Equine Facilitated Therapy (EFT)
Five Lessons People Can Learn from Horses
- Identify and Cope with Feelings: Equine therapy is a powerful way to get in touch with thoughts and feelings. Instead of using your mind to address problems, which often leads to denial, blaming others, or intellectualizing your way around the problem, you use your body and heart to feel and react in the moment.
- Communication Skills: Through working with horses, people recognize their conscious and unconscious patterns of interacting with others. Horses do not speak, but they are excellent communicators. Learning to understand horse behavior can help people learn how others function in the world and the way their behavior impacts interactions.
- Setting Boundaries Without any words at all: horses make clear when someone has crossed their boundaries. Trying to control and dominate a horse will not work, nor will being passive or detached. Using these lessons clients learn to set healthy boundaries as well as respect others.
- Overcoming Fears In a safe environment: clients learn to face their fears and build confidence in their ability to overcome challenges. Clients who are intimidated and nervous are often surprised to discover how quickly they they can process those feelings and find comfort in their relationship with the horse. Empowered by this experience they develop the confidence to address other fears and transfer these sessions to day to day life.
- Trust: Horses are soothing, gentle animals. They are straightforward in their interactions without lying or manipulating. They do not blame. Their presence alone can be immensely healing. A client that had suffered a brutal childhood made the following statement after interacting with a horse ,"I've never had anyone so big be nice to me before."
Equine Assisted EMDR
Non-mounted interactions with horses can have powerful positive impacts
I have a life-long love of horses. I got my first horse at the age of 13, and enjoyed many wonderful years growing up as part of a barn community with him. During college I would take riding lessons in place of gym classes. After moving to Oregon to work in mental health areas I realized what was missing from my life was horses and so reconnected with owning a horse. His name was Woody's Infinite Wisdom and we were best friends for 18 years. My current horse Copper is a rescued Off the Track Thoroughbred and has been at Horizon View Therapy for several years. Hanna is another member of my team, she is a wonderful Quarter Horse and identified as the Ranch Unicorn!
Here at Horizon View Therapy I have gentle horses that I can incorporate into your treatment at your request. I have trained in Equilateral, the Equine Assisted EMDR Protocol. I find that including horses and being outside in Nature during sessions allows clients a deep experience and much different than traditional office based treatment.
Non-mounted interactions with horses can have powerful positive impacts on many different types of problems. At Horizon View Therapy clients can choose to have horses included as part of their therapy. In addition to the benefits listed below Equine Facilitated Therapy can be used as a part of other therapy goals as well.
Cost
I do not accept insurance.
Session Cost:
I charge $130.00 per hour. Session times range from 1 hour up to 3 hours to be discussed.
I will provide clients with documentation of services and payments made so that if they wish they can request reimbursement from their insurance. I cannot guarantee that insurance will provide payment.