Our Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is meant to be a short-term collaborative tool for emotional growth and learning for children ages 4-18 and their adult caregivers who live in or near Doņa Ana County, New Mexico.
Programs are tailored for individuals, families and/or groups addressing behavioral and social needs such as:
• conduct/behavioral concerns
• anxiety and/or depression issues
• grief and/or loss
• psycho/spiritual concerns
• substance abuse recovery
• male/female topics
• trauma/PTSD
• academic- or school-related issues
• assertiveness/empowerment
• couple/parent/family strength building
• various life transitions
EAP also targets improving parenting skills and family dynamics.
How it Works:By catching, haltering, grooming and participating in experiences with the horses, children and most adults learn by doing. How can they get a horse—sometimes with no halter, without touch, speech or bribery—to willingly do what they want? A child’s behaviors, thoughts and feelings are all reflected in the horse’s response.
Most sessions are conducted by a team composed of therapists, horse specialists, child/children/adults and horses.
Besides emphasis on experiential doing, help is given to children to process their experiences, with further opportunity outside the ring to help them reflect and gain insight into their behavior—their thoughts and feelings—and to uncover their own “aha” moments. Valuable skills which transfer directly to the human world.
Sessions are typically 1 to 1-1/2 hours long, once or twice a week for 3 months.
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