Why Eagala?
In two words: Strong outcomes. Equine assisted work often helps clients change and grow more effectively and quickly than traditional clinical and psycho-educational approaches. That’s because people typically learn best by doing. Life lessons take deeper root when individuals both understand them in their heads and experience them in their bodies. Working with horses is engaging, real time and hands-on. The experience is immediate and fully felt. Research shows horses add a compelling dimension to the clinical experience. They serve as powerful living metaphors and stand-ins for the challenges and opportunities clients face in their lives. A client who has trouble managing anger, for example, can only learn so much by talking about it out of context in a therapist’s office. Progress can be slow and results hard to sustain. But when the client has the opportunity to practice new coping skills with 2,000 pound herd animals whose survival depends on their ability to read and react to the inner turmoil of those around them, experience leads to change because the process is real, practical and sustainable. In the right professional hands, using a proven professional model, horses have the power to help clients practice new ways of engaging with the world without judgment or shame. |
What Can Horses Help With?
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What is EAP?
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Anger Management
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Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) incorporates horses experientially for mental and behavioral health therapy and personal development. It is a collaborative effort between a licensed therapist and a horse professional working with the clients and horses to address treatment goals. Because of its intensity and effectiveness, it is considered a short-term, or "brief" approach.
EAP is experiential in nature. This means that participants learn about themselves and others by participating in activities with the horses, and then processing (or discussing) feelings, behaviors, and patterns. This approach has been compared to the ropes courses used by therapists, treatment facilities, and human development courses around the world. But EAP has the added advantage of utilizing horses, dynamic and powerful living beings. Not all programs or individuals who use horses practice Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. For one, licensed (in the U.S.) and properly qualified (outside the U.S.) mental health professionals need to be involved. The focus of EAP is not riding or horsemanship. The focus of EAP involves setting up ground activities involving the horses which will require the client or group to apply certain skills. Non-verbal communication, assertiveness, creative thinking and problem-solving, leadership, work, taking responsibility, teamwork and relationships, confidence, and attitude are several examples of the tools utilized and developed by EAP. EAP is a powerful and effective therapeutic approach that has an incredible impact on individuals, youth, famlies, and groups. EAP addresses a variety of mental health and human development needs including behavioral issues, attention deficit disorder, PTSD, substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, relationship problems and communication needs. |