This summer session of horse therapy has been busy! Due to my horse addiction I have collected enough horses (much to my husband’s dismay) to do horse therapy continuously, which has allowed for much more time with all of our kiddos. A big, big thanks to Mark Elliott who completes the bulk of the horse chores during the week – feeding, moving fence panels, driving hay bales around, and most importantly… poop pick up! Also, a big thanks to all the staff, case managers, and program coordinators that help schedule horse therapy for the kids.
Over the course of the last three months, all of the Lakeshore boys have experienced six week group sessions with the horses. This last group struggled to come together during the activities, but developed this amazing ending ritual in which they all worked together to clean the arena and feed the horses each week. During the last session they used their expressive arts cameras to take pictures that represent their relationship with the animals. They took some really great group photos with the donkey.
Riverside boys have experienced the horses in a variety of ways. They had Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills group with the horses to help them learn the skill ACCEPTS. Three clients have been working in horse therapy during their individual therapy sessions. One of our clients has been working on building up the courage and motivation to create a narrative of his life. It will likely have a superhero theme – check out the next two photos of his “cave” (left) and “WonderDonkey” (right).
Garrett has focused on problem solving and we were even able to schedule a family therapy session, horsey style. Finally, Evan has been spending some one-on-one time with the horses. For his final session he painted with the horses to create a transitional object to hold him over until horse therapy starts up again. Check out his AMAZING painting.
The Prairieview girls also all engaged in a six week group session with the horses. They went about horse therapy in the way only our incredible girls know how. They asserted themselves throughout the whole six weeks. During their last session this erupted in beautiful cooperation and creativity.
Check out their photos in which they were making art with their equine partners. Check out one of the gals – when she started her project she leaned over to “beasty” (the big tan horse) and said quietly, “What should we draw, baby?”
Also, I was the one that suggested Ndolo put the apple in her mouth and then feed it to the donkey for a photo-op. Talk about a trust exercise! Way to go Ndolo!
Finally, our absolutely fantastic group of interns this year, started their internship out with some horse therapy to invite them to do some thinking about the direction they wanted to take their internship this year – wicked fun.
I can’t wait for our fall session that starts in October!
Angela Fredrickson, LCSW, Clinical Director
Keep an eye out for our introduction to the “staff” once the fall session swings into action this November.
Northwest Passage is committed to providing a diverse set of therapy opportunities to our kids. We are happy to be able to provide Equine Therapy sessions to our kids as an alternative way to open up and communicate about themselves and their lives. Those of us who have had an opportunity to experience the safety and comfort of Equine Therapy, can say just how special this is. Thank you to Shannon and Angela for making this happen. To learn more about our Equine Therapy sessions, please check out past articles on the subject here and here.
Recent Comments