What is equine therapy addiction treatment?
Equine therapy addiction treatment is one of the more alternative and innovative addiction treatment and recovery therapies that are currently being used in many different drug rehab programs. It is very effective as a means of growing as a person and re-building responsibility because the addicted individual works with horses (care, grooming, and riding) on a daily basis. The combination of the animal’s soothing nature and regularly assigned horse-related duties helps the client to develop mentally and spiritually while overcoming their addiction.
How has equine therapy addiction treatment been integrated into drug rehab programs?
In the initial stages of equine therapy addiction treatment, the animal is a “blank canvas” and the individual forms a bond with the animal. As a blank canvas, the animal has no pre-conceived notions about the recovering individual who is caring for them. This enables the individual to understand how others around them are affected by their behavior. For the individual that has been suffering with a substance dependency over a long period of time, learning the above is an important breakthrough.
During the course of the addicted individual’s day, they learn how to tend to the needs of their assigned horse so that they can develop and maintain a schedule that addresses this. It is no different from other activities or programs such as counseling sessions or yoga classes that the individual is expected to attend regularly while undergoing the addiction treatment and recovery process.
The individual’s counselors also play a significant role in equine therapy because they discuss the experiences that the individual is having while caring for their horse. It is a way of creating and developing a metaphor between the re-building of the individual’s life and the tasks they are assigned when undergoing equine therapy addiction treatment. The hope is that the addicted individual learns a number of positive things that will become recovery tools that enhance their new, substance-free lifestyle so that they never relapse once they return to society.
Equine therapy addiction treatment benefits
The biggest benefit to the individual is the re-building of responsibility and learning how to care for the needs of others around them. Another key benefit is that this therapy is a positive activity that replaces substance dependency. In many cases, all the individual needs is something that takes their minds off of things and equine therapy is a great way to accomplish that because of how soothing it is. It proves to be an important aspect of the addiction treatment and recovery process.
For more information regarding the equine therapies that we currently list at The Rehab Advisor and our addiction treatment and recovery referral website. We will be happy to assist you in any way we can 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.