Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy Analysis

“The horse acts as the teacher and unlocks the client. The animal facilitates emotional breakthroughs, and the effect, therapists report, can be magical” (Hayley Sumner).

I completed my service learning hours this semester in the organization called Personal Ponies Ltd. This is a charity dedicated to providing pony visits to hospitals, schools with exceptional education programs, foster care homes, veteran hospitals, and learning centers. The charity also provides a private farm where adults and children with special needs can fully enjoy feeding and grooming horses. Sandra Seiden, Florida state director, according her personal experiences, firmly believes that this type of psychotherapy positively enhances mental development of the child. Angela Masini, the author of the article “Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Clinical Practice,” also shared the healing effects on a child through a close interaction

Blended Spirits Ranch is an Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. It was founded by two sisters Debbie Ellis and Sandy Long in 2007 at Fairview, PA. Their mission to rescue horses that been abused and/or neglected and nurse them back to health so the horses can help the clients. The horses help a variety of people from all different walks of life. Some are children in residential treatment facilities, and others are soldiers who have returned home from serving our country.

Equine Therapy is a proven treatment for PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety, and can help with self-esteem, trust, and communication issues. This alternative approach is a little different, veterans with PTSD don’t look at it like going there for treatment, they are going to help tame wild mustang horses. The beginning of this process they have earned the trust of the horse before they can even start to work with them. The same time it is helping the veteran is learning to trust again. As they are taming these horses over a twelve-week course, the veteran becomes aware and learns how to control their impulses. It is very important that the veteran controls their impulses because horses understand body language. If the veteran isn’t aware of their impulses, the horse might interrupt it wrong, and the veteran could be hurt. The veteran learns to be aware of their body language and others.

Equine Therapy does have its downfalls, some patients walk away and never come back, but when the patient comes back and heals, that is when therapists know that they are doing some good in this crazy world. Thousands of lives have been changed by these magnificent creatures. Parents can now give their children the “medication” that they need. With the help of horses, therapists are able to give the veterans their lives back by making the veteran as comfortable as possible with the civilian

Animal Assisted Therapy also known as animal-assisted therapy has been formally introduced to the world in the last ten years or so. Although animals have always been a place of comfort for a lot of people, scientists just began to realize the impact animals have on society. The world has begun to experiment with what animals can do to benefit human health. The most common type of animal-assisted therapy is equine-assisted therapy. Equines are horses. Equine-assisted therapy 's impact on minors who have mental health issues have led to a successful new type of therapy that includes multiple benefits. Equine-assisted therapy has worked well in is treating adolescents and children how to communicate and connect with others. Two big issues that animal-assisted therapy has been known to help is Autism and kids with attachment and social problems.

How can I combine horses therapeutic abilities to help struggling teens overcome and deal with relatives or close friends addiction problems? Over the past year I have been working to research and design a program that will allow for teenagers who deal with relatives or friends with an addiction problems to have a place where they can learn to work the 12- Steps while at the same time create and impeccable bond with one of the world's most beautiful creatures, the horse. Because addiction and alcoholism is such a big deal in today's world and is only growing; it is important that teenagers have a safe place to go to learn to cope with parents or friends decisions. I plan for my Iproject to grow over my four years in highschool and have this

Nepps, & Bruckno, (2014) and Souter & Miller,(2007) results were determined by pre/ post questionnaires and scales that viewed each participant mood before and after each session to see the outcome and effectiveness. It showed a dramatic increase in mood. It was also shown that that therapeutic alliance is enhanced with the addition of a therapy dog within a group setting with adult clients in a residential drug abuse treatment setting. Animal assisted therapy has also been shown to reduce feelings of anger and symptoms of PTSD, which can contribute to an overall improvement of mood and reduce depressive

Throughout the semester I have learned many things about Equine Assisted Therapy that I would have not known if I did not take the class. I learned that this type of therapy is more focused on the mental and not the physical side of therapies. It can and will help people who have types of psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder. The field was what I expected to a point, but I thought there might be some mounted therapy as well. The more active activities like leading the horses through obstacle courses were more relatable than standing on the opposing side of the fence and not being able to touch the horses.

Thier equine therapy is effective because horses, unlike people, respond genuinely to a person's actions or feelings. They are relational animals that mirror what the body language of the patient is

In the years that have passed the use of animal assisted therapy has increased in hospital and assisted living settings. Animal assisted therapy is said to be extremely therapeutic while being able to restore balance and cognition to a person’s life when using these trained animals. More specifically is can directly enhance outcomes for patients who suffer from physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms. Individuals can benefit from this in multiple ways according to Phung (2017), it can help with physical goals by increasing physical capacity by standing and reaching to pet an animals for rehabilitation as well as improving their belongingness and spiritual connections by providing a close relationship with these animals (2017, p. 63).

A horse's nature is sensitivity to subtle changes in their environment, which makes them perfect for working with a wide range of people improving life and coping skills. A patient is able to get a sense of overall well feeling, improved self- esteem, and self-confidence (“Equine-Assisted Therapy…”). Horses are able to help patients realize and improve their feelings because horses can give the patient immediate feedback. Horses are able to tell how the patient feels and reflect that into their own attitude. If a patient comes and is angry the horse may become stubborn. If the patient is scared, the horse may act skittish. If the patient is calm, the horse will be calm. Horses will sense how we are feeling and react in the same way, this helps patients understand their innermost feelings and how to deal with them (“The Soulful Benefits of Healing…”). A seven year old boy walks into a horse arena, the boy notices the 1,000 pound paint horse is calm, even the horses is blinking slow. The boy picks up on this relaxed nature. His mother goes on to say, “This is the calmest I’ve ever seen him… When he’s in the car, his mouth and his body is always moving. Once he gets [to the barn], he’s just focused” (Persun). This specific type of Equine therapy is called, Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy or EEP. EEP can be used to help people with mental and emotional difficulties, including anxiety and mood

Winston Churchill once said, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” Some might say Churchill was ahead of his time, with the way horse assisted therapy has just recently begun growing in popularity. All over the world therapists and psychologists have been exploring the effect horses have on troubled humans. In their explorations, perhaps with Churchill’s words in mind, they are attempting to find out just how useful an equine aid is in therapeutic treatment of physical and psychological impairments. There are passionate opinions from varying viewpoints, but they all come down to whether or not horse assisted therapy is effective and should be considered a regular practice. The answer to this

Horses have long been thought of as great companions to their riders, but many people may not know that [interacting with horses can provide measurable physiological and psychological benefits](http://thejodhpurscompany.com/blogs/the-jodhpurs-company-blog/42881987-how-horses-make-humans-healthier).

In the field of therapy, there are numerous of therapy available out there for different type of individuals and situations as well. There is one type of therapy that usually contains people and animal, it is animal-assisted therapy is a therapeutic approach that brings animals and individuals with physical and/or emotional needs together to perform the therapy. Animal-assisted therapy tend to be focused on individuals either children or elderly for them to be able to connect with the animal thus feeling comfortable talking with the therapist. Pet therapy works for all ages, whether sick or not (Lanchnit, 2011). Although, this paper, most of the focus is on animal-assisted therapy towards children using dogs.