How Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, Growth and Learning Works:
- EAP is Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. EAL is Equine Assisted Learning
- At every session the Horse Wisdom team includes a licensed mental health professional and a qualified equine specialist.
- EAP/EAL is an experiential form of therapy or learning with fun, structured activities.
- Clients learn through the nonverbal responses of the horses, where the use of metaphor plays an important role.
- The process allows for self-discovery of answers rather than directed ones.
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy/Learning (EAP/EAL) is an experiential form of therapy, (meaning learning by doing) which is solution based and effective. It produces authentic experiences and includes the possibility to learn from natural consequences, mistakes and successes. Through direct involvement, participants develop skills and clarify values which will enable them to apply their knowledge to real life situations. The non verbal responses of the horse(s) provides information to the client and the treatment team, information that brings awareness of current patterns and motivates change to new ones. The constructive use of metaphor is used in EAP/EAL and activities are designed to best create metaphors to “real life”. Everything done with the horses can be related to what is happening at home, school, work, in relationships, etc.
EAP is a team approach involving a licensed mental health professional, a certified equine specialist and the horses(s) at each session.
Specific treatment goals, objectives, and interventions are identified and documented. Sessions are structured and facilitated to deliberately address the reasons for which the client came to therapy.
The therapeutic team guides the client to come to their own conclusions or solutions. It is believed to be a more powerful and transformative experience when the client finds their own answers for themselves, rather than being told. The treatment team is there to provide the opportunities and bring consciousness to the lessons being learned. Some of the ways this is done is by looking for patterns, shifts in behavior, things that might be unique and that have meaning behind them, and by discrepancies in behavior, or incongruence, which horses are particularly skilled at sensing.
After the session, there is an opportunity for reflection and to process what has transpired and what insight they may have gained, etc. This may be done by discussing or by journaling, or a combination of the two. This allows participants to quickly see the connection between their actions and the results, and then apply that new understanding.
A non-judgmental, supportive, emotionally and physically safe space is provided, in a private and serene setting, to ensure a positive and meaningful experience.
Below are video links further describing the method.
The following YouTube videos help explain the method: