Calgary Cares Off The Couch Into The Corral Calgary's Child Calgary's Family Magazine July - August 2003 Horse professionals and mental health care professionals headed to the corral for a three day training session in May to gain knowledge in Equine Psychotherapy (EAP), a revolutionary approach to counselling. "EAP is an innovative, effective counselling practice that uses activities where clients interact with horses to overcome emotional and psychological challenges," says Cathie Johnson, a mental health therapist with Winning Strides located just south of Calgary. Greg Kersten and Lynn Thomas, LCSW, of Equine Services in Utah, have developed a means of using horses to help human beings of all ages and backgrounds become stronger in communication, team building, problem solving, self-confidence, conflict resolution and relationships. The techniques, which were developed around the use of a team comprised of a horse professional and a mental health care professional, lead to results so impressive that Equine Assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is being adopted internationally. "Most horse owners already understand the benefits of mastering the skills involved in developing a bond with their horses. To add these benefits to a specially developed therapy program makes sense," says Laurie Messner, co-founder of Winning Strides. "Kersten and Thomas have developed just such a program." The EAP team develops activities for each individual, family or group participating in the therapy session. According to a study done by Doug Mann, LMFT of Journey Home, Inc. in Colorado, adding a horse to the therapy toolbox can be tremendous aid that increases success rates while reducing healing time. "The Winning Strides EAP Youth Program made such a huge difference to my daughter's life", enthusiastically comments the mother of a local 14-year-old. "I learned how to co-operate with others and to handle tough situations better," explains the more confident teen. Kersten and Thomas founded the non-profit Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) that offers nationally recognized certification in EAP to equine and mental health care professionals. "It is our goal to bring the use of horses in psychotherapy to a very professional level with set standards of practice and tools for evaluation," says Kersten. Thomas and Kersten conduct training sessions and seminars across the country. Their work has been reported in the Los Angeles Times, Women's Day, the National Enquirer, Counsellor Magazine and Equus Magazine as well as being featured on several television newscasts. For further information regarding the workshop, or Winning Strides, contact Laurie Messner at 403-646-2345 or www.winningstrides.com. For further information about EAP and EAGALA please contact EAGALA at 801-667-2191 or at www.eagala.org Click here to go back!