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Horse as Therapist

Page history last edited by ruth billany 14 years, 8 months ago

Gestalt Therapy from Psychology

For the engagement quality, I would like to add that in relating to horses you have to be in the present, the here and now is paramount. This may be why horses are so commonly used for healing in therapeutic relationships, with the emergence of equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP) linking to the existential-humanistic tradition of the Gestalt, clinical psychologist, Fritz Perls who located his therapy in the present. If you are not fully involved in the relationship with a horse a breakdown will occur. There is a well known saying, which I cannot source but it goes something like, “When you have a task to complete with a horse, if you act like you have ten minutes it will take all day, but if you act like you have all day it will take ten minutes”.

 

Definitely [my relationship with horses has helped me through difficult times in my life]. When I have been sad about something, it has always helped me to go and see my horse, cuddle and just be around him. Horses somehow create a peaceful atmosphere.

I remember once when I was very angry about a situation at my workplace, I went to my boss and told her that I needed to go to my horse for the rest of the day. Then I rode my horse for 2 1/2 hours (mainly walking as he is older) and when that was not enough rang two other friends to ask if I could ride their horses as well. After 4 - 5 hours riding the bad energy was gone and the next day at work much better, too. :) (NZ).

 

 Re-covery and re-identify self as a rider

I was a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon (Professor) until I had a closed head injury in 1999.  As a result, I can no longer operate & went from an upper-level eventer/dressage person back to the bottom.  I did the therapeutic riding thing until I was "fired".  I initially had a "bomb-proof" quarter horse who was in need of constant pushing so I graduated back to thoroughbreds- not as hot as prior to my accident but not dead either (Debbie Stanitski, M.D., President of EMSA [Equestrian Medical Safety Association  www.emsaonline.net]).

 

 

A true friend

I've suffered with anxiety attacks and depression through bullying at work and would tell anyone who asks how I got through it that it was my horse who kept me sane.  When everything else seemed hopeless she brought me out of myself - she understands how I'm feeling and will take things easy when I need calmness.  She has been my rock as I hope I'm hers.  She is a true friend.  As I spent time with her I met some wonderful friends, one of them being the friend that sent me the article about you.  She is my soulmate - she understands and she listens.  Without her to help me focus I don't think I would have coped with things.  It is an honour to be part of her life and I thank God for her each and every day (Waterford, Ireland).

Serenity

I am a case co-ordinator for women in the sex trade who suffer from addictions and mental health. Without my horses I would have quit my job a long time ago. The nature of our work brings us to the front lines in a neighbourhood where the HIV infection rates are the same as parts of Africa, and the average life expectancy does not exceed 55 years of age. My job is to attempt to help my clients access care in a system that continues to marginalize them. It is rewarding work but can also be very traumatic. 

 

 

I love my horses, they offer such serenity in my chaotic world. In seven years of work, I have never felt the need to take a stress leave..something in the downtown eastside of Vancouver.. service providers often do once a year! I believe in a holistic healing approach for every person *(including myself) in a day at the farm I exercise my body, my mind, and my spirit. All of these elements are key in healthy living. Being healthy in these respects keep me happy, fit, grounded and spiritually fulfilled and ready to give my clients one hundred percent of my energy (Vancouver, Canada).

 

‘The power of horses is that they make me relax and enjoy what I am doing right then and not think about what has happened in the past or what I have to do tomorrow’ (Bundchen, cited in Rappaport & Wilkinson, 2004, p. 5).

 

‘In a sense my horses have kept me centred’ (Goldberg, cited in Rappaport & Wilkinson, 2004, p. 33).

 

Horses have always been a part of my life, and as one of your questions stated I am now sure that they have taken a large role in defining who I am. But it was after I finished my first degree at the end of 2005 that it really hit me. I had become very depressed trying to enter the workforce in an industry that I just was not interested in (hospitality) when in about June I fell off my horse and broke 8 of my spinous processes, in a very uneventful accident that occurred whilst getting on my horse during a mounted games practice day. The injury left me in incredible pain but with no spinal cord damage, thank god, with the doctors not being able to do anything for me except offer pain relief and bed rest I spent 4 months doing very little waiting for things to recover. While friends and family members asked me whether I was now going to give up horse riding and get rid of my horse, I stood firm and told them not to be stupid, the horse did nothing wrong, and I was busting to get back on. When I was finally up for the walk down to my horse I went and visited him, chatting about things and promising I would get back on as soon as the doctors gave me permission. Well they never did, they were all too scared to be the one to say yes and not knowing how my back would stand up to the shock incurred while riding. So buggar them, I felt good, my back felt strong so I did it, I got back on, and while the family panicked, i was amazed to find that riding was the best medicine, with no physio prescribed, I am convinced it helped strengthen the muscles and improve my mental state which had become bored and even more depressed. It was great and it was during this recovery that I made some life decisions, I decided to go back to uni so that I could somehow work with animals as I should of to begin with. Nearly 4 years on I am still riding and regularly thank that horse for helping through that time in my life. I will be absolutely devastated when I lose him but he will be with me for the rest of his life, even if it sends me broke, its a promise I have made to myself and to him (NSW, Australia).

 

Terminology

Equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP)

Equine assisted therapy (EAT)

Equine facilitated psychotherapy (EFP)

Equine Experiential Learning (EEL)

Hippotherapy (HT)

 

EAGALA http://www.eagala.org/

The Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association is dedicated to improving the mental health of individuals, families, and groups around the world by setting the standard of excellence in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy

 

HEAL (US)

April 2009 newsletter - see story from Ella Bloomfield

Human-Equine Alliances for Learning - HEAL - offers services and programs that promote human healing and evolution through the creative and non-violent experience of the horse-human bond.  There are curricula for building active relationship with the horse that is powerfully transformative at the personal level, enhancing core psychological functioning and liberating the authentic self to interact congruently and intentionally with horses and with people. 

LEAP Equine Therapeutic Centre (UK)

Leading Equine Assisted Therapy - Reconnect with self through Natural world.

Teresa, 42, ex-herion addict

What is Equine Experiential Learning? – Linda Kohanov

http://www.horseconscious.com/what-is-equine-experiential-learning-linda-kohanov.html

EEL is an educational model, and at Epona we employ the emotional message chart, the false self/authentic self paradigm, the body scan, the boundary handout and other tools to assist the clients in their personal awareness of feeling states, body sensations, boundaries and intrusive destructive thoughts. At Epona we teach individuals, through the Way of the Horse, to take their experiences home and make changes in their lives, if they choose. Our hope is that they can use these tools and experiences to change irrational thoughts and dysfunctional patterns, which have kept them stuck in a survival mentality, and help them shift them to move into a thriving place for more creative and productive lives.

 

Only apprenticeship program graduates who are qualified Mental Health Workers according to the regulations of the state where they will practice will qualify to integrate EEL principles with their therapeutic or counseling approach. However, it is essential to distinguish between EEL and mental health models, particularly the area of Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP). Psychotherapy is a long-term process involving one-on-one therapeutic sessions with a client and the therapist. It requires an intimate connection and at least weekly sessions. We do not teach psychotherapy in Epona programs.

 

Merlin Inspires Memorial Fund for Veterans – Linda Kohanov

 

http://www.horseconscious.com/merlin-inspires-memorial-fund-for-veterans-linda-kohanov.html

When veterans return home from extended tours of duty, it’s cause for celebration. But unexpected feelings of isolation, anger, grief, and shame all too easily lead to substance abuse, depression, divorce, excessive risk taking, and even suicide. Spouses, parents, and children simply aren’t equipped to deal with the “invisible wounds of war,” and natural reactions to a warrior’s emotional pain are often counterproductive. The resulting confusion can all too easily escalate into cycles of abusive outbursts, overwhelming guilt and silent alienation.

 

“There’s a serious lack of educational programs that assist military personnel and their families in making the smoothest possible transition from the battlefield to life back home,” says Linda Kohanov, founder/director of the Epona International Study Center, which teaches emotional fitness, relationship, nonverbal communication and leadership skills, in part through working with horses. “Many of these servicemen and women have the endurance, intelligence, and discipline to become tremendous assets to this country, but their lack of training in emotional fitness and social intelligence skills becomes a significant hindrance to long term success. Children also suffer from the resulting instability in family life, making the psychological wounds of war a multi-generational phenomenon.”

 

Recognizing that funding sources tend to favor people with severe clinical depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Linda and her colleagues have created the Merlin’s Spirit Memorial Fund for returning military personnel, veterans and their families. Named for Linda’s stallion Midnight Merlin and his son Spirit, the program teaches people advanced personal and professional relationship skills, empowerment, and resilience in the face of traumatic events.

 

When Linda met Merlin in 1999, he was a stunning black stallion with tremendous untapped potential, but early training made him so dangerous and unpredictable that he had to be kept in an isolated corral. “Some techniques used in training show horses are the same techniques that were traditionally used for war horses,” she reveals. “In the wrong hands, these practices become abusive, creating volatile, rage-filled horses. In rehabilitating Merlin, I realized that he had many of the symptoms that veterans with PTSD report, a frightening combination of power, energy and hyper-vigilance leading to explosive outbursts of anger followed by an almost unbearable combination of vulnerability, confusion and shame for his actions. He threatened my life several times, but something in his eyes kept me from giving up on him.” Merlin and Spirit

 

In teaching the frustrated stallion how to respectfully integrate into a herd, Linda tapped what she calls a “fierce sensitivity” in herself and her mares. She learned to set strong yet compassionate boundaries with Merlin while helping him break the cycle of rage and shame that kept him isolated from humans as well as other horses. And she began teaching these same skills to people through activities with gentler, specially trained horses, chronicling her experiences in three best-selling books. 

 

“Merlin had the most profound affect on veterans, who very much related to his story,” Linda reports. “They observed that it was a more difficult, arguably heroic act for Merlin to learn a new way of relating to the world than it was for him to keep reacting out of fear and anger. Seeing this powerful stallion living peacefully with his mares and working with his son Spirit, who sired his own daughter in 2008, would bring tears to their eyes, filling them with tremendous respect for their own challenges in returning to life back home. The fierce sensitivity I engaged with Merlin turned out to be an essential ingredient for family members to adopt in order to help their loved ones transform the intense emotional pain that many military service men and women feel in the wake of the all too common traumas of combat.” Merlin and Comet

 

When Merlin died in February of 2009, the outpouring of cards and emails from around the world was startling. “People were asking for ideas on how they could contribute in his memory,” Linda says. “It occurred to me that the best tribute to the lessons Merlin taught us would be to create a fund to assist military service men, women, and their families in finding the same sense of peace and power that he eventually achieved.”

 

Donations to Merlin’s Spirit Memorial Fund, a division of the Headlands Foundation, support workshops that teach military personnel and their families how to deal constructively with the challenges of re-integrating into society. “It’s simply impossible for soldiers who’ve faced the intensity of combat to go back to the way they were before they left,” Linda stresses. “These people are warriors. They’ve been initiated through extreme experiences, and it’s important for us to not only realize this, but to support the reentry process more effectively. At the same time, veterans need to learn new skills for channeling their tremendous power and energy into peacetime pursuits. For the vast majority of service men and women, this is less of a therapy issue and more of an educational issue. The stigma often associated with therapy in the military should not prevent people from getting the social intelligence and emotional strength training they need to excel. They made tremendous sacrifices for our safety. It’s in everyone’s best interest to help them find happiness and success in life.

 

“Spirit and his brothers ultimately benefitted from their father’s journey to greater health and balance. With the cycle of isolation, rage, shame and abuse broken, Merlin’s sons—and his little granddaughter—are among the calmest, bravest, yet most spirited and personable horses you’ll ever meet. They now teach people from around the world how to move through their own challenges to better serve society and nourish future generations.”

 

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