Tag Archives: EAGALA

Community/Charity, Equine Assisted Therapy

Eagala Celebrated 20th Anniversary with Record-Breaking Attendance at 2020 Conference

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Lexington, Ky. – March 16, 2020 – Eagala recently celebrated their 20th Anniversary with record-breaking attendance during their Vision 360 conference on February 26-29. Over 630 people, Eagala members and those passionate about equines from across the U.S., and twenty countries gathered in Lexington to network, learn, and celebrate the past 20 years, while creating clarity for the next 20 years in the rapidly growing Eagala Model approach. The Eagala Model combines licensed mental health professionals, qualified equine specialists, and horses to effectively work with clients addressing mental health issues.

As part of the conference, Eagala was proud to host the Congressional Horse Caucus on Saturday, Feb. 29th.  Eagala CEO, Lynn Thomas, with the support of the American Horse Council, and members of the Congressional Horse Caucus attended a live, hands-on demonstration with horses and a panel discussion at the Lexington Convention Center.

Thousands of pounds of dirt were brought in to transform the basement of the Lexington Convention Center into a working indoor arena. Following the demonstration, the panel met about the impact of incorporating horses in mental health services for Veterans with PTSD and re-entry transitions, suicide prevention, substance abuse recovery, rural mental health issues, and other mental health needs in which horses can have a positive impact on treatment outcomes.

In attendance was Horse Caucus Co-chairman Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY 6), a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, who prior to the Caucus participated in an Eagala session with Kentucky-based veterans. Representative Barr has been a strong advocate for this method to improve the lives of veterans and horses, including retired racehorses.  He has led legislation funding equine-assisted services for mental health issues through the Veterans Administration Adaptive Sports Grant, and co-sponsored the IMPROVE Well Being for Veterans Act (H.R. 3495) – a veteran suicide prevention bill to provide grants to community organizations that interact with veterans who may not seek care at the VA, and includes access to equine-assisted services.

Invited to participate in the panel were members of the Congressional Horse Caucus, leaders in the horse and equine-assisted services industries, and veterans and others who have benefited from these services. The Caucus was moderated by Eagala Legislative Director, Ellen Stroud. To learn more about Eagala, please visit their website here.

Community/Charity, Equine Assisted Therapy

Horses Healing Hearts Adds Equine Assisted Learning to Program through EAGALA Certification

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Wellington, FL – December 2, 2013 – Horses Healing Hearts (HHH) is proud to announce their membership in the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning (EAGALA) Program. Since 1999, EAGALA has been the leading international nonprofit association for professionals using equine therapy to address mental health and human development needs. Following their model and training, founder of HHH Lizabeth Olszewski is now certified in the EAGALA model, opening up new doors and limitless possibilities for the expanding nonprofit organization.

Horses Healing Hearts, founded in September 2009 by Olszewski of Wellington, FL, helps ease the pain of kids growing up in a home affected by substance abuse. HHH provides these children with the opportunity to help heal emotionally by working with horses while having fun and learning positive life-coping skills, responsibility and confidence. After completing the EAGALA certification, HHH will now be able to start a revenue arm for their program, which will assist in funding their mission to help children through equine experiential learning.

The EAGALA Model is based on a team approach in which an Equine Specialist and Mental Health professional work through the horses to help the client. There is no horseback riding involved, only unmounted activities in which the horses sometimes serve as a metaphor and a mirror for the participants themselves or situations in their lives. Each client has the best solutions for themselves when given the opportunity to discover them. Because EAGALA is an experiential model, participants will have the chance to problem-solve, take risks, employ creativity and find the solutions that best work for them.

Founder Liz Olszewski shared, “Dr. Patricia O’Gorman, HHH Advisory Committee Chair, suggested that we start researching associations in which to be certified in order to increase our skill level and credibility. We chose EAGALA due to its worldwide presence and balanced, professional model for which it is known. Because it is a model with unmounted activities, we can use it interspersed with our HHH children’s program (which is mounted), but it will be the ‘backbone’ of the EAP/EAL services we offer in the mission-based program coming soon.”

The EAGALA certification opens up a new division for HHH, which will now have the ability to help adult clients from substance abuse treatment centers. HHH will utilize Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) to reach out to a variety of clients for fee-based services which will, in turn, help fund the HHH children’s program.

(Left to Right) Ana Maria de Jager, Medical Doctor, Equine Specialist, Frisian Association Director in Mexico, Annie Ricalde, Mental Health Professional, EAGALA trainer, EAGALA Latinoamerica Coordinator, co-founder of TAAC, Equine Specialist and Founder of HHH Lizabeth Olszewski, and Amy Blossom Lomas, EAGALA Trainer, EAGALA Illinois Coordinator, and Reins of Change Founder/Executive Director. Photo Courtesy of Client.
(Left to Right) Ana Maria de Jager, Medical Doctor, Equine Specialist, Frisian Association Director in Mexico, Annie Ricalde, Mental Health Professional, EAGALA trainer, EAGALA Latinoamerica Coordinator, co-founder of TAAC, Equine Specialist and Founder of HHH Lizabeth Olszewski, and Amy Blossom Lomas, EAGALA Trainer, EAGALA Illinois Coordinator, and Reins of Change Founder/Executive Director. Photo Courtesy of Client.

EAL can be used for individuals and groups and is often used to evaluate group dynamics via team building exercises with executive corporate teams. “I was very impressed to hear that in Mexico City, Annie Ricalde (EAGALA Latin America Coordinator) and Ana Maria de Jager (Medical Doctor and Equine Specialist) not only use EAL to help ‘at-risk’ street kids but also have used the model to train executives from Wal-Mart, Chrysler, Shell, American Express, Danone, Revlon, SAMS, etc.” Olszewski said. “The fact that Fortune 500 companies are realizing the benefits of EAL with their team-building efforts speaks volumes.”

EAGALA is often called “a ropes course with horses” and is experiential in nature. The process acts as a powerful and effective therapeutic approach for people of all demographics. The possibilities with the EAGALA Model are endless, and with over 4,000 members in 49 countries, it is no wonder that the nonprofit organization has become so well known for its ability to help those suffering from addiction, depression and trauma.

Horses Healing Hearts is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of children of alcoholics and substance abuse through equine experiential learning. To learn more about Horses Healing Hearts or how you can help with donations of money or time, visit www.HHHUSA.org or e-mail Liz Olszewski at liz@hhhusa.org or call (561) 713-6133.

Media Contact: Kendall Bierer
Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
phone 561.753.3389  fax 561.753.3386
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Contributors/Press, Equine Assisted Therapy, Publications/Media

Equine Therapy: What Every Treatment Center Needs to Know, by Claire Dorotik MA

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With equine therapy abounding, it has quickly become a status symbol among the country’s most prestigious treatment centers. However, while promulgating their use of horses to uncover the hidden emotions of substance abuse and dual diagnosis patients has become popular, many centers have also struggled with how best to offer this valuable treatment.

When equine therapy first emerged on the forefront, there was really no set protocol to be followed. While some centers purchased their own horses — and further advertised the availability of the horses on the grounds — others contracted out this modality through an independent provider. Further complicating the matter, some employed the use of both a licensed therapist and a horse handler, while others simply utilized the horse handler, or the psychotherapist who happened to “like” horses. However, as one can only imagine with any new, relatively unproven, modality, the outcomes were scattered and accidents happened.

And even when there was a clear method to follow, as presented by the Equine Growth and Learning Association, or EAGALA (www.eagala.org), work with horses wasn’t free of harm. To be sure, over the past five years, EAGALA reported more accidents than any other equine therapy approach. (Reports on any psychotherapeutic harm that may have occurred as a result of the inappropriate “interpretations” of untrained horse handlers are not available.) Yet perhaps due to the presentation of exercises such as “temptation alley” that correlated with what substance abuse and eating disorder patients might be experiencing, EAGALA was also the most popular method of practicing equine therapy.

Continue reading Equine Therapy: What Every Treatment Center Needs to Know, by Claire Dorotik MA →