Meet our Equine Therapy Team: Lisa, Katie, Andrew, and Holly! During October and November, these individuals became certified in equine-assisted learning (EAL) and equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) treatment modalities. We believe this will have a tremendously positive impact on the residential and foster children we serve at ACH.
Horses mirror and reflect human emotions, allowing participants to examine their feelings and experience a sense of empowerment and assertiveness. The horse-human interaction enables participants to question themselves, find their answers, take initiative, make decisions, and take responsibility for their choices. Horses facilitate spontaneous learning opportunities, allowing participants to experience failure, success, adventure, risk-taking, and uncertainty.
Our equine therapy teams use frameworks from The O.K. Corral and EAGALA experiential models. These models incorporate groundwork and mounted activities that focus on complex communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills and may involve risk-taking and competition. These therapeutic approaches are based on the belief that participants can overcome struggles and find innovative solutions to address underlying or root issues, enabling them to move beyond coping toward resolving issues. Participants can discover, learn, and grow from the horse-human interaction.
Our equine therapy teams include a licensed mental health professional, an equine specialist, and live horses. This unique client-centered counseling experience strives to provide personalized service to every individual. There is almost nothing better than a hands-on approach with horses to promote processing and healing for a wide variety of mental health issues and self-care needs.
This is a new adventure for ACH, and we have some needs. First, we covet your prayers, as we want our EAL/EAP program to benefit as many individuals as possible. Second, we are preparing for a building project. Due to environmental challenges, we need an indoor arena to serve individuals year-round. This is best practice for both horses and humans. Third, you can ‘adopt a horse.’ All donations will go toward horse care necessities and/or equipment. We believe that any investment will not return void!