A Counselor Specializing in Equine Assisted and Other Experimental Therapies in Findlay, OH

PROJECT HOPE Equine-Assisted Therapy

Equine-assisted therapy is effective for a wide range of mental health disorders including addiction, depression, anxiety, and trauma. The Ranch (Tennessee)’s unique equine assisted therapy program uses interaction with horses to offer clients a new way to connect with themselves, process their emotions, and explore behaviors and relationship patterns that have become problematic in their day-to-day lives.

Horses are majestic, gentle creatures and their sheer size and strength can stir deeply buried emotions in clients. Clients are able to bond with the animals and learn valuable lessons about respect, empathy, and communication that will help them in their recovery journey.

What It Is:

Clients interact with horses with the help of specially trained equine therapists. Through practices like bathing, grooming, and caring for the horses, clients can explore their own feelings, behaviors, and interactions with others.

Interactions with the horses bring up thought and behavior patterns that are related to the issues that have brought clients into treatment. We identify these patterns and customize experiential exercises to address each client’s individual needs.

How It Helps:

Through animal assisted therapy, clients gain valuable insights into themselves, their addictions and/or mental health disorders, and how they can better relate both with themselves and with others. Clients are often able to connect with and feel empathy for the horses before being able to connect with or feel empathy for themselves or others. They can test new possibilities by taking initial risks in the context of a relationship with another living being, before taking the bigger risks in the context of human interaction.

Why Horses?

At Project H.O.P.E. children are motivated to be in therapy because they connect with the animals, discuss their issues more openly, and we see quicker results. Equine therapy is experiential in nature. This type of therapy works because children are able to work through their anxieties, confidence issues, and abuse issues “hands-on” with the horses. For instance, horses teach them to gain control of challenging situations, respond appropriately and thereby further build their self-esteem, and increase assertiveness. These are things that would unlikely be seen in a traditional office setting. Using this approach, we have served over 5000 children and families in the past 12 years. Once the children learned the appropriate problem-solving skills working with the horses, they have shown the ability to expand what they have learned to other life situations.