Why Horses? and Why equine assisted counseling?
Why Horses? To cut through all the hype, because they are so darn
effective. Why equine assisted counseling? Same reason.
OK, now for a little more explanation... EAGALAFirst, for the credits, you can read even more about this on the EAGALA website. (You can go there now by clicking on the link, but I'd wait if I were you. You'll have ample chances later.) EAGALA is the abbreviation for Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association. A very professional organization of which we are members and certified. The comments below are a paraphrase of the EAGALA discussion. We will talk some more about it below. Understanding, why horses, means also understanding why the EAGALA model and organization is so import.HorsesWhy horses? And why equine-assisted counseling. We get asked this a lot.First, let us say this is like trying to explain how a gourmet meal tastes to someone who has never had the dish. You can talk about it all day, but to really understand it, you have to taste it. No amount of words will really describe why and how the food taste except to taste it, that is actually experiencing it. To get a little insight you might watch a few episodes of the Dog Whisperer. Don't go there now, wait till later. It will give you some real life insights about what this type of therapy can provide. Granted he is working with dogs, but the idea is the same in many ways. Like many of the fears and challenges in our lives, horses are large and powerful. That is why we often feel overwhelmed by our problems--because they are larger and more powerful than we are. Same with your teen. No, not that your teen is larger and more powerful than we (adults and parents) are. Horses are large and powerful to our teens as well. Horses thereby create natural opportunities for us to learn how to overcome the large fears in our lives and to grow. Accomplishing a task with a horse can be very confidence building. Horse, like humans, are social animals. They have pecking orders and they have roles in their herd. Pecking order--you know like alpha male, top dog, top horse, and on down to "flunky". Like humans they have distinct personalities, attitudes, and definitely have moods. (Apache's main mood is, "I don't want to be bothered," especially if you want to ride him.) Sometimes in a herd, they are friends, sometimes they are always "bickering" (whoops, a Freudian Projection, but that is what it looks like), and sometimes they just seem to tolerate each other. Sound like people? They like to play and have fun. This social aspect is very, very important. A lot of communication has to go on in a horse herd to maintain order and, in the past, just plain survive in nature. Since horses don't talk, they are extremely adept at reading non-verbal clues, i.e. body language and moods. They have an uncanny sense of this. As Charles Darwin pointed out over a century ago, mammals in general use many of the same muscles and facial expressions that telegraph their feelings and emotions (Darwin. 1898. The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals). So horses easily read us. Horse have a uncanny ability to mirror what human body language is telling them--and responding to it. They know when you are fearful, angry, lonely, whatever.
So why horses?--Horses provide tremendous opportunities for metaphorical learning. "Whoa, now," you might say, "I don't do metaphors very well, and my teen, well forget it." Not to worry. I assure you, the metaphors just pop right out for even young children. A simple question such as, "What does that remind you of in your life (at home, at school, etc.)?", after a horse exercise in a session, can be powerfully revealing to the client herself--and of course to the treatment team. The big lesson from all of this for clients is that when we change our attitude, the horse is their to meet us. They change their's too. Horse hold no grudges. They are there in the moment with you. They are the ultimate here-and-now, and they require we be there too. Wow! The Power of the Now can be life-changing in itself (see Tolle's. 1999. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment  . Tolle really
rides the horse of NOW and how it can change our life.)Horses are different too. Out in nature they are prey animals. As such, their very survival depended on picking up important clues from the environment and being able to run. And, unfortunately, they naturally see us as a predator.
Why Equine Assisted Counseling?We use the EAGALA model for doing what EAGALA calls Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP).
EAP is a specific way of doing therapy using horses that differs from other modalities. You can read it directly from the EAGALA horses mouth if you want by clicking here. We condense it down here. Basically, EAP uses horses experientially (not experimentally) for emotional and psychological learning and growth. It involves a treatment team made up of a licensed therapist, a horse professional, and a horse (or horses) to work with clients. It is considered a form of "brief" therapy because of its intensity and the few number of sessions that are involved. By experiential, we mean that clients learn about themselves and others by participating in activities with the horses. They then can process that experience and learning with the the therapist and equine specialist (ES). Much of its power again comes from utilizing the living, breathing horse, a powerful symbol in and of itself. It is a dynamic interacting system. Its focus is not riding therapy or horsemanship. It uses ground activities only. No riding. The activities emphasize such skills as non-verbal communication, creative problem solving, assertiveness, leadership, responsibility, teamwork, relationships, and attitude. It is effective for a wide range of mental health issues, as well as personal growth, and team building. These include behavioral issues. attention deficit/ hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, abuse issues, addiction, relationship problems, and communication. Neurobiological research has shown that novelty promotes brain growth and learning. (See Rossi, 2001. The Psychobiology of Gene Expression  ). Psychotherapeutic
intervention is about brain growth and learning. Therapeutic work with
horses, especially following the EAGALA model is novel even for clients
that are used to working with horses. Clients gain insights and
metaphors from the horses that they can use in their lives and that
often cannot be communicated as easily or quickly by traditional
therapeutic approaches. You can’t BS a horse. Horses are masters at reading your teen’s body language, non-verbals, and emotions. Horses are herd animals. Their very survival has been based on their ability to pick up and read non-verbal cues. Many of our teens come here “therapeutically savvy” or resistant. They have spent years in therapy. They know the lingo. They are unresponsive or minimally responsive to traditional therapies. Or, they are stuck in their therapy, having hit a place and not moving. EAC is right-brain therapy. As opposed to talk therapy that is primarily left-brain centered. Psychotherapy, as Sigmund Freud originally pointed out, is largely about making the unconscious conscious. This is about making right-brain information (thoughts, memories, behaviors) and emotional material, conscious to the left-brain where it can be verbalized and processed. ResearchAlthough young in terms of a therapeutic approach, research supports EAP's efficacy. To read more about it, click here for the EAGALA research listings. This is another, why horses, answer.Other Counseling ModalitiesAlthough our website emphasizes EAC/EAP approaches, we also utilize traditional talk therapy, hypnotherapy, sex therapy, and other therapeutic approaches. Our approach is eclectic using a combination of cognitive-behavioral, insight oriented, reality, Gestalt, and others, depending on what works with the client. Often we will have EAC sessions and then talk session when additional processing and integration are needed. Top Therapeutic Approaches Index
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