WHAT IS EQUINE FACILITATED SOMATIC THERAPY
Equine Facilitated Therapy is a type of therapy that combines somatic (body-centered) awareness with equine (horse-based) interaction. It is a type of experiential therapy that uses the power of connection and the relationship between horses and humans to help people heal and transform. The therapy involves the client engaging in gentle explorations in relationship to themselves and the horse(s), the natural world and their own felt experience.
MAIN EFT IDEAS
Equine Facilitated Therapy is experiential in nature, working with the horse(s) and therapist(s) to create new experiences of connection, attunement, regulation, embodied presence and well being. No horsemanship or riding skills or experience are necessary. Horses respond to and reflect our physiology – our nervous system states, our emotions – and our interpersonal patterns and ways of relating.
In responding to our underlying state rather than what we present to the world (or the mask we have created) they give us valuable feedback that opens us to a deeper possibility to experience ourselves more fully in relationship: to ourselves as well as to others.
Horses connect with us left brain to left brain, helping humans with little relational security or secure attachment experiences to experience connection and rewire their brain for more intimacy, security and better relational experiences and become more stable – both in themselves and in the world.
Horses are incredibly intuitive, attuned and generous in their presence and responsive to our conscious and unconscious inner worlds. Being prey animals they are sensitive and attuned to the energy, nervous system and intentions of those around them, being dependent upon this sensitivity and skill for their own survival and herd dynamics. They reflect and give us true feedback and responses to our inner state, reflecting unconscious processes that we bring into relationships and helping us organise and make sense of our inner world and relationships.
EFT can clients:
- Become more aware of their body and emotions and relational styles.
- Explore and benefit from co and self regulation.
- Benefit from the healing attunement between themselves and the horse(s) and develop a safe experience of right to right brain connection.
- Explore a wider experience of ‘self’ that includes others and their environment.
- Establish a deeper connection to Soul or Self that re-establishes a new order of priorities or values that elevates distress and creates change or direction where there is need.
- Gain insight into how their past, and their present moment responses impact their lives and interactions.
I have witnessed amazing and powerful shifts in clients, and also experienced beautiful transformations personally through this work. This is a relatively new field in western psychology, however the research conducted and the demonstrated effective and continued use of EFP by top Treatment Centres worldwide points to it’s efficacy and power.
General efficacy : “EAP has been found to be more effective than traditional interventions in enhancing self-esteem, trust, relationships, interpersonal effectiveness and overall feelings of well-being in clients. Further, “EFP has been found to significantly decrease psychological symptoms in individuals with trauma or abuse, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, or autism spectrum disorder”
(Brandt, 2013, p.24)http://www.lundehagen.no/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/11108-43021-1-PB.pdf
Efficacy with PTSD (adults) “State-of-the-art technology was used to look at changes in brain regions key to fear and emotional processing. Dr. Yuval Neria, who led the Columbia team with Dr. Prudence Fisher, said the MRI data showed remarkable results.”The results provide the first-of-its-kind proof that equine-assisted treatment may have not only clinical promise,” Neria said, “but also brain based changes that may increase a patient’s capacity to enjoy life despite facing traumas and war adversities, which makes this treatment so unique.”
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/246161/published-study-finds-equine-assisted-therapy-effective
Efficacy with PTSD (children and adolescents) : “In samples of child sexual abuse survivors, EFP was shown to reduce symptoms of depression (Signal et al. 2013), as well as posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and externalizing behavior problems (Kemp et al. 2014). Notably, Signal et al. (2013) emphasize that the effect sizes associated with reductions in internalizing symptoms found in their study are larger than those found in TF-CBT research. In addition, studies of youth with a PTSD diagnosis who underwent EFP evidenced reductions in PTSD symptomatology”.
(Naste TM, Price M, Karol J, Martin L, Murphy K, Miguel J, Spinazzola J. Equine Facilitated Therapy for Complex Trauma (EFT-CT). J Child Adolesc Trauma. 2018;11(3):289-303. doi: 10.1007/s40653-017-0187-3. Epub 2017 Aug 17. PMID: 30220956; PMCID: PMC6132374.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6132374/Professional Experience and Orientation.
For all Equine sessions horse knowledge or experience is not necessary as we work on the ground (rather than on horse back).
272 All. de Labarrére, 40700 Sainte-Colombe
If you are interested in working together, please feel free to reach out to book an initial meeting.
Contact details : 07.57.09.88.69 / eliseannmartin@gmail.com
Registered member of BACP: 00951759
SIRET: 83424073100036