What is Equine Facilitated Counselling and Therapy
Equine Facilitated Therapy/Counselling is an experiential form of counselling and offers a very different approach to traditional talking methods. People who take part in EFT work in partnership with a horse to complete various tasks. Tasks might include observing and interacting with herd behaviour, grooming, leading and boundary exercises and overcoming obstacles together.
Horses are naturally observant, empathetic and non-judgemental which can make it easier to to explore difficult thoughts, feelings and experiences in their presence. A skilled therapist will work with a client-horse partnership to observe and share changes in behaviours which can open up a meaningful conversation leading to therapeutic change.
Horses are herd animals and will actively seek a connection with other beings in their environment. By building a relationship based on trust and respect with a horse, clients can work safely through attachment and trauma issues.
Horses are flight animals and we therefore take a mindful approach to working with them. By learning to stay in the present clients can build a growing awareness of their emotions and how this directly influences a horses behaviour. This is the first step in developing emotional regulation which continues beyond the sessions.In addition to these internal characteristics, horses are large, sentient creatures with their own thoughts, feelings and opinions. Developing knowledge and building confidence in working with horses can help develop clients self esteem, value and worth.
We use horses to work with people of all ages, backgrounds and (abilities); there is absolutely no need to have had experience around horses before coming to see us. Equine Facilitated Therapy/Counselling can be useful in supporting people with:
Confidence and self esteem development
Stress Management
Anxiety
Low mood and depression
Trauma
Family relationships and conflicts
Attachment issues
Autism and communication
We work with people on a one to one basis as well as groups and families. All of the work we do is individually tailored and we will always try to accommodate everyone’s needs. We meet clients through our links with social prescribers, GP’s, schools and alternative education providers, Community centres and groups as well as people getting in touch with us directly. Find out how to get in touch with us on our ‘Contact’ page.