While a quick internet search reveals a litany of ways to treat mental illness, and especially trauma, the majority of these methods involve a significant cognitive component, which may not always be the most comfortable thing for a traumatized person to consider. To be sure, one of the strongest concerns of those clients with a traumatic history is having to re-experience what was overwhelming to them in order to feel better. And yet, many experts wonder, how else may they begin to have some reprieve from their symptoms?

But in order to begin the process of healing, trauma demands a comprehensive understanding, just as any other diagnosis would. That is to say that the effects of trauma on an individual are not just housed in the thoughts processes, but rather involve a physiological shift from what was a previous level of functioning. For the person who knows himself as a somewhat calm person who is able to contain himself/herself emotionally, this may mean now feeling quite out of control emotionally.

However, this may also mean having physiological symptoms that are not easily regulated. Imagine waking to a racing heartrate, shallow breathing, a full sweat, and poor orientation. These are just some of trauma’s physiological effects. And as much as the person who experiences this may want relief, talking about it may not resolve things.

Continue reading Equine Therapy: Healing from the Inside Out, by Claire Dorotik, MA →

Although a quick internet search reveals many articles and descriptions of equine therapy, the actual research support for this fascinating experiential modality can be hard to find. This is one of the many reasons that using horses as a therapeutic modality has been criticized. While naysayers have contended that there is no empirical evidence for the efficacy of equine therapy, much of difficulty in refuting this claim comes from the fact that the evidence can be hard to find.

Yet, the truth is, research studies of equine therapy have been published in seven different peer reviewed journals, both nationally and internationally. And these publications are not only specific to animal assisted therapy, but devoted to the understanding of mental health. Let’s take a look at the list:

EAGALA Model specific

Schultz, P., Remick-Barlow, G., & Robbins, L. (2007). Equine-assisted psychotherapy: A mental health promotion/intervention modality for children who have experienced intra-family violence. Health & Social Care in the Community 15(3), 265-271.

Trotter, K., Chandler, C., Goodwin-Bond, D., & Casey, J. (2008).  A comparative study of the efficacy of group equine assisted counseling with at-risk children and adolescents.  Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, Vol. 3(3), 254-284.

General Equine Assisted Psychotherapy services (other models utilized or not model specific)

Frewin, K. & Gardiner, B. (2005).  New age or old sage? A review of equine assisted psychotherapy. The Australian Journal of Counselling Psychology, 6, pp13-17.

Kaiser, L., Spence, L. J., Lavergne, A. G., & Bosch, K. L. (2004). Can a week of therapeutic riding make a difference? A pilot study. Anthrozoos, 17, 63-72.

Klontz, B. T., Bivens, A., Leinart, D. & Klontz, T. (2007).  The effectiveness of equine-assisted experiential therapy: Results of an open clinical trial.  Society and Animals, 15 (2007), 257-267.

Scheidhacker, M., Friedrich, D., & Bender, W. (2002). About the treatment of anxiety disorders by psychotherapeutic riding: Long term observations and results of an experimental clinical study. Krankenhauspsychiatrie, 13, 145-152.

Zugich, M., Klontz, T., & Leinart, D. (2002).  The miracle of equine therapy.  Counselor Magazine, 3(6), 22-27.

It is important to understand that equine therapy, like any other relatively nascent therapeutic intervention, should be held to the same standards as every other form of clinical treatment. Yet, those in the mental health field do often rely heavily on both empirical evidence and case studies when making treatment decisions. And while there is no shortage of anecdotal support for the therapeutic value of work with horses, it is comforting to know that there is also sound clinical support for this line of work.

“In my experience, horses don’t want anything to do with people.” “All horses want to do is eat all the time.” “There is no way horses can tell what is going on with people.” These are just a few of the criticisms the field of equine therapy has encountered over the years. And these have come, despite the tremendous growth, and recent research supporting the use of horses as a therapeutic modality. However, no new treatment, therapy or method is without its growing pains, and what is unique about equine therapy is that horses are typically outside of the realm of understanding of most people.

Although horses have been a very integral part of our society, and have represented many things to man, the understanding of them has always been a subject of debate. From the early “break the spirit” methods to the now more popular “natural horsemanship” movement, discussing horse training is like discussing politics — everybody has their own opinions.

Yet while this can often lead to festive argument, it does not denote an understanding of the horse. After all, the horse is a herd animal, and our common observation of them does not involve the perspective of their natural environment. As an example, the belief that horses want nothing to do with people, and when placed in a corral with them, prefer to isolate, is not supported by any cases of equine isolation in the wild. Quite the contrary, horses avoid isolating at all costs, and instead it is used as a form of reprimand. Another misunderstanding is that horses — prey animals — have premeditated behavior. Again, horses being ruled primarily through the limbic system are, for the most part, instinctive and reflexive in their actions. They do not “plan” in the sense that we do; instead they react to stimuli in their environment, such as threats of harm, dominant or aggressive behavior from another horse, and maternal instinct.

Continue reading Equine Therapy: A Potful of Projections, by Claire Dorotik, MA →

While there are numerous complaints clients can present with and probably an even greater abundance of ways to treat these ailments, the majority of practitioners would most likely agree that the majority of them stem from the relationships that people find themselves in. Or perhaps, these present relationships are reflections of the more formative earlier ones. In either case, there is no shortage of methods to help people better understand themselves and their relationships.

One of these methods of fostering self awareness is equine therapy. And like many other forms of treatment, working with horses has taken many forms. While some organizations focus solely on creating and implementing exercises for clients to perform with horses, others attempt to generalize the client’s behavior with the horse to other, more fractured areas of his/her life. The thought in both cases in that if the client can learn how to alter his/her behavior across a multitude of situations, the outcomes will be different, and hopefully, more satisfying.

The benefits of these methods of equine therapy, are not to be missed, however, what is often overlooked is the relationship with the horse that is transpiring in the present moment. Within this relationship, the client, with his complexity of both conscious feelings, and the more misunderstood, unconscious ones is available to the horse. This is an important point because in human relationships, unconscious feelings, drives and motives greatly affect the outcome, albeit under the conscious awareness of the people who are affected. Horses, on the other hand, cannot avoid being aware of unconscious feelings, as they have physiological ramifications within the person, and horses communicate almost exclusively through physiological cues and signals. So while people respond to the conscious presentation of a person, a horse responds to the unconscious presentation.

What of course this means to the practitioner is that the horse, through his response to the client, provides a window into the unconscious. Armed with this information, the therapist can then have much greater efficacy in helping the client understand himself, and his relationships. And this, after all, is the purpose of psychotherapy.

For as long as the diagnosis of ADHD has been recognized, there have been experiential methods to treat it. From wilderness excursions to ropes courses, therapists have looked for ways to help those children burdened with high anxiety, short attention span, inability to focus and complete tasks, and heightened excitability, learn to understand and manage their condition. However, one of the difficulties that has been encountered repeatedly in working with ADHD children is a way to teach them the necessary social skills to develop effective relationships. As often those around ADSHD children will complain about their apparent lack of interest, difficulty in carrying on a meaningful conversation, and maintaining accountability, relationships are often strained. And while they may be able to learn to use goal and completion charts to organize and complete their own tasks, children with ADHD may continue to struggle with face to face interactions. While verbal reminders have fallen short, therapists have turned to non-verbal methods to help these children identify how they present and the impact that it has on those around them. This is where equine therapy has, of recent, been utilized quite intently.

So how is it that being around a horse can effectively help a child who has trouble focusing in the first place? To answer this question, we must first understand that ADHD is expressed as a hypervigilance to the environment. While the attention of those not affected by ADHD can be held quite sufficiently by one component of their environment, ADHD children are constantly switching their focus from one thing to another, and digesting little feedback from the world around them in the process. This hypervigilance is very similar to the physiology of a nervous horse. However, the difference is that for a horse experiencing this kind of heightened arousal, the pertinent response would be to run. After all, fear initiates flight. And in fleeing, the physiological components of arousal would be actualized and the system reset — essentially, the horse would calm back down.

Continue reading Equine Therapy and ADHD: How It Works, by Claire Dorotik MA →

While equine therapy has many fans and many purported benefits, is it possible that this alternative form of therapy can be used to improve sports performance?

Looking to a “head guy” to help with the much sought after perfect golf shot, basketball game, or even ski run is nothing new. These mental specialists have only recently donned their breeches and boots and strode into the equine competition arena. As they have, psych strategies that have long been popular in other sports have made their way onto the back of a horse. Stress reduction strategies, such as progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and cognitive rehearsal, have been among these. Now, even popular riders, such as Jane Savoie (www.janesavoie.com), employ the use of visualization techniques to cement the perfect ride.

Yet with the emergence of sports psychology in the horse world, can our horses actually help us to improve our performance, and possibly ride them better?

Continue reading Can Equine Therapy Improve Sports Performance?, by Claire Dorotik M.A. →