Through our HAVEN Program at Allaire Community Farm, we offer holistic, trauma-informed therapy experiences that blend expressive arts, animal connection, and the natural rhythms of farm life. Led by licensed therapist Ella Hilsenrath, our programs support individuals of all ages through personalized sessions and community-based healing groups. Whether you're seeking individual care, group support, or simply a space to create and connect, our therapy offerings provide a path to healing rooted in creativity, compassion, and collective wellness.
Unlike traditional therapy settings, our practice is grounded in the rhythms of farm life, the healing power of creativity, and the natural connection between humans and animals. At Allaire Community Farm, therapy doesn't happen behind closed doors — it unfolds in open fields, art studios, and shared moments of care. We integrate expressive arts, animal-assisted interactions, and trauma-informed practices in a way that is deeply relational, liberatory, and person-centered. Every session honors the whole person — their pace, their strengths, and their story — in a space that values community, sustainability, and the belief that healing can be both gentle and transformative.
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All Offerings for Children, Teens, & Adults
A therapeutic group experience for kids and teens combining animals, art, and play in a supportive farm setting.
Tuesdays 5-6pm, Sept 9th - Oct 28th.
A therapeutic group experience for kids and teens combining animals, art, and play in a supportive farm setting.
Mondays 5-6pm, Sept 8th - Oct 27th.
Person-centered and trauma-informed individual sessions using a combined approach of expressive art therapy and animal assisted therapy. Sessions are highly personalized and may involve walk-and-talk therapy, play, art, sand tray therapy, and/or non-directive animal engagement within a session, based on individual needs and interests.
Safe space where creative healing can be both shared or intimately experienced without the pressure of verbal processing. This is a non-directive time for individuals to experiment creatively with other individuals looking for healing or to build a sense of community. This could be a space to continue working on an art piece that participants have been working on in their own individual therapy or something individuals are working on independently. Individuals are welcome to bring in a work in progress or create something new.
A safe space for individuals looking for healing and/or to build a sense of community through the care of animals. Combining regular group psychotherapy with animal assisted therapy.
These more intimate groups focus on a particular theme, goal, concern, or demographic, while continuing to be non-pathologizing and combine animal-assisted, nature based, and expressive therapies. Examples may be: the experience of grieving, sensory exploration for self regulation, pet loss, body positivity, etc.
Ella Hilsenrath is a licensed and Board Certified Art Therapist who grounds her practice in liberatory, trauma-informed care. With experience supporting individuals navigating developmental and complex trauma, Ella holds space for healing that honors each person's inherent wisdom, agency, and dignity. Her early clinical work in adult inpatient psychiatry and children's crisis intervention shaped her commitment to practices that challenge traditional hierarchies in mental health.
Ella integrates art therapy with modalities such as animal-assisted interventions, sand tray therapy, and Internal Family Systems (IFS), recognizing the transformative power of creativity, relational connection, and inner parts work in reclaiming wholeness. As an IFS-trained clinician through the IFS Institute, she supports clients in connecting with their inner resilience and self-leadership. With a gentle, attuned presence, Ella works collaboratively across a spectrum of client needs, centering safety, cultural humility, and mutual discovery.
Ella is deeply invested in community healing, holding that our well-being is interdependent and rooted in relationships. In her collaboration with Allaire Community Farm, she engages in land-based, relational work that reinforces her belief in collective care. The rhythms of the farm—rooted in reciprocity, sustainability, and stewardship—inform her therapeutic approach, emphasizing that healing is cyclical, embodied, and often communal.
