Psychotherapy with Horses?!

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Why Horses for EAP?
The size and power of the horse can be naturally intimidating to many people, this alone can create a perfect opportunity to overcome fear and learn confidence. To accomplish a task with the horses despite of these fears creates resilience and provides wonderful metaphors to fall back on when dealing with other intimidating or challenging situations in life.  

Horses are very much like humans in that they are social creatures and have very well defined roles within their community. They would generally rather be with their peers. Horses have distinct personalities, attitudes and moods – what works well with one horse may not work at all with another. They are playful and like to have fun, they are both curious and cautious, and they are masters of body language and deciphering accurate communication without any words.   
HORSES PROVIDE VAST OPPORTUNITIES FOR METAPHORICAL LEARNING
Horses do make that extra difference for us at Spring Reins of Hope. At SRoH we feel that the therapeutic value of horses as a co-therapist is vital. We consider them to be our truest colleagues in helping to identify core issues that might go unnoticed in the traditional therapeutic modality (talk therapy). Horses respond to a subtlety in our body language, and it is their ability to translate nonverbal messages that can be particularly revealing. Clients may verbalize a desire or feeling and yet their body language may communicate something entirely different. Horses decipher our body language and discover the discrepancies between what we say with our mouth and what is said through our body allowing further guidance in our work with clients. Messages become metaphors, which align with emotions or patterns in the client’s life becoming clues or a roadmap to solving issues. The horses' consistent reflections on the outside for what is occurring for the client internally, enhances the treatment team’s ability to process patterns of behavior or emotional responses with the client. It is often the case that issues/ triggers will surface to the forefront rather quickly in an EAP session, which may have taken much longer to reveal in a traditional psychotherapeutic environment.
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    EAP is a solution-focused modality which means that we believe our clients have their own best answers within themselves; it just may be clouded or buried. The horses’ input allows clients to see these options/ solutions and provide an emotionally safe place to explore them. In the hundreds of sessions we have facilitated with the same equipment, horses, activity and even goals - none have ever resolved in the same way, that is because for each client the solutions that arise out of EAP will be the missing link to their own unique struggle. This work is highly customized and specific from client to client.   


    Due to the intensity, effectiveness, experiential and solution focused origins; EAP is considered a short-term brief approach to resolving a wide variety of emotional/ mental health issues. Participants learn about themselves, their choices, their lifestyle, their perceptions and their perspectives from engaging in activities with the horses, and then processing (discussing) metaphors, feelings, behaviors and patterns that are revealed within the client’s own terms, understanding and context.


HORSES ARE HONEST AND POWERFUL MESSENGERS
Horse wisdom is really very simple. People usually equate wisdom with knowledge whereas horses see it as truth. Humans often try to impress others more than themselves and in doing so they lose the truth of who they really are. Horses can show us how to be at home in our own skin, finding comfort and release in knowing and honoring your “self.” Horses are peaceful creatures and reward authenticity with unconditional love, support and acceptance. Horses will “meet us where we are” without any judgement, regardless of our race, religion, color or creed because they are only concerned that what is in our heart matches up with what is displayed in our action. Employing the horses as masters of compassion provides a shortcut to recognizing hidden issues and emotions that can be deeply buried over time. Horses are extremely patient and willing to guide us, if needed they will wait for us to understand their messages or to find acceptance about what needs to change. They will not give up on us as they will never stop offering chances for us to align with our true self. Horses have the tremendous capacity to forgive and start over…and over again. This quality is yet another lesson in our growth and evolvement.
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    Horses are tame, yet wild at the same time. No matter how domesticated horses have become each and every one of them can revert instantly to its primal instincts and be completely connected to their essence, and ancestry. They reflect our own longing to have individuality yet to be connected to a community at the same time. Horses model essential qualities of trust, authenticity, honesty, intuition, listening deeply and a willingness of spirit. By connecting to horses and plugging into their natural world, we are able to learn and adopt these principals in a way that serves our own best healthy choices and personal growth.


    When changing any behavior, habit or emotion, one of the fastest ways to train the brain is to master present moment awareness. BEing fully present means you are engaged in the moment with all of your senses attuned to what is happening right here, right now. You are neither worrying about the future nor regretting the past but are experiencing the present moment as it unfolds. Animals (horses) only exist in the present moment. While they do have memory, they do not focus energy toward the past or the future. All that there is and all that matters is this moment.


    One of the first things that is accomplished for clients when working with our horses is immediate present moment awareness. It is almost impossible to concentrate on a past/future thought with 1000 pounds moving about. In subsequent sessions other more personal skills are addressed with the constant reinforcement of present moment thinking. It then becomes transferred to real life when you are not in the EAP arena. Horses have gentle spirits and offer us unlimited patience for us to understand, accept and become truly present in our lives. 



SOME POINTS TO REMEMBER ABOUT HORSES AS HEALERS:
  • Horse perspective is a simple one – the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help us ALL
  • Horses are very connected to the natural world and their defined truth, they can lead us to an authentic self-awareness which develops to an authentic lifestyle
  • Horses Never Lie. The human ego-rooted mind is the part of us that focuses on outward appearance while ignoring what is actually happening on the inside
  • Speed. Strength. Power. Grace. Beauty. All these physical representations of the horse that has mystically captured mankind for millennia. 
  • Horses invite projections from the physical body – the symbolisms represent balance, speed, sensitivity, awareness, strength, freedom, beauty, and grace
  • To see, smell, touch, or simply be in the presence of horses has been proven to regulate biorhythms and reduce stress (within 8-20 feet for 5 minutes or longer)
  • Horses teach us the rules of being fully present, offering clear communication, finding freedom and support through relationships, and more. 
  • Horses change lives. They give us confidence and self-esteem. They provide peace and tranquility to troubled hearts – they give us hope!