What is Equine Assisted Personal Development?
Equine Assisted Personal Development is a joint effort between a licensed therapist and equine behavior specialist - AND a horse. The focus in on learning new human skills - not horse skills - and in fact, 90% of it takes place on the ground.
We give you the opportunity to experience your issues first hand by using the horse as part of our treatment team. Tina, the Equine Behavior Specialist, watches and identifies the interaction between the individual or group with the horse(s), while Maryann, the Licensed Professional Therapist, watches the individual's or group's behavior patterns, thus providing us with clues as to how they are thinking and/or feeling. You may be able to hide your emotions from others, but horses are extremely perceptive. What you may not be saying verbally, your body is communicating non-verbally. That is why the horse is so vital. The horses' acute awareness allows you to recognize any discrepancy between your words and your actions, and they will reflect this back through their own behavior.
In that way horses are experts at providing immediate and honest feedback about your true emotions, thoughts and behavior patterns. They let you know what is working for you AND what is working against you, and you can instantly see the outcomes of the choices you make by how the horse responds to you.
And then it's up to you to decide if you want to keep doing the same thing that doesn't work, or to do something different. If you're ready to change, we provide an opportunity for you to discover your own solutions, and help you identify and strengthen the resources you already have.
So come and discover how horses can empower you to make a difference in your personal and professional life.
So who would this be good for?
ANYONE!
First of all, you don't have to know a thing about horses. Equine Assisted Personal Development is not about teaching you to ride or about learning horsemanship - so experience with horses is not required.
So whether you want to learn how to face your fears, to trust others, have a happier marriage, get along better with your kids, stop feeling so frustrated as a parent, have more self-confidence, stop feeling depressed or anxious, learn to improve your communication or stop being so controlling - this is for you!
How is this different from traditional therapy?
Equine Assisted Personal Development is a form of experiential therapy and is different than traditional "talk therapy" in that participants learn by doing. You've heard the saying that "actions speak louder than words" - well that is how this program works. You are given the opportunity to create change "in the moment" by practicing and integrating new ways of being. And you get immediate and honest feedback from a living, breathing partner - the horse. All of this together helps to hasten the discovery and healing of your own personal issues.
