...Equine Assisted Therapy By: Ashley M. Lorenc An ancient Greek sage once said, "The outside of a horse is the best thing for the inside of man." Hippocrates echoed that sentiment when he spoke of "ride rhythm" (Bliss). I have found there is an unspoken magic that horses posses when it comes to healing human beings. This experience is something that could never be taught or reached in a “talk” therapy session. The primary objective of Equine Assisted Therapy at Helping Hands Therapeutic Riding Center is rehabilitation, but it is also there to provide mental, physical, and social stimulation. The children love coming out to ride. It is amazing seeing an unresponsive child get on a horse and 45 minutes later have a totally different personality. Some of the children are more challenging to work with than others. Their attention spans can be short so keeping them focused and entertained can be difficult. One patient we had was a girl about age 12. While on the horse she would talk in song, in a soft tone. She loved being on the horse. When the therapist would tell her left and right she would start to respond and move the reigns. Every child has their own personalities and their own needs. Each child is matched with a horse depending on those needs. This takes great patience for all the participants. Safety is essential. That is why I am there. I volunteer to walk next to the horse, to control the horse, and to monitor the rider through the lesson. The therapist...
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...Equine Therapy November 2014 Equine assisted therapy is a means to promote personal, physical, emotional, and mental growth in a child that is otherwise therapy resistant. In an Autistic child who is non-verbal, has poor social skills, and is inflexible with routines and schedules, Equine assisted therapy is a big step towards personal growth. When a child participates in Equine therapy they learn a sense of responsibility by learning how to properly care for and clean up after the horses. They develop a sense of belonging, of feeling like they finally fit in somewhere because they are constantly surrounded by the same people, who don't make fun of them, and are in a way just like them. Gradually and continuously participating in this type of therapy gives a child a humongous self-esteem boost because once they are able to conquer the ability to control an animal that is ten times their size, in their mind they are able to conquer and overcome anything that's thrown in front of them. It has been proven that when a child who is autistic or has disabilities engages in Equine assisted therapy, their communication, overall physical and behavioral skills increase dramatically. For example, for a child who has physical disabilities, riding a horse tremendously improves balance, coordination, sensory motor skills and posture. "Being on the horse has improved her sense of balance tremendously. At one time she had to think about sitting up, and if she relaxed she would begin to...
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...Why are therapy horses the best? Therapy horses help people with all types of autism and other disabilities. Like stated in the article from, “Everyday Health” there is something called hippo-therapy which utilizes the movement of horses for physical, occupational, or speech therapy, and this has been used to treat motor and sensory issues associated with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and stroke. Even though horses have been used for physical therapy since the fifth century, the hippo-therapy wasn’t established until the 1960s. But, there are many more ways therapy horses are the best this is through a system called equine-assisted psychotherapy. Equine-assisted psychotherapy is a type of experiential psychotherapy that uses them to help...
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...Equine Assisted Psychotherapy The Benefits of Horses in Non-Traditional Therapy In the last few decades Animal-Assisted Therapy, or (AAT) has become more widely accepted and practiced as a tool in psychiatric medicine, as there are many positive effects on humans. One of the most beneficial subdivisions of Animal-Assisted Therapy is Equine Assisted Psychotherapy or (EAP) where patients are paired up with licensed therapists and equine specialists to conduct individual therapy sessions using the horse. Patients who use Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy learn about themselves, and process behaviors, feelings and patterns. Many EAP programs chose to pair patients with horses who always display similar personalities to help create a better mutual...
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...Equine Facilitated Therapies: They Just Work Animal assisted therapies (AAT) such as, horse therapies, have grown in popularity over the last couple of decades because people are beginning to realize exactly what horses can offer. Horses are not just here to be used for recreation, or just as "pasture pals," they have other significant qualities that many people in the past and present have disregarded. It has been eluded to that the practice of horse therapy originated from ancient Greece (Cameron and Robey 1) though, there is no conclusive evidence of this. However, some of histories important people such as Mark Twain recognized horses as a therapeutic tool by suggesting "the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man." Although...
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...social awareness and clumsiness. In the past and continuing present, typical treatments for ASD primarily focus on improvement and behavior modification. While medication is prescribed to control severe symptoms such as hyperactivity or seizures, there are no known cures for autism. (Therapeutic) There are only methods aimed towards lessening symptoms. However, research into a fairly new treatment called equine assisted therapy, is beginning to show signs of promise. Equine assisted therapy is a type of animal assisted therapy, a field of mental health that acknowledges the bond between horses and humans. It acknowledges the potential for mental healing that can occur when a relationship is formed between the two species, among other benefits as well (Therapeutic). It involves equine activities organized and facilitated by a licensed mental health professional, often with the assistance of a horse professional. These activities are most often completed on the ground and include such things as grooming, feeding, haltering and leading the horse. During the therapy session with the horse, the therapist and participant partake in talk psychotherapy, processing emotions, behaviors and repetitions. The fundamental objective for the child is to build skills including personal accountability, assertiveness, non-verbal communication, confidence, and self-control (ET) With more studies arising, there has been...
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...Experiential therapy sprang from the humanistic-existentialist movement that began in the 1960’s, with roots in Gestalt therapy, psychodrama, and encounter groups (Nichols, 2013). The two key figures in experiential therapy were Carl Whitaker and Virginia Satir. Whittaker was a pioneer in family psychotherapy, his approach advocated families to be themselves, and is/was based on intuition (Robinson, Tigner, & Porta, 2015). Virginia Satir focused on individual self-expression and communication, and believed that family problems were directly related to emotional suppression and the denial of impulses (Robinson, Tigner, & Porta, 2015). Experiential therapy is a departure from traditional talk therapy, in that it relies heavily on physical action...
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...Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a common neurologic disease of horses in the Americas; it has been reported in most of the contiguous 48 states of the USA, southern Canada, Mexico, and several countries in Central and South America. In other countries, EPM is seen sporadically in horses that previously have spent time in the Americas. Etiology and Epidemiology Most cases of EPM are caused by an Apicomplexan protozoan, Sarcocystis neurona. Horses are infected by ingestion of S neurona sporocysts in contaminated feed or water. The organism undergoes early asexual multiplication (schizogony) in extraneural tissues before parasitizing the CNS. Because infectious sarcocysts are only rarely formed, the horse is considered an aberrant, dead-end host for S neurona. Like other Sarcocystis spp, S neurona has an obligate predator-prey life cycle. The definitive (predator) host for S neurona in the USA is the opossum (Didelphis virginiana). Opossums are infected by eating sarcocyst-containing muscle tissue from an infected intermediate (prey) host and, after a brief prepatent period (probably 2–4 wk), infectious sporocysts are passed in the feces. Nine-banded armadillos, striped skunks, raccoons, sea otters, Pacific harbor seals, and domestic cats have all been implicated as intermediate hosts; however, the importance in nature of each of these species is unknown. Sporadic cases of EPM are associated with Neospora hughesi, an organism closely related to S neurona. The natural...
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...Clients for Specific Clinicians The relationship between the clinician and the client is a crutial aspect for the therapeutic outcome. Having a connection between the client and therapist can have many determining factors that lead to a positive evaluation and outcome of the therapy. There are many components and attributes a therapist must be aware of and contain to have a good helping relationship with their client. A client wants to have a positive experience when receiving help and if there is no relationship or positive understanding between each the outcome could be negative or the client could stop therapy early. The concept that was thought of in the early 1900’s to profile clients and match them with a clinician that would possibly have a more successful outcome with therapy should be used in a lot of therapeutic helping relationships, and goes along with the importance of having a good clinician-client relationship. Being able to profile a client to find out which therapist would be a good fit for them, would help the initial alliance between the therapist and client. A client’s relationship with their therapist is very important in helping have a positive outcome at the end of therapy. According to the article “Relationships Among Client-Therapist Personality Congruence, Working Alliance, and Therapeutic Outcome” both client and therapist have their own ways of thinking, morals, behaving, and other characteristics that will influence how they relate to each...
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...Section 11: Regulations of the Student Course Handbook, pp. 78-81). 1st Marker 2nd Marker Agreed Mark 1st Marker 2nd Marker Agreed Mark Student Declaration: "I declare that the work submitted is my own" Section C Tutor’s Comments A qualitative analysis of Carl Rogers famous interview with Gloria, encountering the basic principles of the client centered approach. Abstract This paper is a qualitative analysis of the famous Carl Rogers interview with Gloria filmed in 1964 in the United States of America. The basic concepts of the client centered theory and therapy will also be encountered in addition to an evaluation of the necessity and importance of the core conditions in the counseling process. Introduction Person centered theory is regarded as one of the most influential theories of counseling and therapy since its development in the 1940s. With the development of the person centered theory its originator Carl Rogers revolutionized the field of psychotherapy. He believed that people are capable of solving their own problems when the right conditions...
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...This demeaning and hostile environment was initially created by direct face to face interactions, personal written notes and the manager of the rehabilitation hospital. After nearly 4 years of abuse the co-worker resigned from the position and the abusive co-workers remained at the job despite various reports sent to the manager about the abuse. B. The assistant of the rehabilitation hospital was in charge of the day to day flow/duties of patient care within the hospital. The day to day flow/ duties consisted of tasks such as: preparing wheelchairs for patients (pts.), putting equipment away, organizing recreational activities for pts., filing various documents on pts. and assisting pts. with various dressing routines in preparation for therapy. Initially, during the first year of being on the job, the assistant was well received by the therapists and commended on several occasions for her willingness to help anyone with anything and for doing an exceptional job at completing her day to day duties. Then a big turnover happened within the hospital in which all the therapists from the assistant’s first year were replaced by all newly graduated therapists. This major turnover also brought about a change within the “thought process” of management. Several of the newly graduates never worked in a hospital setting and began to fall behind with scheduling and accurately treating patients. The manager called a meeting in which she directly informed...
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...to quit smoking. It should explain how the methods work and what former smokers that have used those techniques experienced with them. The classical means of smoking cessation are medical treatments. They vary from laser therapy to drugs that substitute Nicotine and other ingredients of cigarettes. The psychological approaches to quit smoking have gained more popularity in the last few years. Especially hypnosis is often considered as a very effective method to overcome smoking. Also acupuncture can be seen as a psychological approach since it affects the mind and not the body. In comparison to medical approaches, hypnosis and acupuncture cannot impact the body. It can also be cheaper than a laser therapy for example. However, not every individual is receptive for hypnosis and acupuncture. This makes the medical methods more reliable. The central issue is, that every smoker who wants to overcome his addiction should try different methods, both psychological and medical. My thesis is, that the most effective way for smoking cessation is a combined therapy of psychological and medical treatment. Further Examination & Discussion The main issue about smoking cessation aided by hypnosis is the fact that not every patient is receptive for this therapy. As H. Sutcher (2008) states, there are several stages of...
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...Counseling of Counseling or Psychotherapy Introduction This application paper will discuss my personal theory of counseling or psychotherapy in a number of different areas. Specifically, I will discuss the seven areas of interest. First, I will discuss and describe my basic view of human nature, Second, I will determine key factors that account for changes in behavior. Third, I will describe the nature of the therapist client relationship and its importance. Fourth, I will describe key functions and role of the therapist. Fifth, I will discuss the goals of therapy. Sixth, I will determine the techniques and theories of my approach. Seventh, I will discuss specific client issues best suited for my approach. (Walden University, 2012). In this paper I plan to describe and explain my own personal model for counseling. My personal model of counseling uses Gestalt Therapy, Person Centered Therapy, Existential Therapy and Adlerian Therapy which I think complement one another well My Basic View of Human Nature My basic view of human nature is a combination of Person -Centered, Gestalt and Existential theories of counseling (Corey, 2013a). I believe that we are all searching for what it means to be human. I also believe that people are both the product and the process of their choices that are influenced by thoughts and emotions. Self-awareness in the individual leads to greater freedom in the...
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...and feeling worthless. Depression, among other psychological issues, can be treated with such orientations such as psychodynamic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and biomedical therapies. Psychodynamic therapy suggests that one’s behavior and feelings are affected by their unconscious motives. It also suggests that one’s problems may be a result of unconscious conflicts leftover from childhood. The treatment corresponding with psychodynamic therapy includes the recovery of these unconscious conflicts through free association. This is where one will express thoughts exactly as they come without thinking. Another technique is dream analysis where a therapist can uncover the unconscious through interpreting the symbolic meaning of a client’s dreams. Transference is another technique used in which has proven to be successful because a client can reenact crucial relationships in a therapeutic environment which can bring out suppressed feelings of conflict so that they may be dealt with. Cognitive therapy’s suggests that a person can develop certain issues though how they perceive everything around them, especially if a person is habitually negative in their way of thinking. This form of treatment blends verbal and behavioral interventions. The main goal of cognitive therapy is to change negative thoughts and maladaptive beliefs. Biomedical therapy suggests that one’s behavior can be caused by biological factors such as genes and hormones. The two main forms of treatment...
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...Rogers emphasized the therapeutic relationship in positive terms. He was one of the first psychologists to talk about optimal mental health. He engaged clients with a sincere appreciation of their own expertise in themselves. Less of an "expert" he was more a co-facilitator in clients' own therapeutic journey. The fundamental belief with this therapy is that the client wil eventually reconnect with their inner potential and do what they feel is ultimately comfortable for themselves. Rogers here is allowing her to find her own answers as thats the whole point really, he has total faith in her that she is self empowered in this way and that she has the ability to find the answers that are already inside of her as a mother. Rogers is not the expert on this, she is , so he wont answer. Rogers believed that we all have the resources within ourselves to sort our own issues. Rogers develops this theory through open questions and summaries, whilst maintaining an empathetic understanding of any decision she could make. He does not advise, but works with her own desires, to counsel. The transition that Gloria takes from having concerns with `lying`to her daughter to realizing that her daughter is not an issue here, rather it is her own self-acceptance that is judgemental of what she does with her love life. Roger's theory goes to the core of who we are as human beings - afterall we are social animals. A therapist guides in a non-directive way: This means there's a...
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