Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and friends

Human animal interactions (Hai) have shown to have different positive effects in a variety of areas among individuals with mental health challenges.  "Some of those positive effects include, but are not limited to: reducing stress reactions, anxiety, depression, aggression, motivation, concentration, increased self-esteem, sense of responsibility, as well as helping children and adolescents overcome social, emotional, and relational difficulties and improve behavioral measures" (Harvey et al., 2020).  Animal-Assisted and Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (AAP) may be carried out in the context of various theroetical frameworks integrating animals into the therapeutic setting. "The integration of the animal brings up projections and emotions through its authenticity and aliveness" (Kovács et al., 2022).  

When patients are invited to work with animals in therapy,

patients are helped to be in the here and now, which provides for calm states in the limbic

system necessary to foster left-right brain connections, connecting causal explanations to

emotional and sensory experiences. Horses (as well as dogs) are considered to

be capable in recognizing human facial expressions, providing for an extra characteristic to

form an interspecies relation. In contrast to dogs, horses will not express an unrelenting

enthusiasm and affection. Horses show more autonomy (whereas dogs

appear to be more symbolic, which may appeal to the mentalization skills of the

patient when engaging with a horse. (Kovács et al., 2022). 

 Harvey, C., Jedlicka, H., & Martinez, S. (2020). A Program  Evaluation: Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy Outcomes for Children and  Adolescents. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 37(6), 665–675. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-020-00705-0 

 Kovács, G., van Dijke, A., Leontjevas, R., & Enders-Slegers, M.-J.  (2022). The Relevance of Internal Working Models of Self and Others for  Equine-Assisted Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(17). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710803