Equine Therapy in Kansas City
Equine therapy in Kansas City is a form of treatment involving horses. An equine therapy drug rehab center program improves self-awareness during the recovery plan. If you or someone you love is ready to get help, call us to learn about our Kansas City equine therapy program at Arista.
What is Equine Therapy?
Equine therapy is a form of treatment involving connecting individuals and horses to enhance emotional or physical healing. What this looks like varies from one person to another, depending on what each individual needs.
Equine therapy can include the work done by therapeutic riding instructors or work managed by licensed therapists. Equine facilities that provide equine therapy use licensed mental health professionals and allow participants to care for the horses, interact with the horses, and even ride the horses.
Reach out to Arista at 877-279-0118 to learn more about how we use equine therapy in recovery.
How is Equine Therapy Used in Recovery?
Equine therapy can be used in several forms during recovery.
Equine-Assisted Therapy
This helps people with substance abuse disorders or mental health disorders facilitate improved communication. It is a form of talk therapy but one that takes place outdoors while horses are present. During the session, you might walk the horses, groom them, saddle them, and even ride them all while speaking with a mental health professional about how you process different emotions and how you feel about certain elements leading to substance abuse.
This form of talk therapy is still considered individual therapy, but it can be particularly useful for people who might have difficulty opening up emotionally or are uncomfortable with the idea of sitting in a room facing their therapist. During the session, the different options provide individualized talk therapy sessions based on whatever you are most comfortable with at that step in your recovery.
Therapeutic Riding
Therapeutic riding is a form of equine-assisted treatment that can help you heal from trauma while also boosting your self-esteem and confidence. Instead of having individual talk therapy sessions with a medical professional while at the equine therapy drug rehab center, you would participate in writing sessions as part of your recovery plan and return to your rehab center for your individual and group therapy sessions.
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Ready for help? Start your recovery today with our equine therapy recovery program.
What Are the Benefits of Equine Therapy?
Studies have confirmed that equine therapy:
- Increases positive behaviors
- Decreases negative behaviors
- Improves mental health
This looks a little different for everyone. For some people, the benefit of a Kansas City equine therapy program is the ability to interact with animals, whereas, for others, it’s the ability to be more comfortable in an outdoor setting where open communication is improved over a therapist’s office.
Complementary Therapies
Equine therapy has been shown to work more effectively if combined with other methods like experiential therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. The selflessness, concentration, and teamwork required to care for horses can boost confidence, empathy, self-awareness, and self-esteem.
All of these things can complement the skills learned in cognitive behavioral therapy or dialectical behavioral therapy, where you focus on changing negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones that are more self-aware and accurate.
Equine therapy, like therapeutic riding, is good exercise, and it’s a great deal of fun. Even if you have physical limitations, you can still participate in activities like therapeutic riding, where you might otherwise be limited in recreational activities. This complements many of the physical activities we include in our synergistic recovery programs, like hiking, yoga, and sand tray therapy.
Individualized Treatment
You might be uncomfortable with the aspect of direct eye contact or socialization involved in sitting directly across from a therapist and talking about your emotions. In this situation, equine therapy in Kansas City allows you to avoid direct focus on conversation while still opening up.
You might be uncomfortable with sitting still during multiple individual and group therapy sessions. If so, you can go to an equine therapy drug rehab center outdoors in an environment you are more comfortable with than a sterile classroom.
You might have trouble opening up no matter where you are, but riding horses or grooming them can put you at ease. A good equine therapy recovery program can give you a chance to groom horses if that’s what you’re most comfortable with, saddle them and ride them, or just walk them during your session.
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With Arista, we can create an individualized treatment plan with an equine therapy drug rehab center.
What Can Equine Therapy Be Used to Treat?
A Kansas City equine therapy program brings with it many benefits that can be useful in treating Substance Abuse and Mental Health disorders. However, it can also be used to treat a variety of other things:
- Trauma
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Stress
- PTSD
- Eating disorders
- Behavioral disorders
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Learning disorders
- ADHD
- Autism
- Asperger's
- Down Syndrome
In essence, equine therapy can be used to treat physical and mental health disorders. So if you are struggling with substance abuse and a co-occurring mental health disorder, you might find equine therapy a great modality to integrate into your recovery.
If you are ready for treatment, reach out to Arista.
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