Equine Therapy
Equine Therapy (also referred to as Horse Therapy, Equine-Assisted Therapy, and Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy) is a form of experiential therapy that involves interactions between patients and horses. Equine therapy is the discipline of using horses as a means to provide metaphoric experiences in order to promote emotional growth.
The horses provide an excellent way for troubled youth to react when they are otherwise therapy resistant. Equine therapists will usually teach many lessons on ways in which horses learn, react, and follow instructions to the lives of youth themselves. The goal of equine therapy is to help the patient develop needed skills and attributes, such as accountability, responsibility, self-confidence, problem-solving skills, and self-control. Equine therapy also provides an innovative milieu in which the therapist and the patient can identify and address a range of emotional and behavioral challenges. Equine therapy has shown to have many positive benefits when correctly taught by certified therapists. Some of them include:
- Assertiveness
- Emotional awareness
- Empathy
- Stress tolerance
- Impulse control
- Problem-solving skills
- Independence
- Self-regard
- Interpersonal relationships
- Confidence
- Communication
- Self-Acceptance
- Impulse Control
- Spiritual Connection
The Eagala Model
Equine-assisted work often helps clients change and grow more effectively and quickly than traditional clinical and psycho-educational approaches. That’s because people typically learn best by doing. Life lessons take deeper root when individuals both understand them in their heads and experience them in their bodies. Working with horses is engaging, real time and hands-on. The experience is immediate and fully felt.
The Eagala Model is a distinct experience-based, team-approach framework designed to empower clients to analyze their situations, make connections, and find their own solutions through personal and physical experiences. Over the past 17 years, our clients have reported that they have been able to change and grow more effectively and quickly than through traditional approaches.
The Eagala Model stands alone in the world of equine-assisted therapy due to a strict commitment to standards, code of ethics, continuing education, and a replicable framework. The Eagala Model is a team approach that includes a registered, credentialed Mental Health Professional, a qualified Equine Specialist, and horses working together with the client at all times.