Our first adolescent group came into the session in lock down mode (trapped in their heads). After doing my usual intro and check in I asked the kids if they would be up for doing an exercise with the horses. Several of the kids said yes, so we proceeded with an exercise that I call Distraction Ally.
I asked the kids to focus on areas in their life (distractions) that are keeping them from moving forward. I then had them pick the horse that they want to use as their 1000-pound support animal to do the exercise with (I usually have them give the horse a name of someone who they trust in their lives if they have one).
Then they had to follow a path with horse in hand that required them to get past several distractions. I had them label the “distractions” to represent their specific challenges… anxiety, depression, addictive behaviors were just a few that came up. The “distractions” are actually buckets of grain designed to distract the horses if the kids aren’t really connected to their intention and grounded in their desire to move forward with their lives.
The outcomes were revealing and profound. I saw kids move from a place of extreme disconnection, ie trapped in their heads and/or disassociating due to severe trauma; to being present, focused and engaged in exercises with the horses. In the process I see patients laughing, smiling, engaging, and most important feeling versus thinking (People think, horses feel).
Seeing the kids talking, hugging, holding, feeding the horses and sharing that “the horses always make me feel better,” is perhaps the greatest confirmation that horses really do give humans a leg up and onto the right path to healing and recovery. Movement is change, and each and every Friday I see patients making and taking great strides in the direction of change. So rewarding!
Also, a few thoughts from the herd…
Our horses are always talking to us, not with words but with body language. When I ask our patients and kids, what is Sweetie’s message to you, or what is Sierra saying to you right now? I get responses like what Jessica said when working with Sierra, she wants me to take better care of myself. Or what Max said when working with Sweetie, she makes me believe in myself again, or what Robert said when he was working with Sierra…I deserve to be loved…