Intra-family violence can be one of the most challenging issues to treat in therapy. Much of the complexity results not only from the family’s likely mistrust of the system and the professionals that are a part of it — particularly in cases where Child Protective Services may have already intervened — but also, the prevalence of co-occurring disorders, such as addictions.

Often, these families will minimize the extent of the violence, possibly target one family member as the “problem” or offer the therapist platitudes — compliance in the service of resistance — that obfuscate the reality of the situation. While the therapist may suspect the violence is much more severe than is presented and gently confront the family, they may become defensive, increase resistance, or leave the therapy altogether. This dynamic combined with the family’s general mistrust of therapeutic settings places the therapist in a very difficult bind.

Continue reading Equine Therapy and Intra-Family Violence: Are There Benefits? by Claire Dorotik →

More people than ever before are “connected”. Smart phones, iPads, laptops and video games seem the norm when forced to wait for any these days, even if the wait is only 3 minutes. Additionally, these connection devices have easily infested almost every area of our lives and people — so much so that to ask someone to put down the phone, shut off the computer or iPad, or disconnect the earbuds from their ears is like asking them to stop breathing. Most people will complain that without their device, they don’t feel “connected”. However, nothing could be farther from the truth.

When people connect through a device, like a phone, several things that accompany a face-to-face interaction are missing. Primarily, the emotional exchange that occurs when two people experience each other’s facial expressions and body language is missing. Otherwise known as “emotional contagion”, this syncing of expressed emotion has been demonstrated to have a calming effect on a person’s physiology.

Continue reading Equine Therapy: Unplugged, by Claire Dorotik →

Certainly equine therapy has been popular for autism, developmental disorders and now PTSD with veterans. However, for clinical therapists, the bulk of cases have to do with relationships. The question then becomes: can equine therapy help improve relationships? The answer is yes, and here are three ways:

1. Energy awareness. People are often very unaware of the energy they bring into a relationship and how this energy may affect others. This energy that I am referring to is of course housed nonverbally, but felt and often unintentionally expressed. While people are frequently hesitant to mention to another person just how their energy may be affecting them, horses, on the other hand, simply react to it. By shying away from someone who is very angry, for example, or protecting someone who is very vulnerable, a horse’s response to a person’s energy can illuminate and clarify the energy a person brings into a relationship.
2. Continue reading Three Ways to Improve Relationship Communication Using Equine Therapy, by Claire Dorotik →

There are many reasons people do things, and often, these motivations are not obvious to the external world. While we tend to portray motivation as the desire to do something, it is true that motivation can also represent the desire to return to something.

The concept of motivation as a regressive experience was first discussed by Freud who introduced the concept of repetition compulsion. According to Freud, repetition compulsion happens for two reasons. While both are unconscious processes, the first is lodged in the patient’s physiology.

When trauma happens, Freud explained, there is a bioenergetic response that corresponds to it. Further, trauma that is unresolved leaves a bioenergetic residue that then the body is compelled to return to, being that it has not been resolved. The second reason a person may repeat a traumatic experience has to do with mastery. After all, trauma involves an emotional response that exceeds the person’s ability to handle — or master — it.

Continue reading Equine Therapy: A Bioenergetic Approach to Repetition Compulsion, by Claire Dorotik →

Perfectionism drives human performance to elite levels, often achieving unequalled accomplishments. However, the push to be great can also have a deleterious effect on a person’s mood, and certainly, relationships. Often those around the perfectionist feel disregarded, or inadequate. But what if the relationship with the perfectionist involves a horse?

Horses have a unique way of telling us the truth about ourselves, at times revealing parts of our character that were hidden or overlooked. For a perfectionist, a person who spends a great deal of time insuring that character deficits are avoided, this can often be a little disconcerting. On the other hand, the horse’s response to a perfectionist can also be relieving.

When a person imposes this need to be perfect on a horse, the animal often responds with tension. The horse may appear tense, hypervigilant, and essentially on edge, and may resist the handler in a number of ways. The horse may overtly object to the person by balking, acting stubborn, or attempting to flee. On the other hand, the horse may simply shut down, tuning the person out.

Continue reading Equine Therapy: Effects of Perfection on Horse-Human Relationships, by Claire Dorotik →