[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
so what is equine assisted psychotherapy
do horses need therapy or is the people
while I’m going to start out by telling
you a story first of all Brian already
said that I’m a licensed professional
clinical counselor I’m in private
practice and I use my animals as part of
the healing process so I’m going to
share a little bit about what equine
assisted psychotherapy is and kind of
how it works and share some stories as
well so I was in an arena with my
co-facilitator
and our client was a young teenage girl
that had been experiencing a lot of
stuff anxiety depression kind of
oppositional behavior as well she grew
up in a family with domestic violence
and a lot of chaos as so many people do
and she was trying to work through her
stuff and we were just there holding
some space for her with the horses
so there were three horses in the arena
and the one on the right and the picture
was starting to get kind of aggressive
we were in the middle of the arena he
started chasing the Paint Horse and then
the other horse just went into a corner
and stood and faced the corner was
interesting my client said this is just
like home this is just like when my
parents were still together we stayed
there for a bit
I started escalating and I said you know
maybe we should go outside the arena so
we went outside the arena we observed
from out there and it continues to
escalate and this was odd behavior for
this horse and it was interesting and
she was able to explore more about what
she has had to go through right and what
it’s been like and we were able to talk
about coping skills and problem-solve
you know what can she do in the future
so that she doesn’t go back into herself
into a domestic violent relationship so
horses end up mirroring our whole human
emotions they kind of mirror release
dynamics and they offer a different
perspective into people’s lives so this
barrel you’re going what is the deal
with the barrel is the barrel is
actually real it’s a real prop that we
use in our sessions and I have a little
sign on here a prop it says real honest
and present my message for you today is
that horses are real honest and present
and they invite us to be the same way
the interactions and anything in that
space when somebody’s having a session
whether it’s an individual a family or
group anything is fair game
so the barrel has represented everything
from depression to anxiety to money
problems to goals successes fears you
name it for me
it yesterday it represented getting
ready for the TED talk and actually
getting up here to talk to you guys
about my my passion so I’m standing next
to my fear and I’m okay in fact I can
touch my fear and I’m going to be
alright so um being with the horses
allows people to explore things that are
intangible and it makes them more
tangible this picture kind of brings me
back to a time I grew up with horses I
was fortunate to live in the country and
in a family where horses were just part
of the family and I was able to observe
the body language and really get to know
them and over the years and graduate
from high school moved away did some
different things had some adventures and
I met a guy that swept me off my feet
mr. Prince Charming mr. Prince Charming
turned into dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde and
I realized while looking in the rearview
mirror I realize it was domestic
violence and I didn’t know what to do
and I felt isolated and alone and scared
and uncertain something about the horse
is
was tapping at me on the inside going
you can do this
slow down you’ve got this I had to face
my fears I had to it was a standoff
between me and domestic violence
me and my what I wanted to do with my
life so I remembered a time when I was
free when I was younger and I was happy
and I knew it was there but leaving was
hard that was a hard part because you
couldn’t just walk out I had to be
strategic about how I left so I left in
the middle of the day and said I was
going to get a few groceries and it
never went back so I went home actually
I went home to my family my friends and
the herd and I sought counseling I went
to the battered women’s shelter I said I
need help I need help I’m scared I had
to take a leave of absence from my job I
mean this is real stuff talk about
getting a real honest and present yeah
when you’re scared for your life you get
pretty well so the horses have actually
led me on a journey to the depths of my
soul and I’m realizing I can face more
fears I can handle more barrels or
obstacles in my life and the horses have
been real honest and present the whole
time
this horse lying down you know it takes
trust for a horse to lie down like that
after all their prey animals and their
survival depends upon their ability to
be on their feet think on their feet and
be ready to move at the drop of a hat or
a flutter of a leaf I had to let my
guard down and become vulnerable in
order to heal and that’s what I needed
was space and time to heal and I think
that’s where most of the learning and
growth happened for me was when I was
struggling the most sometimes that’s
when we don’t even realize it
so the eye is a window to the soul so I
began to set my sights toward the future
I went back to school and I finished my
degree I said Who I was talking to my
mom I said I don’t know what to get a
degree in mom she goes well what are you
interested in I said kind of interested
in psychology well then do that I’m like
oh okay I’ll do that
so I did that and met a really nice guy
and ended up marrying him and started a
family and then um you know life takes
over and you’re busy and I don’t know
2009 came along and I realized that
something was kind of tapping me on the
shoulder going you need to do something
with those horses Liz there’s just
something that you need to find your
path your your mission and I came across
equine assisted psychotherapy and I hmm
this is interesting went to a training
grabbed a friend brought her log I was
hooked I was like wow this is
fascinating so I decided to go back to
school again
for my master’s degree and that was
interesting to talk about feeling
vulnerable older than average students
I’m thinking you know all these negative
irrational thoughts are going can you do
it
are you worth it all that good stuff but
I just had this this little seed of an
idea inside of me I thought I can do
this so once again those horses were
helping me get real honest and present
so here’s the horse herd or part of it
we have more than this but just like
humans have their unique challenges
strengths and you know humans and horses
all have their stories they are
definitely present as clients or they’re
working through their heavy emotions and
it may be anxiety depression grief
whatever it is they’re they’re usually
they’re not running like this though
usually they’re just kind of standing
there but they reflect our what’s going
on with us and they they give us instant
feedback
and here’s the human team so we started
out with two people in 2009 and now we
have we have at least 10 people and we
are working with people of all ages and
all walks of life dealing with all kinds
of different issues and it I love it
it’s awesome I’m grateful to be able to
do this work and so it’s awesome to be
standing here on the red dot so again we
hope we just try to hold a safe space
for people to explore whatever comes up
okay you know for instance let me set
down that for a minute
this brush actually is one of those
things that hold space in a really great
way for people as they’re brushing a
horse or even just you know standing
next to a horse like my sister is and
soothing the horse there’s something
about that about that connection you
know they’re able to really get to the
heart of what’s happening inside and
we’re there with them sharing their
story and just waiting for whatever
comes up and it’s in that space that
really good things happen so my sisters
and I we did a role play actually we’re
doing like a photo shoot and so this is
a picture of us and I thought you know
we’ll just take get somebody take some
pictures you know what stuff came up for
us to yeah I’m the youngest of us
sisters and that’s me in the back and
you know my older sisters were in the
front and that’s just kind of how it’s
always been and it’s cool we laughed and
I think maybe somebody might have cried
maybe me
[Laughter]
so another story cuz I’m running out of
time now this we had a client that was
working on staying sober she was in an
inpatient treatment facility and came to
see us once a week for therapy and we
did this session where I forgot to bring
it but we had a little feed pan we put
grain in it and that represented her
vulnerability
their vulnerabilities well she said my
biggest vulnerability was just staying
sober her sobriety so we put the
sobriety out in the arena and she had
these two horses to try to keep him away
from and those horses represented her
problems which were her addiction in her
relationship with her father it didn’t
go well at first because the horses went
you know they wanted the green right and
she like took off she was out of there
and we’re just you know holding a space
my equine specials tonight and then um
another time we tried it again she took
off again she goes this is what I always
do I run away I run away when my dad
comes around he just I just go back to
using is it trigger and did we just
heard the whole story was awesome so
just checked in again with her and the
third time she came up with something
she said well she did it she didn’t even
say it she did it she picked up her
sobriety and you see it she’s like I got
this and we have permission by the way
to tell the story and use the picture
and she was able to keep her addiction
and her father away and so yeah talk
about making something tangible more
tangible so I’m curious what you might
see in this picture in the world of
psychology it’s critical to demonstrate
the therapy models such as equine
assisted psychotherapy are shown to be
validated and reliable and there are
critics out there who might say does
this really work and we get it in fact
we need more research and so we have
we’re taking efforts to take care of
that and work on that problem we’ve
created the human animal interaction
scale and also a metaphor record and
these are tools that our clients
actually use they fill them out and it
gives them feedback as to what’s
happening in the sessions and it gives
us feedback so that we can in turn give
that to funders
and you know other stakeholders that
might be interested in using equine
assisted psychotherapy so in closing
again horses are real honest and present
and if we can look to them as models of
behavior we too can be more real honest
and present and when we are real honest
and present we can become the best
version of ourselves thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
so what is equine assisted psychotherapy
do horses need therapy or is the people
while I’m going to start out by telling
you a story first of all Brian already
said that I’m a licensed professional
clinical counselor I’m in private
practice and I use my animals as part of
the healing process so I’m going to
share a little bit about what equine
assisted psychotherapy is and kind of
how it works and share some stories as
well so I was in an arena with my
co-facilitator
and our client was a young teenage girl
that had been experiencing a lot of
stuff anxiety depression kind of
oppositional behavior as well she grew
up in a family with domestic violence
and a lot of chaos as so many people do
and she was trying to work through her
stuff and we were just there holding
some space for her with the horses
so there were three horses in the arena
and the one on the right and the picture
was starting to get kind of aggressive
we were in the middle of the arena he
started chasing the Paint Horse and then
the other horse just went into a corner
and stood and faced the corner was
interesting my client said this is just
like home this is just like when my
parents were still together we stayed
there for a bit
I started escalating and I said you know
maybe we should go outside the arena so
we went outside the arena we observed
from out there and it continues to
escalate and this was odd behavior for
this horse and it was interesting and
she was able to explore more about what
she has had to go through right and what
it’s been like and we were able to talk
about coping skills and problem-solve
you know what can she do in the future
so that she doesn’t go back into herself
into a domestic violent relationship so
horses end up mirroring our whole human
emotions they kind of mirror release
dynamics and they offer a different
perspective into people’s lives so this
barrel you’re going what is the deal
with the barrel is the barrel is
actually real it’s a real prop that we
use in our sessions and I have a little
sign on here a prop it says real honest
and present my message for you today is
that horses are real honest and present
and they invite us to be the same way
the interactions and anything in that
space when somebody’s having a session
whether it’s an individual a family or
group anything is fair game
so the barrel has represented everything
from depression to anxiety to money
problems to goals successes fears you
name it for me
it yesterday it represented getting
ready for the TED talk and actually
getting up here to talk to you guys
about my my passion so I’m standing next
to my fear and I’m okay in fact I can
touch my fear and I’m going to be
alright so um being with the horses
allows people to explore things that are
intangible and it makes them more
tangible this picture kind of brings me
back to a time I grew up with horses I
was fortunate to live in the country and
in a family where horses were just part
of the family and I was able to observe
the body language and really get to know
them and over the years and graduate
from high school moved away did some
different things had some adventures and
I met a guy that swept me off my feet
mr. Prince Charming mr. Prince Charming
turned into dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde and
I realized while looking in the rearview
mirror I realize it was domestic
violence and I didn’t know what to do
and I felt isolated and alone and scared
and uncertain something about the horse
is
was tapping at me on the inside going
you can do this
slow down you’ve got this I had to face
my fears I had to it was a standoff
between me and domestic violence
me and my what I wanted to do with my
life so I remembered a time when I was
free when I was younger and I was happy
and I knew it was there but leaving was
hard that was a hard part because you
couldn’t just walk out I had to be
strategic about how I left so I left in
the middle of the day and said I was
going to get a few groceries and it
never went back so I went home actually
I went home to my family my friends and
the herd and I sought counseling I went
to the battered women’s shelter I said I
need help I need help I’m scared I had
to take a leave of absence from my job I
mean this is real stuff talk about
getting a real honest and present yeah
when you’re scared for your life you get
pretty well so the horses have actually
led me on a journey to the depths of my
soul and I’m realizing I can face more
fears I can handle more barrels or
obstacles in my life and the horses have
been real honest and present the whole
time
this horse lying down you know it takes
trust for a horse to lie down like that
after all their prey animals and their
survival depends upon their ability to
be on their feet think on their feet and
be ready to move at the drop of a hat or
a flutter of a leaf I had to let my
guard down and become vulnerable in
order to heal and that’s what I needed
was space and time to heal and I think
that’s where most of the learning and
growth happened for me was when I was
struggling the most sometimes that’s
when we don’t even realize it
so the eye is a window to the soul so I
began to set my sights toward the future
I went back to school and I finished my
degree I said Who I was talking to my
mom I said I don’t know what to get a
degree in mom she goes well what are you
interested in I said kind of interested
in psychology well then do that I’m like
oh okay I’ll do that
so I did that and met a really nice guy
and ended up marrying him and started a
family and then um you know life takes
over and you’re busy and I don’t know
2009 came along and I realized that
something was kind of tapping me on the
shoulder going you need to do something
with those horses Liz there’s just
something that you need to find your
path your your mission and I came across
equine assisted psychotherapy and I hmm
this is interesting went to a training
grabbed a friend brought her log I was
hooked I was like wow this is
fascinating so I decided to go back to
school again
for my master’s degree and that was
interesting to talk about feeling
vulnerable older than average students
I’m thinking you know all these negative
irrational thoughts are going can you do
it
are you worth it all that good stuff but
I just had this this little seed of an
idea inside of me I thought I can do
this so once again those horses were
helping me get real honest and present
so here’s the horse herd or part of it
we have more than this but just like
humans have their unique challenges
strengths and you know humans and horses
all have their stories they are
definitely present as clients or they’re
working through their heavy emotions and
it may be anxiety depression grief
whatever it is they’re they’re usually
they’re not running like this though
usually they’re just kind of standing
there but they reflect our what’s going
on with us and they they give us instant
feedback
and here’s the human team so we started
out with two people in 2009 and now we
have we have at least 10 people and we
are working with people of all ages and
all walks of life dealing with all kinds
of different issues and it I love it
it’s awesome I’m grateful to be able to
do this work and so it’s awesome to be
standing here on the red dot so again we
hope we just try to hold a safe space
for people to explore whatever comes up
okay you know for instance let me set
down that for a minute
this brush actually is one of those
things that hold space in a really great
way for people as they’re brushing a
horse or even just you know standing
next to a horse like my sister is and
soothing the horse there’s something
about that about that connection you
know they’re able to really get to the
heart of what’s happening inside and
we’re there with them sharing their
story and just waiting for whatever
comes up and it’s in that space that
really good things happen so my sisters
and I we did a role play actually we’re
doing like a photo shoot and so this is
a picture of us and I thought you know
we’ll just take get somebody take some
pictures you know what stuff came up for
us to yeah I’m the youngest of us
sisters and that’s me in the back and
you know my older sisters were in the
front and that’s just kind of how it’s
always been and it’s cool we laughed and
I think maybe somebody might have cried
maybe me
[Laughter]
so another story cuz I’m running out of
time now this we had a client that was
working on staying sober she was in an
inpatient treatment facility and came to
see us once a week for therapy and we
did this session where I forgot to bring
it but we had a little feed pan we put
grain in it and that represented her
vulnerability
their vulnerabilities well she said my
biggest vulnerability was just staying
sober her sobriety so we put the
sobriety out in the arena and she had
these two horses to try to keep him away
from and those horses represented her
problems which were her addiction in her
relationship with her father it didn’t
go well at first because the horses went
you know they wanted the green right and
she like took off she was out of there
and we’re just you know holding a space
my equine specials tonight and then um
another time we tried it again she took
off again she goes this is what I always
do I run away I run away when my dad
comes around he just I just go back to
using is it trigger and did we just
heard the whole story was awesome so
just checked in again with her and the
third time she came up with something
she said well she did it she didn’t even
say it she did it she picked up her
sobriety and you see it she’s like I got
this and we have permission by the way
to tell the story and use the picture
and she was able to keep her addiction
and her father away and so yeah talk
about making something tangible more
tangible so I’m curious what you might
see in this picture in the world of
psychology it’s critical to demonstrate
the therapy models such as equine
assisted psychotherapy are shown to be
validated and reliable and there are
critics out there who might say does
this really work and we get it in fact
we need more research and so we have
we’re taking efforts to take care of
that and work on that problem we’ve
created the human animal interaction
scale and also a metaphor record and
these are tools that our clients
actually use they fill them out and it
gives them feedback as to what’s
happening in the sessions and it gives
us feedback so that we can in turn give
that to funders
and you know other stakeholders that
might be interested in using equine
assisted psychotherapy so in closing
again horses are real honest and present
and if we can look to them as models of
behavior we too can be more real honest
and present and when we are real honest
and present we can become the best
version of ourselves thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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