Welcome to equine-psychotherapy.com. The goal of this website is to educate and provide information for those who may be interested in learning more about equine psychotherapy. Horses have been used for centuries to provide therapy in various ways. Animal assisted therapy using horses is a relatively new field of study and is emerging at a very rapid pace.
Any questions regarding the information provided on this website should be submitted via our contact form. If you are a equine therapy program, and would like to list your school on our equine programs page please contact us. With more programs turning to equine assisted therapy each day, one may wonder what unique experiences that horses offer that traditional therapy does not. Here are a few examples of the benefits of horse therapy.
Benefits of Equine Psychotherapy:
- Respect for self and others
- Improved communication and social skills
- Boundary setting
- Empathy towards others
- Self control and confidence
- Responsibility and accountability
- Problem solving and cooperation
- Honesty and trust
- Overcoming challenges in a non threatening atmosphere
Horses provide an excellent way for students to experience the open air. Equine therapy provides students with skills of patience, self-confidence, trust, and compassion. Horses typically weigh anywhere between 800-2500 pounds. Learning to trust such large and often intimidating animals requires patience, skill, and confidence. It is important to distinguish between horse riding and equine-psychotherapy.
Equine therapeutic treatment programs typically can be full residential programs, or have part time sessions. Several organizations exist which provide certification and validation of equine psychotherapy. Make sure that the program you are looking into has proper horse trainers, licensed therapist, and the actual program is licensed as a therapeutic horse assisted learning program. A short list of such organizations can be found here. If you have any questions regarding Equine Assisted Therapy programs please call our fill out our contact form. Thanks for stopping by!