Equine and Art Therapy

"The Quality of our emotions dictates the quality of our lives"
  
"The Best gift we can give ourselves and others is our Presence, this comes from awareness"

What is Equine Therapy?

Equine therapy is horse assisted therapy. It is an experiential therapy promoting physical, occupational and psychological health and growth. The horse, a highly sensed, non-judgemental, flight animal gives immediate feedback. It mirrors and responds to the way a client is feeling and helps the client gain insight and awareness around their thoughts and feelings. Assisted by the therapist the client learns to self-regulate. It is very effective for trauma victims, relieves PTSD symptoms, relationship conflict and fall outs, symptoms of anxiety, depression, helps with ADD, autism, cerebral palsy dementia, developmental delay, genetic syndromes ( Down Syndrome), traumatic brain injuries, helps with behavioural, abuse, boundary, self-esteem, communication, assertiveness, trust issues and self-regulation issues. (anger, frustration, moodiness, aggression)

"Horses carry the wisdom of healing in their hearts and offer it to any human who possess the humility to listen"

Why are horses crucial for this work and how does it work?

Horses are unique and manageable for this work. Thousands of years of domestication has not tamed their natural response to danger. Horses live in the present moment. They are pure awareness.They are flight animals who belong in a herd and depend on their own senses for their survival. When they sense danger they run. They need to feel safe. 

They have heightened awareness and hypervigilance picking up on the slightest change in energy or senses. Horses are acutely aware of changes in vibrations. They can detect your heart beat from four feet away. They match their heart beat to yours. If they detect any source of fear they will move away or react. They can pick up on anxiety, fear, anger, frustration, impatience, aggression, depression, illness, disease and other forms of energy. They have no judgement or preconceived thinking, understanding of time, it is only what is shown to them in the moment that is important. They are authentic in their immediate response. By responding and giving physical feedback the client can feel when they are relaxed and calm or not. The horse will mirror their body language and energy field for example with anxiety, if the energy is too high, the horse will panic, if the energy is too low like depression the horse will disengage. Angry, frustrated, impatient and aggressive energy are a threat to horse's survival. A horse will react not respond. 

Horses are masters of self-regulation and emotional intelligence. Self-regulation is to be aware and able to monitor, regulate and manage our emotional response. Emotional intelligence is awareness. Awareness of the environment, awareness of impact on others and awareness of self. The natural response for horses in the wild, is to pick up on predators approaching and be able to run quickly  to safety  from a stand still. After they have been chased by a lion they need to calm down to be able to eat grass peacefully. This way they do not carry stress and harm their bodies.They process the chemical response quickly.They must also need to know their surroundings environment, and be able to pick up on breezes and wind, changes in noises spaces, safe places to hide. This is to increase their rate of survival. Predators uses smell and take advantage of environmental factors to attack, like the way the wind is blowing and shrubs and trees as camouflage.This emotional intelligence brings about awareness of the environment, safety zones, awareness of our impact on others and self-awareness, being aware of our emotional responses and how they affect us. Horses can teach us this intuitively by their immediate feedback. 

By learning to monitor energy, thoughts and feelings the client can become aware of when they are present and engaged and feeling calm and learn to self-regulate by using breathing techniques and matching their inner feelings with their body language. A horse will detect when a person is calm and relaxed and congruent in their actions.The horse will feel safe. At this time they will respond in trust, connect and engage with the client. A bonding will occur. At this moment the client feels safe and feels the trust.This is an unforgettable moment for the client and delivers healing.

Art therapy

A creative expression used as a therapeutic technique to examine feeling and behaviours. By drawing, painting and other forms of art and the use of symbols and metaphors the client gains a deeper understanding of their feelings and behaviour. With the help of the therapist they can decode psychological and emotional undertones so they can move on to resolve deeper issues. This experiential approach is very effective for unravelling the unconscious thinking and bridging the gap in the mind and making change to move the client forward. Art therapy helps children, adolescents and adults explore their emotions to gain insight. It helps improve self-awareness, self esteem, manage addictions, relieve stress, relieves grief, relieves symptoms of anxiety and depression and helps people cope with disability and physical illness.

Why Art Therapy?

Rather than talking the creative process gives an opportunity for free self-expression. It provides a space for focus and losing yourself in flow of doing something enjoyable. It brings you into the present moment and allows for the right brain to be activated, something which is rare in our everyday life. It brings about awareness of feelings in a form which doesn't involve the speaking brain. It is an experiential process so creates a rewiring of the brain and unravelling of the unconscious thoughts and brings about heightened awareness.

"Healing is freedom. When we heal ourselves, we heal our relationships and our lives"


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   Testimonial

"I attended Sarah 's equine therapy workshops with anticipation. I was actually scared of horses yet I heard it was good for anxiety. It was at first intimidating for me being with such a big animal. I chose Sarah because she seems so calm and peaceful. I really liked her energy.

When I approached the horse I was shaky. I didn't know what to expect. As Sarah gently guided me, I realised pretty quickly when I was totally focused and engaged on what I was doing, I relaxed and the horse responded to me in such a beautiful unexplainable way. I could feel my body relax and I felt a deep sense of calm I haven’t experienced for a long time. It was really special. I felt so emotional. Something freed up in me. I will never forget how I felt. 
 
I now understand about how I can regulate my emotions and calm myself when I feel unsure or anxious. Horses do this really well because they have to survive in the wild. One minute they are being chased by predators then they need to be relaxed enough to eat and sleep. They have to calm down quickly. When I was calm the horse felt safe and I felt safe with the horse. Also I now feel more aware of my emotions and my triggers. Amazing! I have done a lot of counselling but it hasn’t helped as much as this did."

Anonymous