Equine Assisted Psychotherapy
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy
Broadly speaking, equine assisted therapy involves the use of horses to help people to cope with and possibly overcome certain challenges including anxiety, stress, speech problems, drug addiction, emotional issues, behavioral issues, and physical disabilities. In recent years, EFP and equine facilitated learning (EFL) have gained a lot of popularity. Read on to learn more about this topic.
Equine Therapy Works
While this concept may sound outlandish to some people, research has actually shown that equine therapy really works. For example, a study published in Health Psychology found that patients suffering from mental illness who interact with horses during therapy tend to show psychological, behavioral, psychosocial, and physical improvements. To be precise, nine out of every 14 participants of the aforementioned study showed significant positive outcome.
Impulse Modulation
Teen alcohol abuse is a big problem especially in the developed world. Working with a horse helps teenagers struggling with alcohol, or other forms of substance abuse, to regain self-control, modulate impulses, regulate emotions, as well as enhance emotional awareness. This is in addition to reducing aggressiveness and agitation associated with alcohol abuse.
Build Social skills
The majority of people suffering from mental illness tend to withdraw or isolate themselves from society due to various reasons, for example, rejection by normal people. In contrast, horses allow such people to connect and interact with them without the risk of criticism or rejection. For example, teenagers struggling with teen’s mental disorder can use equine therapy to build social skills required to interact with their peers, as well as the society in general.
Confidence
In order to benefit from equine assisted therapy, one has to learn new horsemanship skills. The learning process enhances the confidence of patients, thereby allowing them to tackle challenges related to healing and recovery.
Anxiety Reduction
Some people abuse alcohol to cope with anxiety attacks. For such people, interacting with a horse tends to reduce anxiety levels. Meanwhile, the affection offered by animals such as horses is genuine and helps patients to face their anxiety issues.
Trust
Teens with a mental illness may find it difficult to open up and express their fears and feelings to other people including their parents and therapists. Fortunately, EFP serves as a first step towards building trust and breaking communication barriers. The same is true for any teen that might have experienced rejection, sexual abuse, physical abuse, or neglect.
Self-Acceptance
For people struggling with alcohol abuse, mental illness, or drug abuse, self-acceptance tends to be a big challenge. This is because such people believe that they will never have the self-will or self-control to overcome their struggles. However, working with a horse instills self-acceptance. Any fears of embarrassment melt as they learn that mastering horsemanship skills involves a few tumbles along the way.
Whether your teenage son or daughter is struggling with substance abuse or mental illness, equine facilitated psychotherapy can help. Some of the benefits of using horses to treat physical or psychological problems include increased confidence, trust, self-acceptance, anxiety reduction, impulse modulation, and building social skills. Over time, patients learn that the mutually respectful relationship between horse and rider can lead to the initiation of closer relationships with other family members, friends, as well as other people. Moreover, learning new horsemanship skills is likely to enhance a patient’s sense of accomplishment.
The Have I Got A Problem website is a free online resource to help people better understand any issues or concerns they may have about mental health or addiction. The website includes resources specifically focused to; general Mental Health, Depression, Stress, Anxiety, Insecurities, Self-harm Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Anger Management, Eating Disorders, Coping, general Addiction, Alcohol, Smoking, Gambling, Drugs, Cocaine, Heroin, Marijuana (Cannabis) Ecstasy, PCP, Mephedrone, Ketamine & Crystal Meth.
The site was created to give the public information to help them understand mental health and addiction issues and to assist people in making better informed decisions about their life and personal choices.
www.haveigotaproblem.com was created and is run by 'Advising Communities’, which is a UK registered charity (Charity No. 1061055)
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