Horses are congruent and empathic animals that can mirror our emotions and teach us about power and boundaries while connecting us to what lies hidden or buried within ourselves.
They help us to reconnect to a bodily experience of knowing and the freedom to act upon that knowledge. They help us to overcome fear and develop confidence while providing insights into how we respond to intimidating and challenging situations in our life.
This innate mirroring provides an opportunity for us to change behaviour and witness immediate responses.
This innate mirroring provides an opportunity for us to change behaviour and witness immediate responses.
As Equine Facilitated Psychotherapists (EFP) we will help you in exploring issues of power, authenticity, communication, assertiveness and self-worth. All with the help of the horses
The work is experiential in nature. You will learn through experience by participating in activities with the horses and then processing the feelings afterwards.
EFP @ Horse Spirit Project is a non-riding experience and open to anyone with or without horse experience
We have gathered a collection of external resources highlighting the benefits of Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy.
“I have come to the Mudchute Equestrian Centre to to sample equine-utilised psychotherapy. With me is Don Lavender, an American psychotherapist who has been using horses to help treat addicts for 16 years. The therapy can be used for eating disorders, relationship issues and ‘any activity that a human engages in where they are distanced from themselves emotionally’.”
“Horses make great companions for psychotherapy because they can mirror and respond to human behaviour. And crucially, ‘there’s no judgment with a horse’”
“In the spring of 2019, four women with trauma histories visited a small farm in Lexington, Massachusetts, to try a new type of therapy. These sessions turned out to be quite a change of pace from typical group therapy—but not just because they involved horses.
Equine-facilitated psychotherapy (EFP), also known as equine-assisted psychotherapy, is, as the name suggests, therapy that features interactions with horses. Unlike therapeutic horseback riding, a licensed mental health professional facilitates EFP group sessions, and, in many cases, no horseback riding is involved. EFP instead focuses on caring for and working with horses to achieve goals similar to those of traditional psychotherapy.”
“The current article describes a promising EFP model for this population called Equine Facilitated Therapy for Complex Trauma (EFT-CT). EFT-CT embeds EFP practices within Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC), an extant evidence-based complex trauma treatment framework for children and adolescents.’”
“Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) has emerged as a promising, evidence-based intervention for the treatment of trauma and stressor-related disorders. This experiential therapy offers an option for clients whose traumatic experiences render traditional talk therapies ineffective. Initial research on the most robust model of EAP, developed by the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA), indicates strong, positive effects for children, adolescents and adults who have experienced trauma.”
“This article describes a unique, innovative, and effective method of psychotherapy using horses to aid in the therapeutic process (Equine-facilitated Psychotherapy or EFP). The remarkable elements of the horse – power, grace, vulnerability, and a willingness to bear another – combine to form a fertile stage for psychotherapeutic exploration.”
“Literature on effects of equine therapy in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has grown in recent times. Equine therapy is an alternative multimodal intervention that involves utilizing a horse to remediate core impairments in ASD.”
“Equine-assisted therapy has become an increasingly popular complementary mental health treatment … In particular, equine facilitated psychotherapy has many potential benefits for the treatment of trauma in youth.“
