The transformative power of support animals

Animals have an extraordinary ability to connect, comfort and empower, and for many QUT alumni, that connection has become the foundation of meaningful and impactful careers. From the competition arena and classroom to counselling sessions and disability advocacy, these graduates are harnessing the unique bond between humans and animals to help others build confidence, overcome challenges and lead fuller lives.

In this article, we meet alumni whose work demonstrates the many ways animals can create positive change. Equestrian Australia Board member Brett Cantle draws on lessons from teaching and horse training to help students and riders develop resilience, patience and perspective. Assistance Animals International Director Lisa Robinson advocates for greater understanding and inclusion for people whose assistance animals are life-changing partners in everyday life. Meanwhile, counsellor and equine-assisted therapy practitioner Helen Huie combines her expertise in education, mental health and animal-assisted practice to help clients navigate anxiety, trauma, grief and personal growth. Together, their stories reveal how animals can do far more than provide companionship, serving as powerful catalysts for learning, healing, independence and human connection.

Brett Cantle

Equestrian Australia Board member

For Brett Cantle, patience is more than a virtue – it is a skill honed over three decades in the classroom, competition arena and stable. A QUT Bachelor of Education alumnus, Brett has built a career bringing together his passions for teaching and equestrian sport, progressing from Queensland classrooms to competing at the highest levels of eventing and, today, coaching riders and helping shape the future of the sport as an Equestrian Australia Board member.

What does a typical week look like for you?

My weeks are busy, but they're built around the things I enjoy. Most days start with the horses. Depending on the season, I'm usually riding by 4.30am or 5.30am and finished by 7.30am before heading to school. I still genuinely enjoy teaching, and from Tuesday to Thursday I'll usually coach riders after school as well. Teaching and coaching have always fitted together naturally for me, and I've spent years learning from some of the best coaches in Australia while continuing to develop as both a coach and competitor myself.

Weekends are generally spent doing one of three things: competing, running clinics somewhere around Queensland, or working on the farm at home. I enjoy all three for different reasons. It's a full schedule, but I'm lucky because I genuinely like everything I do. Teaching is still a great job. You can see the progress students make each year and know you're making a difference, while equestrian sport continues to challenge me and give me something to strive for.

How do you help your students deal with pressure and make good decisions when things don't go according to plan?

The first thing I tell my students is, "Welcome to my world." Pressure, disappointment and setbacks are part of sport, so I can relate to what they're feeling. When you're at your lowest, it often feels like you're the only person who's ever been there, but that's rarely the case. I encourage my students to stay gracious, celebrate the success of others and remember that everyone appreciates a good winner. I think that's a healthy mindset, both in sport and in life.

What is one skill that you couldn’t live without and why?

Patience. It's the first thing that comes to mind because it's just as important in the classroom as it is with horses. As a teacher, you quickly learn that every student develops at their own pace. You don't always know what's happening in a young person's life, so you need to be patient, support them and give them the time they need to grow.

The same applies to horses. I've never found hard work difficult, but patience is something I have to keep reminding myself about. Every horse develops in its own time, and if you try to rush a process that really needs two years, you can end up creating bigger problems than you solve. At the same time, you don't want to waste time either. It's about finding the right balance. Whether I'm working with students or horses, I've learnt that steady progress adds up over time. A lot of small improvements eventually become something significant.

Brett Cantle completed a Bachelor of Education (Primary). Find out more about his career journey by reading his Alumni Spotlight article.

Lisa Robinson

Director, Assistance Animals International and Assistance Paws Program

Lisa Robinson's work is driven by a commitment to breaking down barriers and creating more inclusive communities. Drawing on experience across emergency services, disaster recovery, disability advocacy and legal studies, she works to ensure people with disability can participate fully in work, study, travel and everyday life. As Managing Director of Assistance Animals International, she is now helping shape a more accessible future for people with assistance animals across Australia.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about assistance animals?

People still tend to picture a Labrador in a harness, trained by a large organisation and doing an obvious physical task.  In reality, the assistance animal partnerships in our community are incredibly diverse.

The animal might be a dog or, in some circumstances, another species - yes, we have assistance cats and birds in Australia - and what they do is not always obvious to somebody looking in from the outside.  What matters is the difference that animal makes to the person’s ability to live with their disability and participate in everyday life.

My own assistance dog, Lilly, was a little rescue Maltese mix who certainly didn’t fit the stereotype.  She was beside me for 13 years and taught me very early that you should never judge the importance of an assistance animal by its size, breed or appearance.

Can you share a moment that demonstrates the impact assistance animals can have beyond what most people might expect?

People often think about assistance animals in terms of the individual tasks or behaviours they perform, but the impact can be much bigger than that.  Lilly (my assistance dog) came into my life long before Assistance Animals International (AAI) existed.  Over 13 years she was part of my own journey, and ultimately that journey with her led me to found AAI.

An assistance animal can empower and support their human to leave the house, study, work, travel, reconnect socially or speak up for themselves in ways they may not otherwise have been able to.  Sometimes the biggest outcome is not the task the animal performs.  It is the life that becomes possible around them.  And for some people, their assistance animal is quite literally life-saving.

My qualifications, professional and life experience, together with my own lived experience of disability and life with an assistance animal, became the foundation for the work I now do through AAI - supporting and advocating for assistance animal teams and working for greater understanding, inclusion and access.

What is the biggest opportunity or challenge facing the future of assistance animals in Australia?

Education and inclusion. I would like to see Australia move towards a clearer and more consistent understanding of assistance animals, while still recognising that there are many pathways to lawful assistance animal recognition.

The focus should be on the individual partnership - is the animal appropriately trained, well cared for and suited to the work they are doing?  Are they genuinely assisting their person to participate more fully in everyday life?  If they have reached that standard, the particular pathway they took to get there should not be what defines the value or legitimacy of that partnership.

There is also a real opportunity for change in Australia at the moment, with the Disability Discrimination Act under review and aviation disability standards being developed.  For me, that work needs to be about much more than access to a building, aircraft or service.  It is about protecting the right of people with disability to have a full life - to work, study, travel, participate in their communities and do ordinary everyday things with their assistance animal alongside them.

Lisa Robinson completed a Bachelor of Business (Human Resource Management). Find out more about her career journey by reading  her Alumni Spotlight article or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Helen Huie

Principal Counseller, The Stables Counselling & Equine Assisted Therapy

For Helen Huie, a lifelong connection with horses and a passion for supporting young people ultimately inspired a unique career path. A QUT Bachelor of Education (Secondary) graduate and now Principal Counsellor at The Stables Counselling & Equine Assisted Therapy, Helen combines her expertise in education, mental health and animal-assisted practice to help people navigate challenges such as anxiety, trauma, grief and low self-confidence.

Can you share the journey that led you to establish The Stables Counselling and specialise in equine-assisted therapy?

My relationship with horses has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, but I never initially imagined it would become part of my professional identity. I have always been drawn to working with young people, and had personally experienced the healing benefits of my own horses. I felt really drawn to helping young people through one of the most challenging periods of their life, and a Bachelor of Education through QUT was a natural place to start my professional life. I feel like QUT set me up with core foundational skills to later move into counselling, where I became increasingly interested in how people learn, regulate and heal through experiences rather than conversation alone. I recognised that many of the qualities I valued in my relationship with horses - connection, trust, boundaries, communication and being present in the moment, were also at the heart of therapeutic work. I established The Stables Counselling to bring my lived experience and professional expertise together, creating a space where people can experience therapeutic change rather than simply talk about it.

For those unfamiliar with equine-assisted therapy, how do you explain its benefits and effectiveness? And What are some of the most common challenges people bring to equine-assisted therapy?

I describe equine-assisted therapy as counselling that happens in relationship with a horse rather than simply talking about relationships in a room. Horses are highly responsive to changes in human body language, behaviour and emotional state, which can give clients immediate, observable feedback about communication, boundaries, trust and regulation. The people I work with bring a wide range of challenges, including anxiety, trauma, difficulties with relationships and boundaries, neurodivergence, grief and low self-confidence. Importantly, the horse isn't a therapist or a diagnostic tool; the therapeutic work comes from the clinician helping the client make meaning of the experience.

Have you witnessed a transformation in a client that particularly highlighted the power of animal-assisted interventions?

One of the most powerful aspects of this work is seeing a client experience something differently rather than simply understanding it intellectually. I have worked with clients who initially struggled to identify their emotions, communicate boundaries or feel safe in relationships, but were able to recognise and practise these skills through their interactions with a horse. One moment that stays with me is watching a client realise that they could change their own behaviour and boundaries and see an immediate change in the horse's response. That experience became a tangible demonstration of agency and choice; something that can be difficult to achieve through conversation alone.

As someone working at the intersection of mental health and animal-assisted practice, what developments excite you most about the future of the field?

I am most excited about the field becoming increasingly rigorous, evidence-informed and integrated with mainstream mental-health practice. There is enormous potential for animal-assisted interventions to complement established therapeutic approaches, particularly when we combine clinical expertise with a strong understanding of animal behaviour, welfare and ethical practice. I would also like to see greater recognition that the benefits extend beyond horses: dogs, chickens and other animals can create different opportunities for connection, regulation and experiential learning. The future I hope for is one where animal-assisted therapy is neither dismissed as unconventional nor treated as a novelty, but understood as a specialised therapeutic modality with appropriate standards, training and evidence.

Helen Huie completed a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) and is now the Principal Counsellor at The Stables Counselling & Equine Assisted Therapy.