Animal Assisted Therapy (including Equine Assisted Counseling)
Providing Animal Assisted Therapy to abused children: This entails equine assisted therapy with our horses and therapy with our therapy dog
-The importance and value of animal assisted counseling have received renewed attention during the last decade. Our therapy dog, Chelsea has been included in many therapy sessions with vulnerable children and the results were astonishing. Animals reach out to children and make them feel comfortable enough to disclose information Our therapy horses, Nemo and Spirit are both rescue horses. Equine Assisted Therapy
Equine Assisted Therapy:
| General information |
“What is “Equine-assisted therapy/activity”
Therapeutic horseback riding (also known as equine-assisted activity or adaptive riding) is used to teach riding skills to people with disabilities. Therapeutic riding is beneficial for children and adults who present with any of a wide range of cognitive, physical, and emotional conditions. However, working with horses can provide more than just riding skills – participants can also learn companionship, responsibility, confidence, leadership, vocational and educational skills A student who interacts with his or her horse may extend this interaction to others and form meaningful relationships with people. Building a relationship with an animal is very rewarding in many respects; for a person with an emotional, social or psychological disability, the trust and loyalty of an animal demonstrates to the student how important he or she is; they may then apply this newly-acquired self-esteem to personal relationships. A horse may also help a person feel in control of his or her situation, since in dealing with horses there is a direct relationship between action and reaction. To learn how to care for (and ride) a horse, a student must also be able to communicate effectively with both horse and instructor. In this way riding is a social activity, but may be less daunting to those uncomfortable in social situations. Riding a horse is also a unique experience and it helps empower a person and enable them to connect with others on a personal level. The sometimes-unpredictable nature of animals and situations also creates a real-life environment in which a student can confront his or her fears, and adjust to situations beyond their control. |
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| Mission |
Outputs to be achieved:
Result in children being able to live normal lives by enhancing the child’s physical, behavioural and emotional health |