​Bill* was an Army veteran who had served two tours of duty in Iraq. After being discharged in 2009, Bill had trouble readjusting to civilian life. He found it hard to sleep at night and had frequent nightmares. He felt disconnected and detached from his family. Bill angered easily both at home, where he noticed that his daughter avoided him, and at work where he struggled to get along with his boss and coworkers. He began to feel depressed and hopeless. He did not like to talk about his experiences in Iraq and tried to avoid any reminders of his deployments. Bill did not like going to stores or movie theaters. He spent much of his time at home playing video games. Bill’s family worried about him. They tried to talk to him, but he just pushed them away. 

 ​Bill tried various other therapies but these therapies did not help him feel like himself again. With encouragement from his wife, Bill began equine assisted counseling. Upon walking into the pasture during the first session, Bill felt more at ease outside among the horses. He found himself drawn to a horse named Jake. Jake’s relaxed demeanor and friendly nature calmed Bill. Throughout the course of Bill and Jake’s sessions, Bill began to become aware of his own feelings and experiences by watching Jake’s responses to him. Bill believed that he could be himself with Jake knowing the horse would never judge him for his feelings or deployment experiences. Bill would often say that he felt safe around Jake and could let his guard down knowing that Jake would always be aware of any potential threat. While in Jake’s presence, Bill began to feel safe enough to talk with his counselor about some of his experiences.

By watching Jake and the other horses interact and with the help of his counselor, Bill was able to identify strategies that he could utilize to feel at ease in the world again. He began to understand that although he would never be the same person as he was before enlisting, he could find his new normal. As Bill began to feel more and more connected to Jake, he noticed that his desire to connect with his wife and daughter was reignited. Bill began to reach out to friends and family members who he felt had abandoned him. Today Bill feels like himself. Bill now coaches his daughter’s softball team, goes to karaoke with his coworkers, and has become a mentor for other veterans.

Bill represents millions of veterans who are suffering from the emotional trauma of serving the country in more than a decade of war and as well as veterans from wars past. We have all heard stories of the trauma these veterans endure and know all too well that many of them are suffering. We would like to think we have the resources to serve these veterans and help ensure that they have a guided path back into civilian life. The sad truth, though, is that our mental health services fail to reach too many like Bill.

These veterans are in need of care that is affordable, accessible, and administered in low-stigma settings. It is estimated that at least 30% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans alone suffer from PTSD, depression, or traumatic brain injury. In addition, approximately 22 veterans a day commit suicide. Many of these individuals go untreated or drop out of treatment prematurely. At ECC, we have found that our clients feel more at ease in our tranquil outdoor setting and are motivated to attend counseling making our dropout rate much lower than other forms of therapy.

In August, ECC President and Founder Hallie Sheade earned her Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. Her dissertation examined the effectiveness of her model of equine assisted counseling (called Relational Equine-Partnered Counseling, or REPC) in treating veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We hope that by sharing an overview of the study and its conclusions you can better understand what we do at ECC.

REPC is based on the idea that people want to build positive and nurturing relationships, which facilitate growth and healing. Through the relationship with the horse, clients have the opportunity to create a new pattern for relationships and experience security needed to process and heal from trauma. Activities and techniques in REPC are designed to target specific goals such as relationship-building, self-regulation and mindfulness, and creativity. These activities may include choosing a horse, haltering the horse, leading the horse, grooming the horse, being with the horse, moving the horse, bathing the horse, and relaxation activities.

Participants in the study were military veterans with war zone-related trauma. Each veteran was asked complete a baseline phase prior to starting equine assisted counseling, during which they were evaluated each week using PTSD assessments. The second phase was to participate in REPC equine assisted counseling sessions for up to 18 weeks. The third phase tested each person’s PTSD symptoms for several weeks after counseling ended.

Some of the conclusions and implications of the study are:

• Participants perceived interactions with the horses as beneficial to them or as an important factor to their improvement.
• REPC may be beneficial in reducing severity and symptoms of PTSD after a triggering event, meaning participants who were “triggered” felt better more quickly while participating in REPC.
• Participants appeared to be highly motivated to attend sessions with the horses.

Dr. Sheade’s research is one of the few studies on equine assisted therapies with veterans. More research on the effectiveness of equine assisted counseling is needed. REPC is a unique, innovative approach to the field and we hope to do more research in the future.


Happy Veteran’s Day! Thank you to all veterans and their families for your service to our country. We are proud to serve you!

In August, ECC had the pleasure of presenting on Equine Assisted Counseling in the treatment of trauma and PTSD at Millwood Hospital in Arlington as part of their Continuing Education series. We believe that knowledge is an important part of healing whether you are a counselor or a client. We hope that providing you with an overview of the information from our presentation will help increase your understanding of trauma, PTSD, and how equine assisted counseling can help with the healing process.

What is trauma?

Trauma can be defined in a few different ways and is not experienced just by military veterans. The dictionary defines it as “a deeply distressing or disturbing experience.” Other experts describe it as an “emotional response to a terrible event.” The DSM-5, the manual that describes different mental health diagnoses, says that trauma is directly experiencing, witnessing first-hand, repeated exposure to, or learning that a friend or family member has experienced “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.” A few examples of potentially traumatic experiences include sexual assault, childhood abuse, natural disasters, invasive medical treatments, and military combat experiences. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

Not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will experience long-term psychological effects, and no two people will react to the same event in the same way. However, there are some common reactions to trauma that many people experience. These include:

• Trouble concentrating or making decisions
• Feeling jumpy
• Disturbing dreams, intrusive memories or “flashbacks” of the event
• Feeling helpless or fearful
• Feeling numb
• Feeling irritable or having angry outbursts
  
  

Again, this is by no means all of the ways someone might react to trauma and someone with trauma may not experience all of these.

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

PTSD is a mental health diagnosis described in the DSM. In order to receive the diagnosis, a client must have experienced symptoms for more than one month after the traumatic experience. It is characterized by four symptom clusters: intrusion (such as recurrent distressing memories, dreams, or flashbacks), avoidance (trying to stay away from things that remind the person of the trauma), negative alterations in mood and thoughts (such as negative beliefs about oneself, blaming oneself for the event, or being unable to feel happiness or love), and alterations in arousal and reactivity (feeling constantly on-guard, jumpy, or reckless).

Common Therapies for PTSD

Some of the most common treatments for PTSD are cognitive processing therapy (CPT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), exposure therapy, and medication. Despite the success of these methods, many people may feel that they do not help as much as they hoped. Other people may feel uncomfortable or suspicious about going to these therapies. Fortunately, there are many alternative therapies that are now being offered to help clients with PTSD. Equine assisted counseling is one of these non-traditional methods that has had great success.

Why do we work with horses to treat PTSD?

You can read more about why equine assisted counseling is helpful on this page. For trauma and PTSD, there are a few unique benefits to partnering with horses. Many trauma survivors can relate to the “fight or flight” mentality that horses have as prey animals. However, once a threat is removed, horses return to a calm state very quickly, something that clients with PTSD often have difficulty with. Working with such a large animal can help clients, particularly victims of abuse and assault, feel empowered. Research also suggests that being around animals such as horses decreased production of stress hormones and increased production of wellness hormones. This can help clients who feel ready to process trauma by helping them feel more comfortable while talking about upsetting experiences or to calm down more quickly if they are triggered.

Some of the other benefits that clients with trauma report include:

• Feeling of peace and relaxation
• Decreases in anger
• Formation of a trusting relationship with horse and others
• Increased desire to connect with others
• Decreased feelings of depression and anxiety
• Increased ability to self-regulate and learning to relax
• Identification of the horse as a model to manage symptoms
  
  

Recovering from trauma is not a quick or easy process. We understand that reaching out can be difficult and hope that we can be a safe place for healing. Equine assisted counseling offers many benefits that clients may not always experience in traditional counseling or that will enhance other trauma therapies. If you are interested in learning more about how equine assisted counseling might help you or someone you know, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We are currently seeking participants for a research study to determine the effectiveness of equine assisted counseling in treating veterans with war zone-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

All counseling services will be provided free of charge and participants will be eligible to receive payment dependent upon length of participation. 

Please check out the flyer below for more details.

For more information or to inquire about participation, please call us at 682-334-3784 or fill out the contact form below.