Equine-facilitated body and emotion-oriented psychotherapy designed for adolescents and adults not responding to mainstream treatment: A structured program.

Abstract

Equine-facilitated body and emotion-oriented psychotherapy (EBEP) is a new manualbased treatment for patients with mental disorders who have participated in conventional psychotherapy in the past without a positive treatment outcome. The horse's high sensitivity and responsiveness to human body language is used as an aid for the patient to improve awareness of his or her emotions, bodily responses, and communication. During the program, the therapist helps the patient not only to be more aware of emotions, cognitions, bodily sensations, and behavior when interacting with the horse, but also to verbalize his or her experiences. Gradually, the patient demonstrates more consistent behavior; improves nonverbal and verbal communication skills, becomes more self-confident and assertive with increased problem-solving skills, and functions better with fewer mentally distressing symptoms. In this paper, we describe the content and the different therapeutic steps of the program and have discussed further steps needed to establish EBEP as an alternative therapy for patients not responding to or accepting traditional psychotherapy.

Significance of nature in a clinical setting and its perceived therapeutic value from patients’ perspective

“…Non-pharmaceutical treatment in the field of mental health has been defined as a verbal arena that depends upon the abilities of patients to verbalize inner states, as well as their motivation and ability to persevere in a patient-therapist relationship (Johansen, Wang, Binder, & Malt, 2014). Considering that treatment time needed to help individuals with mental health problems can be long and that the allotted time in healthcare settings is getting shorter, as well as the estimation that 30-35% of patients who receive evidencebased therapy do not experience improvement (Newnham & Page, 2010), there is good reason to look for alternative methods that can in combination with traditional treatments facilitate recovery in a shorter time frame.…”

Facilitating change in a client's dysfunctional behavioural pattern with horse‐aided psychotherapy. A case study

“…Another activity outside therapy was for her to join the annual trip with her workmates and employer. For an overview of EBEP see Johansen et al (2014). Some EBEP activities are shown in Figure 2.…”

“…For subjects who have low trust in others, gaining an alliance with a horse may be less threatening, less complicated and less charged by human expectations than participating in regular psychotherapy. In this study, a therapeutic programme labelled equinefacilitated body and emotional-oriented psychotherapy (EBEP) was applied (Johansen, Wang, Binder & Malt, 2014). This approach is designed for clients not responding to mainstream treatment and especially for adults exposed to parental substance misuse during their upbringing.…”

More than Just a Break from Treatment: How Substance Use Disorder Patients Experience the Stable Environment in Horse-Assisted Therapy

“…14 , 15 Other explanations focus on the characteristics of the horse. 16 , 17 The outdoor, active, and less verbal therapeutic environment of the stable (as compared to the verbal and enclosed atmosphere of the therapy room) is also regarded as more beneficial for some clients. 18 , 19 Reviews of HAT literature indicate a growing and diverse field but draw attention to the need for improved methodology and theoretical analysis.…”