Equine-assisted therapy (EAT): Effect on health and well-being

Description

Page: 1452-1454

Nayanika Singh (Department of Psychology, Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector-42, Chandigarh) Ravnoor Kaur
(Former Senior Counsellor, Helpline Organization, Chandigarh)

Equine-assisted psychotherapy is one of the most recent experiential therapy that uses horses for the treatment of various psychological and behavioural problems. Since, horses have the ability to immediately respond and give feedback to the participant’s actions and behaviour and can mirror a person’s emotions easily therefore, it becomes easy for the client to establish a rapport with the horse making the therapy effective. Review of literature indicates that equine therapy has been found to be particularly beneficial in dealing with a wide array of psychological disorders such as autism, learning disability, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, PTSD, etc. Furthermore, it increases a person’s self-confidence, self awareness, physical and psychological resilience. Taking this into consideration the aim of the present paper is to highlight and discuss the role and contribution of equine therapy in dealing with the health and well-being of both normal and clinical cases.