Could you benefit from Equine Psychotherapy?
- Do you need help to manage your own mental health issues or to improve relationships with those around you?
- Is someone close to you suffering from anxiety, anger, stress, trauma, or other mental health issues and you are unsure about how best to help them?
- Perhaps you or they have already tried the support on offer and found that it hasn’t resolved the issues?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then you or your loved one might benefit from Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy. Simply put, this means using horses to work with people to help relieve emotional suffering.
Why horses?
Horses are amazing animals that can provide direct, accurate and sensitive responses to us regarding our emotions and our behaviour. As herd animals they are strongly aware of the energy, intentions and non-verbal communications of others. They are also prey animals which makes them highly sensitive to those around them. These factors enable them to provide non-judgemental and instant feedback to us. This offers valuable information to promote self-awareness which can be used within the therapy to create insight, problem solving, and the processing of thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
The practical nature of the therapy means that individuals learn about themselves and others by participating in activities with the horses rather than simply talking about it.
As a physical therapy it can also increase learning, emotional healing and sensory reintegration by creating connections between the mind, emotions and the body.
Since sessions mainly take place outdoors, face-to-face therapy can happen safely, even within the Covid-19 restrictions.
Equine therapy has been shown to benefit both adults and children with mild to complex needs. The evidenced outcomes include improved ability to deal with trauma, manage feelings, solve problems, make positive choices as well as increased confidence, self-esteem, improved relationships and emotional wellbeing. These outcomes, in turn, reduce the risk of mental health problems, self-harm, anxiety and anger problems.
The sessions involve watching and finding ways to connect with the horses as well as activities such as grooming and leading, but not riding. No previous experience with horses is required. 8-10 sessions would be recommended initially but this can vary according to needs.
Use the contact page here link to book a taster session or get more information.