The Wonders of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010Working with horses and professional therapists, people discover new ways of dealing with addiction problems. Many times patients receive an invaluable insight into their own behaviours through interacting with these magnificent creatures.
A relationship developed with a horse can offer challenges to help overcome fears, build up trust, respect, compassion, develop communication skills, problem solving and coping techniques as well as self confidence and self esteem. These skills are transferable to many other areas of ordinary day to day life.
People learn about themselves and others by participating in activities with the horses. Horses are very intelligent animals and they are deeply perceptive to human behaviour which makes them a great companion in therapy. They are extremely open to building trustful relationships if the trust is mutual. They can sense any kind of stress that we may be experiencing and react according to the signals they receive from us. What’s most fascinating about them is that they can neither lie nor judge but they can surely help us discover new things about ourselves and open doors to a new found confidence, joy of life, understanding, free us from our resentments and provide us with a wider perspectives of ourselves.
Once you get to form a bond with your horse, you will realise how the subtle changes in the way you feel further impact your relationship with your horse and consequently with your family members and your social circle. Moreover, they can also assist you in building natural leadership skills or they can help you tone down those compulsive behaviours that end up restricting your life.
Recent applications of EAP transcend beyond the treatment of addiction and mood disorders as it is now widely recognised to be a very powerful tool in treating trauma and other mental illnesses. In fact, so powerful that we have seen the EAP turn many skeptics into firm believers just after a couple of sessions!
