Friends of Storybook Farms

Friends of Storybook Farms 501(c)(3) is the not-for-profit organization that funds the activities for the Eclipse Project™, which allows active duty military, veterans, their families and care givers to receive Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) and Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) services at no charge here at Storybook Farms. These services are offered at no cost regardless of (discharge) status.

We cannot do what we do without the guidance and foresight of our Board of Directors!

Teresa Cowan-Christen, M.A., Psy.D., LP-T, EAGALA Certified

Dr. Teresa Cowan-Christen is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Wichita, KS. Dr. Cowan-Christen was an active duty Air Force spouse for several years and now lives with her husband Brian and their herd and other menagerie of animals in Mulvane, KS. She and her husband bought a property in 2015 after his military retirement that would allow them to give back to service members, veterans and their families.

Dr. Cowan-Christen is trained as a generalist, with extensive experience working with adults, children, groups and families. She completed an APA approved internship with the Northwest Ohio Consortium Training in Toledo, Ohio in 2005, and attained a Master’s Degree and Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Hartford in Connecticut. She has been EAGALA certified as a mental health professional and an equine specialist since 2013 and in 2016 started her own EAL/EAP program called Horses, Humans and Healing (The H3 Program) which is part of her Welcome Wellness LLC/ Private practice horseshumansandhealingks.com . Dr. Cowan-Christen also contracts with the Lone Survivor Foundation to provide therapeutic services at retreats for service members and their families throughout the year.

Dr. Cowan Christen is a member of the American Psychological Association, Division 19 Military Psychology of the American Psychological Association, the Kansas Psychological Association (KPA), and the Wichita Area Psychological Association (WAPA). She was also the chair for a military committee for the Kansas Psychological Association, President of the Wichita Area Psychological Association in 2015 and a member of the military task force for the Equine Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) since 2016. Dr. Cowan-Christen belongs to numerous organizations that help support our military, veterans and their families which include the American Legion Auxiliary, National Military Family Association and others.

Rebecca Showinsky, MPA

Rebecca joined the Friends of Storybook Farm as a board member in 2017. She currently works with the Missouri Association of County Developmental Disabilities (MACDDS) and is engaged in policy change and advocacy. Previously, Rebecca earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration-focused on Non-Profit Management from the University of Missouri Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs.  Rebecca has been involved with various local non-profit organizations as a volunteer, organizer and board member over the last ten years.  With experience in law enforcement, finance, grant administration, human resources, leadership and non-profit organizations Rebecca wears a variety of hats and enjoys putting her talents and experience to good use. A native of small-town Upper Michigan, Rebecca moved across the county residing in Michigan, Wisconsin, Utah, Nebraska and Missouri where she volunteered her time at local Veteran’s Administration Hospitals.  Upon setting in Missouri Rebecca earned a B.S. from Columbia College in Criminal Justice Administration and observed the successful impact of non-profits on local populations. Before obtaining her master’s degree, Rebecca ran her own business and volunteered with 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations focused on raising and disbursing funds for various causes, volunteer grants and has since helped consult on several 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.  Rebecca is an advocate of our Veteran’s and military personnel; with family members serving in all branches of the military and experiencing disabilities associated with that service.  As such, she understands the importance of detection, treatment and most importantly respect.   In her free time, Rebecca enjoys chasing after adventure followed by a healthy dose of relaxation.

Sara Green, M.S.

Sara grew up in a small northern Missouri town in Putnam County, and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology at University of Missouri Columbia in 1972.   She remained in Columbia, and began work at the College of Veterinary Medicine as a laboratory technician and teaching parasitology  to second Year Veterinary Students. Sara went on to complete her Masters Degree in Veterinary Microbiology in 1980, researching the incidence of Heartworm disease in Dogs in Missouri. From 1990-until her retirement in 1996, Sara worked at the Missouri Research Center north of Fulton MO in the Merck/Merial  parasitology lab, working with nematodes for cattle anthelmetic studies, and fleas involved in efficacy and animal safety studies for various animal health products. Sara enjoys fishing, cooking, gardening and spending time outdoors.  Her esteem for Veterans began with her father, who served in the army air corps in WWII in the Aleutian Islands, and sustained by her husband Ted, who served in the Navy in the north pacific in the 1960s.

Ted Green, MS, PhD

Ted grew up in the rural Atlantic Northeast. As a teenager, Ted recalls his Uncle telling of his service as a paratrooper with the 101st airborne, including D-day though the end of WWII. Ted himself enlisted in the Navy Reserve at the age of 17, spending 8 years in service, with his Naval experience primarily on destroyers as Quarter Master Signal Man, a combined rate in the Navy during the Korean War.

Ted earned his Bachelors of Science in Agriculture: Wildlife management from Cornell University 1957, going on to earn a Master’s in 1975 and PhD 1977 from Ohio State University Columbus in Microbiology specialty in immune-parasitology, specifically Malaria vaccine research. He went to work for Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals Biological division in Detroit as co-director of the Malaria Vaccine Development program. In 1980 he moved his research to the University of Missouri-Columbia, sponsored by U.S.A.I.D. (United States Agency for International Development) for 9 years. He continued teaching in the schools of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences at Mizzou until his retirement in 2000.

For most of his life, Ted has worked with horses on the farm; both under saddle and in harness, and spent time training and competing primarily quarter horses.  In 1998 he purchased a team of milking short horn calves which he yoked and trained to draft, and used them to feed hay, pull logs and rails for several years. He currently spends his time developing a farm in Howard County recreation hunting and fishing and wildlife management.