Equine-assisted psychotherapy: a mental health promotion/intervention modality for children who have experienced intra-family violence

Abstract

Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is a specialized form of psychotherapy using the horse as a therapeutic tool. This modality is designed to address self-esteem and personal confidence, communication and interpersonal effectiveness, trust, boundaries and limit-setting, and group cohesion. Substantial numbers of children witness family violence. There is evidence that violence between parents has adverse effects on the children in the family. These children are at greater risk of behavioural problems and mental health disorders, including anxiety, anger, depression and suicidal ideations, withdrawal, low self-esteem, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The purpose of the present pilot study was to test the efficacy of EAP in a cross-sectional group of children referred to a psychotherapist for various childhood behavioural and mental health issues over an 18-month period (June 2003-January 2005). Sixty-three children received a mean number of 19 EAP sessions. Scores on the Children's Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale were determined pre- and post-treatment. The mean (+/- standard deviation, SD) pretreatment score was 54.1 (SD 3.2) and post treatment mean score was 61.7 +/- 5.0 (t = 9.06, d.f. = 96, P < 0.001). All children showed improvement in GAF scores, and there was a statistically significant correlation between the percentage improvement in the GAF scores and the number of sessions given (r = 0.73, P = 0.001). Univariate analysis showed that the greatest improvement in the GAF scores occurred in the youngest of the subjects. Children in the group who had a history of physical abuse and neglect had a statistically significant greater percentage improvement in GAF scores after treatment than those who did not have a history of abuse and neglect. This study has demonstrated a quick response to EAP, especially in younger children, but it remains to be determined what kind of long-term effects this type of intervention may provide.

A Wearable System for the Evaluation of the Human-Horse Interaction: A Preliminary Study

“…In conclusion, this work poses the basis for the application of novel high level signal processing techniques for stationary and non-stationary signals [113,114], already used in investigating human-to-human interaction [115][116][117], to animals, and particularly to horses, in order to objectively reveal interesting responses of both the central and autonomic nervous system (ANS) for a particular uncommon stimulation. Moreover, the achieved results lead us to conclude that a quantitative measure of the human-horse interaction is viable, and it could be very effective in many fields of application, for example in therapy assisted by equine (EAT) [2,118] or for controlling the effect of therapeutic horseback riding [119]. In this field, our paradigm could permit analyzing the emotional interaction of a human patient with a "standardized horse" (a horse specifically trained and managed to create a controlled positive emotional background with a human).…”

“…This was guided by the strong empirical evidence of the positive outcomes in equine assisted therapy (EAT) and horseback riding in therapeutic programs [1], as well as the positive impact of animal companionship on human quality of life [2], where the equine is an important element of these therapeutic practices, with its feelings and behavior. For this purpose, the investigation of the modality in which both human and horse can communicate might be crucial.…”

“…Although a recent review described a parallel behavior between the human multi-sensorial perception and the demonstrated equine cross-modal recognition [33,34], an interdisciplinary approach is mandatory to reach a deeper knowledge of human-horse interaction. In fact, these achieved experimental findings pointed out complex and multidimensional aspects of the interaction, which involve medical, bioengineering, physics and veterinary science [2,35,36]. In [9], the heart rate of both human and horse were monitored simultaneously under different experimental handling or riding conditions.…”

The benefit of hippotherapy for improvement of attention and memory in children with cerebral palsy: A pilot study

“…In a detailed case study including 24 and later 20 subjects (Taylor et al, 2009) as well as in the study of Kern et al (2011) the long-term positive effects of HT in autistic subjects were described. Schultz, Remick-Barlow and Robbins (2007) monitored 63 children, who were witnesses or victims of domestic violence. After 19 HT sessions a more distinct effect on those who were victims of domestic violence, abuse or negligence was observed.…”

Equine Therapy in the Treatment of Female Eating Disorder

“…The disorders for which efficacy has been suggested include depression, childhood internalizing behaviors, and low self-esteem [1][2][3][4][5]; anxiety [6][7][8]; grief and loss [9]; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [10]; conduct and antisocial personality disorders and childhood externalizing behaviors [5,11,12]; dissociative disorders [13]; post-traumatic stress disorder [14][15][16]; Alzheimers disease and dementia [17][18][19][20]; pervasive developmental disorders and learning disabilities [21][22][23][24][25]; chronic mental illnesses [26][27][28][29][30][31]; and general psychological distress among residential treatment center patients [32,33] conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of studies involving animal-assisted therapy. They concluded that animal-assisted therapy was associated with moderate effect sizes in improving outcomes in four areas: autism-spectrum symptoms, medical difficulties, behavioral problems, and emotional well-being.…”