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Katie's Story

12/29/2017

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With her big blue eyes and braided blond hair, Katie* bounded out of the car and ran towards the barn. Her aunt yelled after Katie to slow down and wait for her to catch up. Katie burst into the barn like a tornado asking everyone she saw where the horses were.  After a quick introduction to her counselor, Katie made her way down to the play area for her very first session with the miniature horses.

Katie approached the horses much like her entry into the barn – an uncontrolled ball of energy. Startled by Katie’s approach, the horses immediately ran to the other side of the play area. Katie ran after them. Despite the counselor’s efforts to help Katie understand that the horses were frightened by her running, she was frustrated and angry when the horses didn’t want to play with her. In a huff, Katie settled down to play in the sandbox instead.  As she grumbled about the horses being “mean” and ran her hands through the sand, Katie began to relax. A few minutes later, the horses made their way back to Katie and allowed her to pet them.

Prior to living with her aunt and uncle, Katie had a difficult life. Although her mother had tried to provide the very best for her daughter, she had her own struggles. From the time Katie was a baby, her mother would park her in front of the TV to keep her quiet. As Katie got older and became bored with the TV, her mother would yell and scream and even hit Katie. To provide Katie with a safe and secure home, the state awarded her aunt and uncle custody when Katie turned six.

As a result of Katie’s early life trauma and neglect, she had difficulty regulating her emotions and would often become aggressive when upset. She struggled to make friends and didn’t understand why the other kids didn’t like to play with her. As Katie’s time in play therapy progressed, she gradually began to see how her behaviors influenced the horses’ responses to her. Soon Katie began to use the horses’ behaviors as “clues” for understanding her own feelings and behaviors. As her empathy towards others developed, Katie made her very first best friend at school.

​Katie’s story is not unique. As many as 20% of youth suffer from a mental health disorder. Most of these children go untreated, avoid treatment, and drop out of treatment prematurely. With an improvement rate of 90%, our evidence-informed services can be life-changing not only for the child but for the entire family. It is crucial that at-risk youth receive needed mental health care in order to grow, thrive, and become happy, healthy, and well-adjusted.

This holiday season you can make sure that children like Katie can get their lives back. By donating to the STEPS Angel Fund, you can give a child the gift of healing through horses.
Donate Today!
*Client names and details have been change to protect client privacy and identity.
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A Veteran's Story

12/23/2017

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As an officer in the Army, Pat* had served his country with pride. While on his third deployment, Pat’s Humvee was struck by an IED. Miraculously, Pat came out of the explosion with minimal physical injuries. Many of Pat’s soldiers did not. Despite having ended his service two years ago, Pat struggled to feel at home back with his wife and three children. Pat and his wife fought constantly and he had difficulty connecting with his children. He became more and more isolated, assuming that it would be better to just stay away from everyone rather than risk getting angry and making things worse. The more time he spent alone, the more Pat felt depressed and guilty for the loss of his soldiers. On the brink of divorce, Pat initiated counseling.

By the end of the first appointment, Pat appeared happier and felt more like himself again. In the tranquility of the pasture, he felt accepted by the herd of horses. He was especially intrigued by Bandit, an older horse the color of a copper penny. As the weeks progressed, Pat began to look forward to his time with Bandit. Despite the stresses of his day-to-day life, Pat’s worry and guilt faded away in Bandit’s presence. With Bandit, Pat felt accepted for who he was and started to feel less overwhelmed. As their relationship progressed, Pat began to talk about wanting to feel with people the way he felt with Bandit. He started sharing some of his struggles with his wife and found that his relationships with his wife and children improved.

Pat’s story is like the stories of millions of Veterans haunted by emotional trauma. As many as 30% of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans suffer from posttraumatic stress, depression, or traumatic brain injury. Furthermore, Veterans commit suicide at an alarming rate of nearly 22 each day. Many of these individuals go untreated, avoid traditional therapies, or drop out of treatment prematurely.

With an improvement rate of 82% and a dropout rate of only 11%, our evidence-informed model demonstrates a higher improvement rate and lower dropout rate for Veterans with posttraumatic stress as compared to other traditional office-based therapies. For this reason, access to viable and proven therapy options are crucial to reconnecting Veterans with their communities, their families, and themselves. 
This holiday season you can make sure that military Veterans like Pat can get their lives back. By donating to the STEPS Angel Fund, you can give a Veteran the gift of healing through horses.

Donate Today!
*Client names and details have been changed to protect client privacy.
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    Dr. Hallie Sheade is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Founder of Equine Connection Counseling. She is  contracted to write a textbook on best practices in equine assisted counseling for Routledge, an academic publisher.

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