Horses Are Blazing New Trails in Recovery and Growth

by Janet Nicholas

I grew up with horses. The ins and outs of caring for them and riding them are second nature to me. As a child I reveled both in the freedom of daylong ambling rides and in the discipline of the show ring. But even so, I found my first encounter with Equine Assisted Therapy (EAP) to be humbling, profound and life changing. While visiting Sierra Tucson with some other therapists, we were asked to participate in an EAP session. As the session unfolded some losses in my life came flooding back to me. It was a powerful experience. So powerful, that I determined one day I would incorporate this modality in my own practice. As an LCDC and LPC, I have been using equine co-facilitators since 2006.

It may surprise many of you to learn that horses have been used in counseling, coaching and team building activities for more than ten years. EAP does not teach individuals how to ride. It is not the therapeutic riding that you may have seen in which persons with disabilities are led around an arena by helpers who assure that the rider safely benefits from contact with these 1000 pound creatures. EAP is very different.

EAP employs a team consisting of a licensed psychotherapist who has been trained in this discipline, a horse professional and, of course, horses. This modality can be used as a primary form of therapy for individuals or families, and inpatient and outpatient groups. It can also be used as an adjunct to existing therapy. EAP is an experiential and action-oriented therapy which can inspire new growth, insight and solutions to long-standing problems.

Are you still ‘neigh saying’ the idea that these creatures have the ability to help individuals, groups or families gain valuable insights? Let me tell you about just one experience. A parent group contacted me for an EAP session.

They created this group out of concern for their teens. Most were dealing with addictions and acting out behaviors.

The parents set out on their obstacle course with the equines. After repeated attempts of begging, pleading, signaling and chasing the horses with no results, the parents began to see a pattern. They revamped their efforts and approached the situation as a team and with more calm movements. The horses began to move. Next, the parents moved to the center of the arena, watching in amazement as the horses began jumping over the obstacle without prodding! This was a defining moment for the group. They realized that their frantic efforts were disorganized and not helpful. However, when they pulled together as a team, and created a new plan, the “teens” began to act differently and even “soar” through the obstacles.

So what makes horses unique for therapy?

Horses are herd animals and they need each other for protection and companionship. Since they are preyed upon by other animals, equines are especially sensitive to sights, sounds and smells. They react instinctually to their environment and to the people in their environment. Because of these sensitivities, horses can often mirror back to a person what is happening in his or her life. Horses can only be honest. They have no investment in a person liking or approving of them. They tell us the truth about ourselves.

How does EAP work?

The therapist and horse professional create an assignment or exercise(s) for the client(s). Exercises are done “on the ground”. There is no riding in EAP. These exercises are designed to address the issues and goals identified by the client. Because of the experiential nature of EAP, invariably life metaphors begin to emerge. For example, one of my horses has an addiction. This behavior can be severe enough in some horses that they eventually die. Most people notice this behavior and begin to intervene to stop him. This scenario often brings up various emotions and feelings for an addict or for the family member of the addict.

EAP transforms the traditional therapeutic environment. The cozy room with four walls morphs into an arena full of possibilities. The specially trained therapist and horse professional offer psychological and physical safety and the horse is the unknown catalyst. This allows dynamics to occur that can serve to open people up in some often deeply closed places. As well as I know my horses, I have never been able to predict how they will respond to an individual or group.

Is EAP for everyone?

A person needs no experience with horses to participate in EAP therapy. Even if a client is well acquainted and experienced with horses, EAP can offer significant challenges and new insights

Mental Health Applications:EAP can be used to address numerous mental health issues such as attention deficit disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and bipolar disorder. Depression, anxiety disorders, panic disorder, and addictions are other conditions that can be helped through EAP. Additionally, people who have experienced sexual abuse, PTSD, or other types of abuse can benefit greatly from working with equines. Sometimes the sessions may be void of any verbal communication between the client and the therapist. Just as some types of abuse or traumas may not have included talk but rather physical, tactile or olfactory components. I would like to caution at this point that clients experiencing psychotic features and symptoms are not candidates for EAP work.

A new and growing area for EAP work is with military personnel returning from war. The experts working with our men and women in the armed forces have found horses to be very effective in dealing with the trauma and PTSD symptoms caused by war. This is an area where “talk therapy” has not always been effective. The experiential and kinesthetic nature of equine work takes soldiers to a different level of dealing with their pasts.

Equine Assisted Leadership or Learning(EAL) is another trail less traveled. This approach fills a need in the business world and in other contexts by helping to foster skills such as assertiveness, leadership, positive communication, problem solving, conflict resolution, and anger management.

Dr. Tracy Weber director of Kaleidoscope Learning Circle in Frankenmouth MI. has taught leadership courses in the university setting. She has worked with well known corporations using EAL. I have found additional useful applications for EAL are with non-profit groups, church leadership and treatment program staff and administrators.

Horse Sense for Doctors and Counselors?Currently I am working with Beverly Kane, M.D. to develop a program locally to teach medical residents communication and relationship skills. Dr. Kane teaches such a course at Stanford University Medical School in Palo Alto, California, and is the clinical instructor and program director of Medicine and Horses at that prestigious school. She states, “Horses help us develop the three non-intellectual, non-rational aspects of our intelligence- the instinctual, emotional, and sensory faculties- that have atrophied in our quest for the correct answers on exams, the most logical diagnosis, or the latest evidence-based journal article”. Horses, according to Dr. Kane, make less use of vocalization and excel in these three types of information processing.

Recalling my internship as an LCDC inspires me to consider using horses to teach new interns communication, observation and counselor/client relationship skills. Similar to medical residents, it is easy to focus only on academia and internships, knowing we are being graded. This can lead counseling professionals down a narrow trail that bypasses the most important aspect of all…being with our client. Even more important, the ultimate gift is to connect and communicate on a level that will challenge them toward the next step in their recovery.

New Trails Ahead

Although horses have been man’s partner for over 6,000 years, we are still learning about them. Existing research is scant on the benefits of EAP and EAL but new studies are emerging. It is all too easy to focus in therapy on finding ‘the right answer’ and to forget the most important aspect of all-the healing art of being wholly present with our clients in each moment. These beautiful creatures who run with the wind can also nudge us to remember the basics-a little ‘horse sense’ can go a long way.