What do horses bring to the therapeutic process?
Animals can offer an extraordinary amount of emotional support.
What Is Equine Therapy?
Verywell / JR Bee
Equine-assisted psychotherapy incorporates horses into the therapeutic process.
Goals of this form of therapy including helping people develop skills such asemotional regulation, self-confidence, and responsibility.
However, equine-assisted therapy is growing in popularity due to itsexperiential approachand some burgeoning evidence of its effectiveness.
Riding became more popular as a therapy tool during the 1950s and 1960s.
In fact, horses can be used in counseling with individuals of all ages, even with families andgroups.
As with adults, children can experience challenges such astrauma,anxiety,depression,PTSD, and more.
The majority of children participating in EAP are between the ages of 6 to 18 years old.
Children often find it difficult to open up and process painful emotions and experiences.
According to anxiety expert Dr. Robin Zasio, horses bring the following unique elements to the therapy process.
Building therapeutic rapport can take time as participants working toward building trust and practicing vulnerability in session.
Feedback and Mirroring
Horses are keen observers and are vigilant and sensitive to movement and emotion.
Externalizing the content in this way can make things easier to approach and process through.
Other Benefits
Some other potential benefits of equine therapy include increased:
Horses also require work.
They must be fed, watered, exercised, and groomed.
Providing this key in of care can often be therapeutic.
Conditions
Equine therapy has some evidence supporting its effectiveness in helping to manage several conditions.
Anxiety
Anxiety disorders affect more than 17 million Americans.
Children, teens, and adults can struggle with PTSD.
The use of equine-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD for veterans is growing.
But with their horse, they’re feeling that connection.
They’re able to take that into the rest of their lives and into their relationships."
The need for effective therapies to help treat addiction is at an all-time high.
Equine-assisted psychotherapy offers a unique approach to treating addiction andco-occurring conditions.
The ultimate goal of addiction treatment is to help clients live sober, healthy, and productive lives.
Learning to trust, practice vulnerability, and communicate effectively can be a challenge during this treatment process.
The experience can encourage clients to be vulnerable as they learn new things and interact with the horse.
ADHD
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is an additional area where equine-assisted psychotherapy can be helpful.
Riding isn’t necessarily involved with equine-assisted psychotherapy.
Rather, the focus is on presence, attention, mindfulness, boundaries, social cues, and more.
Trotter found that introducing horses to the therapeutic process showed significantly increased positive behaviors while reducing negative behaviors.
A 1,500-pound animal responds the way you want him to because you were able to focus.
This sense of accomplishment can feel significant for anyone, especially someone who struggles with ADHD.
Always take physical ability and overall health into consideration.
There may also be a traumatic memory involving animals that would prevent someone from being willing to participate.
Most programs will have an assessment process to determine if EAP is right for you before beginning any treatment.
The fees for EAP services will vary by location and can range in price.
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