The Team
Meet our highly experienced team
Zeljana Tomasevic
Accredited Mental Health Social Worker
AASW registered
Medicare Provider
EAGALA trained
Arenas for Change member
NDIS Certified
former Animal Therapies LTD Committee
Welcome. My name is Zel, I am the founder of Painted Pony Psychotherapy. I have been providing service in the Disability and Mental Health sector for over 15 years; having had the pleasure to work in community mental health, the Shared Care Program and EAP. I have been in private practice and providing EACT for the last 8 years; traveling all around the world to continue to learn about how horses can heal us. I specialising in working with couples, children on the spectrum, youth, trauma and adult mental health.
I love seeing people improve in a short amount of time - our horses are magical beings. It has been a dream of mine to combine my 3 loves; animals, the environment and helping people. I am extremely excited to share this wonderful work with you.
Our work is guided by strong ethics and values guidelines.
Susan Castel
Equine Therapist
Equine Mentor
Former 2 star Parelli Professional 2011-2019
Level 4 Parelli Graduate
Associate Diploma in Horse Husbandry
Equine Myofunctional Therapy certificate
Remedial Massage Diploma
Suzy is highly experienced in working with horses, with over 30 professional years in
the industry. She has been lending her skills to the field of Equine assisted Therapy for 9 years now.
I have been riding and training horses since age 9. In 1999 I started studying Parelli
Natural Horsemanship method. This has been an ongoing learning curve for me and have
travelled to Florida USA to continue to develop my skills. My passion is to provide the best
care for my horses and to help them achieve their potential in a way that fosters a 50/50 partnership. I believe that all horses have their own personalities and this should be celebrated.
I live and work in Nairne, South Australia. I am fortunate to have a lovely property to work from. Outside of the Psychological work I also provide clinics, play days and demonstrations.
My favourite part of this life is seeing the joy people have when they really connect with their horses! I have first hand seen Equine Therapy transform peoples lives and help them gain the skills to accomplish their goals.
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Equine Team
We currently have 5 members of our Equine Team. Our horses are a vital part of our process. The safety, both physical and emotional, of our horses is very important as we want them to be their happy and authentic selves. Because of that they are able to do their job to the best of their capacity. They love when we are able to spend time with them and find their itchy spot.