Hearts Landing Ranch exists to build community to impact a community by serving foster youth, veterans, families, and victims of crime and human trafficking. HLR offers mental health therapy and learning using experiential, land based programs. Often people are too ashamed or stuck to sit and talk. With equine-assisted therapy, we can accomplish in months, what might take years of talk therapy.
"When Kid put his head in the middle of my back, it was the first time I believed I could belong to something other than a gang." -C, 14
Your partnership will help Hearts Landing Ranch see more individuals and impact more families who would otherwise not be able to afford Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP). Thanks to our donors, HLR is able to offer a sliding scale fee based on an individuals ability to pay. Our desire is to see that every individual is able to get the help they need.
EAP is a form of therapy for the treatment of a variety of mental health concerns including: anxiety, depression, anger, substance abuse, trauma, PTSD, attachment issues, grief and loss and adjustment disorders.
EAP allows clients to project their feelings, actions, ideologies, and judgments onto the horse(s) which can relieve pressure of the client needing to verbalize and explain their feelings, or may lessen the intensity of thinking or talking in an internalizing way. This can be useful if the client has a hard time accepting or talking about something personal or traumatic. EAP can also highlight discrepancies between the client’s words and actions, whether it is due to the client being unaware, putting on a front, or even being manipulative.
EAP allows clients the opportunity to develop awareness of their behavioral patterns and process their emotions as they interact with horses. As prey animals, horses are highly attuned to their environment for their survival. Additionally, they are highly social and communicate almost solely through body language. They pick up on the non-verbal cues we bring into session and respond to them immediately in a non-judgmental way.
Horses have an unmatched ability to bring about healing and initiate change.
EAP uses the mirroring capabilities of horses to show clients how their body language and internal state affect their interactions with others. In order to create connection with the horses, clients must learn to self-regulate, manage their difficult emotions, and change their behaviors. Additionally, watching the reactions and behaviors of the horses offers opportunities for the client to identify metaphors that can provide additional insight about what is going on in their own lives.
With your help, we can Restore Lives through Rescued Horses!
