What is Equine Assisted Therapy?
Equine-assisted psychotherapy is available to both adults and children, generally those over the age of 6. It has been theorized to treat a number of conditions, including ADHD, addiction, autism, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. It may also be recommended to help address common life challenges such as grief or low self-esteem. For most of the targeted conditions, few high-quality studies in favor of equine therapy exist, and many researchers caution that more research is needed to determine equine therapy’s efficacy against specific mental health conditions; however, anecdotal evidence suggests that many patients find the practice beneficial.
What are the benefits of Equine Assisted Therapy?
Equine therapy has benefits for children, adolescents, and adults! These benefits include creating an environment that is healing through the human-animal team. Other benefits include increased human social interactions, reduced stress, reduced anxiety, increased resilience, and increased awareness about empathy, confidence, and skill mastery. It can be challenging to open up about challenging topics so equine assisted therapy provides a more relaxed environment that facilitates trust and builds therapeutic relationships
How does it work?
Equine-assisted therapy is a therapeutic approach where the client can engage in basic caregiving activities while the therapist is present. Some of these activities include grooming the horse, feeding the horse, and leading it around the enclosure. Riding the horse is not the component of the services provided by Three Oaks Counseling Group. Following an equine assisted therapy session, the therapist will debrief with the client and discuss what occurred, what was learned , and what behaviors to target for the next session with the horse.
How much does it cost? This service is covered by insurance but does require a $10 facility payment per session. Contact our scheduling team at scheduling@threeoakstexas.com for additional information and to set up an intake appointment.
