Trauma and Equine Therapy
Equine therapy good for trauma? Interacting with horses provides outlet for people who experienced trauma. It helps build confidence, communication skills. Also promotes mindfulness, emotional regulation. Horses mirror emotions enable healing through non-judgmental support. Furthermore, equine therapy incorporates animals, nature. This combination shown to reduce anxiety, depression post-trauma. Riding exercises promote posture, balance, coordination. Grooming, feeding horses encourages responsibility, empathy. Overall, research indicates equine therapy effective complementary treatment for trauma. Reduces PTSD symptoms like emotional detachment, irritability. Though more studies needed, shows promise helping trauma survivors.
Does equine therapy work for trauma?
Does equine therapy work for trauma? Horses and humans can connect deeply, especially when there is mutual respect. This deep connection has resulted in a therapeutic approach called equine therapy, which therapists use as an innovative way of treating trauma.
Understanding Trauma
What Is Trauma? The National Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines trauma as, “an event or circumstance resulting in physical harm, emotional harm, and/or or life-threatening harm.” The event or circumstance has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s: Mental health.
Equine Therapy in Practice
In the early 1990s, Greg Kersten created the term "Equine Assisted Psychotherapy" to describe the specific work he was doing with horses and at-risk youth who were incarcerated or in treatment. Regarding this, how long does it take to train a therapy horse? Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses go through at least a two year basic therapy training program.
The Therapeutic Nature of Equine Therapy
Equine-assisted therapy is a type of experiential therapy involving horses. In this type of therapy, therapists use activities and interactions with horses to treat mental health conditions. Therapy involving horses goes back to Ancient Greece. Greek physician Hippocrates, known as the “Father of Medicine,” wrote about the therapeutic benefits of riding horses more than 2,000 years ago.
Trauma is an emotional response to a stressful or frightening event, either a single incident or a prolonged experience. It can lead to long-term physical, emotional and psychological effects, including: fear, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, and avoidance of reminders of the trauma.
One of the most important parts of making sure you can overcome trauma is to have a safe environment to do so. Equine Therapy Provides a Safe Environment to Process Your Trauma.
Experience with horses is not necessary to participate in equine therapy for trauma. Healing grief and trauma can help to ensure a person’s life can return to normal and they learn from the impacts of the traumatic events.
The research conducted at Columbia University Irving Medical Center has shown that equine therapy can be an effective treatment for PTSD in veterans. The results of this study suggest that equine therapy can be a valuable tool for helping people who have experienced trauma to heal and move forward with their lives.
The key benefit of Somatic Equine Therapy compared to other types of therapy is the use of the horse as a therapeutic tool. The horse provides a non-judgmental and calming presence, allowing the individual to focus on the healing process.
Equine Therapy Insights
Trauma-focused therapeutic riding is a valuable tool for people recovering from abuse, neglect, and other traumatic experiences. Here’s a closer look at the positive effects it can have on participants…. Horses make excellent therapists. They do not lie, they do not judge, and they have no hidden agenda. Even the most traumatized person can learn to trust a horse because horses are always congruent. When a horse looks frightened, he is frightened.
Downsides of Equine Therapy
What are the downsides of equine therapy?
Defining Equine Therapy
What is equine therapy? Equine therapy encompasses treatments involving horses to promote mental health. It has roots in antiquity. In modern form, treatment was established in the 1960s. It works in different ways depending on the program. The basic goal is health and wellbeing.
Equine-assisted therapy uses horses with staff trained in therapy. It builds strength, balance, coordination, emotional regulation, confidence, and independence. Therapeutic riding is the most common type. It uses specially trained horses and therapists.
Equine therapy incorporates horses into therapy. People engage in activities like grooming and feeding horses while a mental health professional supervises. It does not involve riding. It involves interacting with a horse to build a relationship. Ex pro footballer Matt Piper had equine therapy for depression and alcoholism.
Equine therapy aims to help discover more about yourself, develop new thinking, and change behaviors. It is primarily used to support addiction treatment. It harnesses horses’ ability to read emotions. This allows replacing negative reactions with positive responses. The difference from hippotherapy is equine therapy focuses on mental health. Hippotherapy focuses on physical health.
Equine therapy usually involves a therapist and horse trainer working together. Clients participate to address emotional or behavioral problems. Nearly any activity with a horse can be therapy. Equine-assisted psychotherapy is more interactive with specific psychotherapy needs and goals.
Equine therapy encompasses treatments involving horses for human physical and mental health. It is used in addiction treatment.
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