Equine Therapy

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The Meadows is one of the few Arizona treatment centers using Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) to assist clients in working toward healing and recovery. Demonstrating our commitment to holistic and innovative therapeutic tools, the equine therapy program supports the goals of both therapists and clients.

While in treatment, clients learn new ways of dealing with trauma, addictions, and relationships. These new skills are practiced, reinforced, and internalized in EAP. Working collaboratively with our trained equine specialists, equine therapists use interactions between clients and horses to promote awareness of the relationship patterns the clients exhibit with the people in their lives. This knowledge can help clients progress toward healing in all aspects of life.

Horses serve roles in their herds like humans do in their families; horses, however, are always honest communicators, providing unique and trusted responses. Reflecting the unspoken feelings being communicated around them, horses bring that awareness into their interactions with individuals and groups. Whether it is the communication of body language or powerful emotions, the horse becomes the teacher, and the client begins to see life lessons heretofore unrecognized.

When a client reaches an impasse blocking the next step in treatment, a horse can become a therapeutic tool. Because horses are predictable and honest in their behavior, clients quickly form bonds of trust with them. Clients learn to be predictable, trustworthy, and communicative, establishing an intimacy that can help achieve positive results in treatment.

The Meadows was among Arizona’s first treatment centers to embrace the use of horses, and the experiential nature of EAP appeals to our clients. They quickly see the program’s benefits, as they understand new insights and demonstrate new skills related to boundaries, communication, and consistency. They then can apply these insights and life skills to their human interactions, thereby developing appropriate intimacy with others. By bonding with horses, many clients learn to feel trust and connection. Clients who are reluctant to give up old patterns and ideas often begin to see how ineffective those patterns were, and they use their new skills to promote positive life changes.

Utilizing horses in conjunction with The Meadows’ unique, time-tested model, the EAP program plays a vital role in our holistic program of healing and growth. Following the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning (EAGALA) methodologies, both therapists and clients can reach new heights of awareness and growth. (Note: EAP is not geared toward improving horsemanship or riding ability. No horse experience is necessary, and trained equine professionals supervise the program.)

To learn more about this popular and effective program, contact the Meadows at .