More Than Magic
by Lynn Thomas, LCSW
Published in EAGALA News, March/April 2001, p. 5-6, The Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association.
Note: Clients names have been changed to protect confidentiality.
I have been involved in some discussions on the "magic" of horses. The magic meaning the
ability of horses to heal people. Even further, the concept that it doesn't matter what
you do with horses, being around horses in and of themselves changes lives for the better.
I've heard so many times, "If it wasn't for my horse, I don't know how I could deal with
the stresses of my life."
I agree there is a magic about horses, however I disagree that just hanging around horses
creates effective EAP sessions or necessarily makes positive changes in people's lives.
The majority of our clients will have no horse experience. The majority will also leave
treatment and never have the opportunity to be around horses again. If a client will
have the opportunity to continue working with horses, it's a wonderful bonus. However,
as a treatment intervention focused on long-term life skills, there needs to be more growth
and learning than "I feel happy and good when I'm with horses."
The skills of the human facilitators absolutely determines the effectiveness the horses
will make in clients' overall lives. The horses assist, but they do not facilitate.
We've had several EAP sessions lately which magnified the importance of the facilitators'
skills of processing. The processing made the difference between a "that's nice" or even
disastrous session and an intense/meaningful session.
One example. We asked a 12-year-old male client to go catch and halter a horse. His
immediate response was a whining "I can't...it's impossible!" He walked out there and
as soon as the horse took a step toward him, the client turned and ran crying, "The horse
hates me...he's trying to hurt me." We asked the client what about the horse told him
the horse hated him. When he replied that the horse stepped toward him, we asked him
if that behavior could mean anything else? We asked him to compare the situation to
how humans approach each other when they want to meet and do something.
The client then walked up to the horse and after a period of fiddling with the halter
cried, "I can't" and started crying. He then said, "I'm going home." He threw down the
halter and started walking toward the gate.
Pause for a moment here and think about this situation. How would you handle this? What
will you do when a client starts heading toward the gate to leave?
Some may say we should be more helpful - show the client how to do it. He's fragile, he
needs help!
Let's look at the presenting treatment issues. From the description above, it's pretty
obvious this kid is a classic "victim." The client was kicked out of school for the
remainder of the year for repeated disrespectful behavior toward teachers. He has no
friends, no self-esteem. From a brief conversation with his parents, it is apparent they
rescue him.
From watching the client in this brief encounter, it was clear he plays the victim game
to get others to do challenging things for him. When that doesn't work, he either gives
up/leaves or gets aggressive (as what happened at school).
If we were to jump in and show him how to do it or directly help him, we would then only
be reinforcing the issues that brought him into treatment in the first place. It may keep
him "happy" in the session with the horses, but how is that going to help his life? Is
our goal for the client to have a positive and happy experience with horses, or to help
him learn to deal with problems in his life in more functional ways?
About him walking out of the arena, what would you do? We could run after him and get in
his stop position, then try to persuade him to come back. However, what happens when you
chase after a horse? They run away! Same thing with people, so not a good idea to chase
after him.
In this situation, Greg and I stood calmly while Greg yelled out, "Johnny, before you
leave, please pick up your halter so it's not lying in the dirt getting dirty."
The client, almost at the gate, turned around, stomped back, and picked up the halter
and handed it to Greg. Greg kept his hands in his pockets and said, "Johnny, I'm not
taking the halter, it's your responsibility to take care of it."
Johnny replied, "It's not mine, it's yours." We both replied with a shrug and a look
of "you're responsible." Johnny responded with a "fine." But, before he started to
walk away with the halter, Greg said, "Hold on a minute, Johnny. What do you think Jake
is feeling right now as you are walking away?" (Jake, the horse he was trying to halter,
is standing right next to us).
Johnny: "I don't know."
Greg: "Well, has Jake been standing patiently while you tried to halter him?"
Johnny agreed.
Lynn: "Johnny, how would you feel if you were working hard to be respectful and nice
to someone, and he responded by turning his back on you and walking away?"
Johnny: "Not good."
Greg: "You were working on haltering him. What were some things that didn't work or
did work?"
The client moved back into working on the activity and learning problem-solving skills
as we would interject such questions as "What do you need to be successful?...What can
you do differently?"
After a few more patterns of similar "tantrums," the client ended the session being
successful in haltering the horse.
Did the "magic" of horses help in this situation? Yes, it did. However, it was the
facilitators pro-actively using that "magic" which worked to re-engage the client. It
was not the magic alone.
Deep inside, every client wants a successful relationship with that horse. We have always
been successful using that and re-focusing the client on how his or her behaviors are
affecting the horse. This is part of the magic, the clients generally don't care how
their behaviors affect us or other people, but they do care how it affects the
horses!
We have had four sessions with this client so far. Every session, the client has
gone through this same scenario, but each time with less intensity. He's beginning
to catch himself and when he says, "I can't" or "I don't know," we can say "How many
times have we heard that?" and he continues on. He is beginning to look people in the
eyes and stand taller. There is definitely a ways to go, and our next steps involve
working with his parents.
As I look back on the sessions with this particular client, I am amazed at the key
moments where the sessions could have gone in several different directions, positive or
negative. The direction the sessions took, and the impact on the client's treatment
issues, resulted from the skills of the facilitators.
This field is a profession. The magic of horses plays a part, but it is the skills,
education, character, and experience of the facilitators that determines the impact that
magic will have on a person's life.
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