply feeling seen, heard, and understood.
Krista is completing her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Her background includes crisis intervention, community mental health, and collaboration with first responders. Her counseling approach is person-centered and trauma-informed, incorporating CBT, CPT, and mindfulness to meet individual needs. Through her work at Central Oregon Wellness Ranch, she has developed a deeper appreciation for how horses and nature foster trust, connection, and healing. Krista considers it a privilege to walk alongside others as they discover their own strength and resilience.
Emily Petersen
MA, Professional Counselor Associate
Emily holds deep reverence for nature and the healing that happens when we reconnect with it more deeply, allowing for greater connection to ourselves. As a recipient of equine therapy, she has personally experienced the profound benefits of working with horses. She believes in the power of shifting back to experiencing life as human being instead of a human doing, and the value of slowing down, listening, and approaching life with curious inquiry.
Emily received her MA in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, which focuses on Depth Psychology (the study of the unconscious mind). Her work blends multiple modalities, including Depth Psychology, Mindfulness, Internal Family Systems, Person-Centered Humanistic Psychology, Somatic Psychotherapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to expand emotional resiliency. She is passionate about working with those navigating complications related to trauma, depression, anxiety, people-pleasing and perfectionism tendencies, and women whose mental health symptoms have been impacted by hormonal fluctuations. Emily lives in Bend with her two wonderful dogs and enjoys many of the activities that Central Oregon has to offer.
Dr. Michelle Mattingly
Naturopathic Physician, Licensed Acupuncturist
Dr. Michelle began her career as an outdoor guide and counselor for at-risk youth. Her excitement for wilderness medicine ultimately ignited her medical career.
She attended NUNM an accredited Naturopathic medical university with dual degrees as a Naturopathic Doctor and Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine. Her training included medical study in addition to nutrition, herbal medicine (both Western and Chinese), homeopathy, physical medicine, and clinical hours under highly trained practitioners in both teaching and community clinics.
Ashley Williams
MA - Clinical Psychology
Ashley is a Counseling Intern pursuing a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology at Pepperdine University. Her therapeutic approach is integrative and trauma-informed, drawing from psychodynamic and somatic perspectives. She incorporates equine-assisted psychotherapy as an experiential, mindfulness-based approach, providing clients with opportunities to explore emotions, relationships, boundaries, communication, and self-awareness through interactions with horses. These experiences can provide insights that may be difficult to access through traditional talk therapy alone.
Through her work with military veterans and as an Air Force veteran herself, Ashley is passionate about being part of the solution to end veteran suicide. When she is not on the ranch, she enjoys being home with her children and the family’s four dogs. In her free time, she is usually in her garden, trying to figure out where to place the one-too-many plants she has brought home.
Julie Carson
Rhythmic Drumming Instructor
Julie completed a very rewarding career in the dance field in Southern California. Upon earning her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from UCLA, she served the community as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, producer, and administrator. Her graduate studies as a dance artist focused on contemporary women’s issues, as well as themes exploring holding on and letting go.
Julie arrived in Bend in 2022 and quickly became involved with the Bend Parks and Recreation Department, finding herself particularly well-suited for the “cardio-drumming” class.
Julie brings with her a rich tapestry of experience in music, rhythm and dance. She continues to explore its’ profound effects and positive outcomes, especially on vulnerable populations.
Meet the Horses
Internships
COWR offers internships, supervision for counseling interns and Supervision for Masters level associates in the Equine Facilitated Mental Health modality. This tailored training and skill-building prepares our interns and associates for an experiential therapy practice and offers training beyond the theories learned in grad school. We also offer mentorships and training to incorporate horses into therapy sessions for licensed therapists. We spend a great deal of time with the horses, with hands on learning about how to specifically partner with the horses in therapy sessions. Another component is exploring options in private practice, grant writing and non-profit administration. Those things that are not taught in Grad school.
This training in experiential therapy modalities is tailored in evidence-based practices. We do work with individual clients as well as offer integrative group one day wellness retreats with a variety of populations. We empower interns, associates and therapists to achieve sustainable success and contribute meaningfully to their communities through experiential therapy practices.
At times, we may have mentorship opportunities as well as training in incorporating horses in therapeutic sessions for licensed therapists that want to experience the Equine Facilitated Mental Health model. Some horse experience is required and Natural Horsemanship is preferred.