Unconventional methods
Local professor puts equine spin on therapy
One professor at Nova Southeastern University in Davie is putting an equine spin to conventional clinical therapy.
Through the Equine-Assisted Family Therapy program, Dr. Shelley Green has introduced the relatively new method to students as a means to engage clients beyond an office.
“It's really different than sitting in the office and doing talk therapy,” Green said. “You’re out in nature, which changes a lot of things, and you’re interacting with a thousand-pound animal that can choose to take off or move towards you.”
The program works in collaboration with Stable Place, a nonprofit organization that was cofounded by Green and Executive Director Valerie Judd to offer equine-assisted therapy to individuals, couples and families.
Judd said the reason why they work with horses over other animals is because horses are naturally prey, despite their stature and strength. Although they tend to be social animals and rely on each other as a herd, they can be very sensitive and aware of their surroundings. Meaning they can abruptly go into flight mode should they sense a danger to their safety.
“The only thing that matters to a horse is whether it can trust who it’s with and what its surroundings are,” said Judd. “If it can trust you as a human, then that’s okay.”
“It's really different than sitting in the office and doing talk therapy. You’re out in nature, which changes a lot of things, and you’re interacting with a thousand-pound animal that can choose to take off or move towards you.” — Dr. Shelley Green, Nova Southeastern University professor
Green said having clients interact with horses then helps them understand their personal struggles through a metaphoric experience. Equine specialists can verbalize the body language of the horses to the clinical therapists, which they in turn use to guide the client through the process.
For example, if the client does not express fear or a sense of intimidation, Green would ask about howthey manage their fears. Or if the horse suddenly goes from perfectly calm to scared, shewould ask the client what they think happened, how that affected them and how that can relate to theway they approach things in life.
“It’s really useful clinically in a different way than any other animal might be but also useful compared to talk therapy because you just wouldn’t have that rich data towork with,” Green said. “You’re talking about a problem but you’re not having this live experience playing out for you in the room that you can relate to whatever they’re struggling
with.”
While the programhas its benefits for humans, Judd said it also gives horses a second chance at having a meaningful life. Some of the horses were previously used for racing or shows, while others are rescues that have endured appalling treatment.
“They pick up the energy of whoever they’re around and they respond to who they’re with. They’re very honest,” Judd said. “The same horse could have three different people approach it and respond in completely different ways.”
The program at NSU recently received a $50,000 boost fromthe Quell Foundation, which will help fund scholarships and in turn help increase the number of students learning the methods of equine therapy.
For more information on NSU’s equineassisted family therapy program, call 954-790-0270.