Horses are masters of non verbal communication! They can help teach us what we're saying with our body language, which we know through research is aprx 90% of how we communicate! 90%!! Our words make up less than 10%, making the skill of non verbal communication essential to fully understand others, and to be understood.
http://helpguide.org/mental/eq6_nonverbal_communication.htm
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The first, from the October issue of National Geographic about the teenage brain: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/teenage-brains/dobbs-text

The second about how to teach kids kindness:
http://www.care.com/child-care-how-to-create-a-kind-kid-p1017-q6107207.html#utm_content=1017&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=general_general&utm_source=facebook&utm_term=&
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This is an article I shared on our Facebook page a while back & I wanted to share here. I think anyone interested in autism will want to check this out:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/autism-research-discovery_b_794967.html
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This past weekend I read the book 'Reality Therapy' by William Glasser, M.D., a psychiatrist. The book was written in the 60's. I imagine it was quite controversial at the time, and still is today. It posits that essentially, there is no such thing as mental illness.That all (so called) mental illness is a lack of responsibility (this sounds harsher than is explained in the book) and that with proper guidance, through a care provider who is truly connected to the patient, issues can be overcome and the patient can assume their place in family & society, leading meaningful lives.

While I don't agree with the book in its entirety, I did find it very intriguing and worth learning more about. I think the implications for preventative care, of say youth, & at risk youth, for example, could be quite profound.

It is possible that it could be useful for other populations as well, once stabilized, including PTSD.

I look forward to reading the latest versions of this work and will report back. If anyone is familiar with it already, and would like to share, I would be very interested to know what your experience has been!

Here is a link to Dr. Glasser's website and the Choice Theory page:
http://wglasser.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=27
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The (COSC) Conference (which was held last week in San Diego) was very informative again this year! It was great to have Dr. Sheldon Kramer there with me. And, it was very rewarding to have a lot of people we talked to say they knew of our program!
For anyone interested in PTSD/TBI, mental health & the military, here is a link to the presentations slides for the break out sessions: http://cosc.sclivelearningcenter.com/index.aspx
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Its become clear to me that I don't have time to blog! So, I'd like to plan to give brief updates of what's going on & then to post articles of interest. There is so much amazing information out there to share, this is a great forum in which to do it!
We're very excited that Dr. Sheldon Kramer has joined our team! Sheldon's guidance will allow us to do research on our methods so that we can quantify the results we've seen. Check out his bio to learn more about him. 
It has taken a while to make this happen but we now have support from the military for an 8 week pilot study on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If the results of the pilot are favorable, it will be followed by a full, long term study of the efficacy of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy on PTSD. Things are falling into place for the pilot & we hope that it will be completed by the middle of 2012.
We're so happy to be adding the STEPP stables on base at Camp Pendleton to the locations we work at! Being on base will enable us to better serve the military community. The facilities are beautiful, with a lot of privacy and quiet for sessions!
This week, Sheldon & I will be going to the Combat Operational Stress Control Conference given by the Navy in San Diego. Last year was a huge learning experience and I look forward to more!
I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful time of year, my favorite!
Happy Spring! ~Windy
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Wounded Warriors 10/21/2010
 
Somehow, this got sent to drafts and never posted.....

Last May, I attended the Navy's Combat Operational Stress confernece in San Diego. It was an amazing experience being thrust into the midst of military culture for three days! They have acronyms for everything, which felt like being in another land with a strange language!

The focus of the conference was to find solutions and support for service men and women dealing with mental health issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, and their families. There was a huge emphasis on the need to destigmitize mental health issues and encourage those suffering to seek and get help. We heard from people who had been in in-treatment programs for PSTD and who were able to rejoin thier units after completion of treatment.

What was most striking for me was the recognition of "moral injury" and ackowledgement from the military leaders who spoke that what we are asking of our service people in foreign lands has the potential for deep emotional and spiritual consequences which must be addressed for the individual, their families, the health of the military, and for society as a whole.

The horses are so helpful in their ability to "just be" with the person and their pain, and to genly mirror behaviors that can then be looked at in a way that is non threatening.

We are now in our second year of Horses for Warriors and the feedback we've gotten shows us we're on the right track. We've gained a lot of experience,  and we've learned from our participants what works for them, and what is important for them to address to best help them as they reintegrate into their families and communities.

I would like to express my appreciation for the participants willingness to share their lives with us a few hours each week and to co-create this program with us.

Conference presentation archives can be found here:
http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcsd/nccosc/coscConference/Pages/coscConference.aspx
                  "In war, there are no unwounded soldiers." -Jose Narosky 


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Next week will be the last Horses for Heroes for this session. It has been a remarkable journey for both staff and participants. This session has been with female veterans. What has been striking is their willingness to share what they've been through and experienced, and thier ability to address their PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) head on.  Also, interesting has been learning about the unique prespectives of women in the service, specifically, the pressure they put on themselves "to measure up/cowboy up/tough it out", etc.  I hadn't really thought about it before!  It has definately been a theme throughout this session and has provided our staff with an opportunity to address these special needs. 
We are grateful to all of the participants whose lives intersect ours and the gifts they leave with us.
Respectfully, Windy
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I realize this topic may be controversial but believe it is an important subject to bring to light . Like so many things, we often go along without questioning the modern "wisdom" of our culture.  Think of the progress that has been made in the last few decades in terms of child rearing, and of understanding childhood psychological development (the latter wasn't even part of the parental lexicon a generation ago!). These societal shifts couldn't have happened without benefit of serious boat rocking from the likes of Dr. Spock, and others, who, whether you agree with or not, started the conversation of what it means to parent & teach effectively.

The idea of each of us as parents being responsible for the emotional and pyschological well being of our progeny is a fairly new one. Perhaps it is a luxury previous generations didn't have. And, I ackowledge there are people for whom such discussions are still a luxury as their attention is focused on survival. For the rest of us though, I like to think we want all of the tools and the knowledge at our disposal so that we can make informed decisions about what is best for our kids.

It is towards that end that I would like to share Alfie Kohn's work, as well as that of others in upcoming blogs.

'Punished by Rewards' is the book written by Alfie Kohn in which he posits "that praise can do more harm than good". He gives 5 reasons to reconsider what has become common practice and accepted good parenting/teaching skills. In part, he says;

"What kids do need is unconditional support, and love, with no strings attached. That's not just different from praise -its the opposite of praise. "Good job!" is conditional. It means we're offering attention and acknowledgment and approval for jumping through hoops, for doing things that please us."

When I first read the book a couple of years ago, it was hard for me to let go of old ideas and to rethink one of the main tenants of my own parenting skill set! My kids are grown, but in working with other people's children now, I do strive to stay in awareness of what I am saying and why.

To read Alfie Kohn's paper on the Eagala website, go to:
http://www.eagala.org/contents/AlfieKohn5ReasonsNotToSayGoodJob.doc
To order the book:
http://www.eagala.org/readingsContent.htm

I welcome your comments and input, we are all here to learn!

blog post by Windy Stopnitzky
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In 2009, we saw the groundwork (pun intended!) laid in 2008 begin to bear fruit with our first programs and the building of working relationships with other organizations. A lot of time was spent in meetings with potential collaborators and supporters which provided a wonderful opportunity to learn about the needs in the community and how Horse Wisdom could be of service.
It was a time of incredible growth in visibility, and in the programs offered. Most importantly, the horses did what they do best; they touched peoples lives!

For 2010 we will continue our 2009 programs and expand into more programs for youth, which I am very excited about!
One long term goal of Horse Wisdom has been to have overnight summer camps and we are working hard to make that a reality for the coming summer.

Another exciting program is our hosting of two working students from Uganda this summer. We are developing a Life Skills course that they can take back with them which will be structured as peer training in their orphanage and community upon their return.
This course will be based on herd behavior and dynamics, without benefit of the horses actually being present. I am thrilled to be collaborating with Carolyn Resnick on what I believe will be an important contribution in the field of personal development which will enable us to share 'the way of the horse' globally!

In closing, I want to thank all of those who have supported Horse Wisdom in any way over the past two years! It has been a remarkable journey, one I sense is just beginning, and is so much sweeter for having you ride along!

blog post by Windy Stopnitzky
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