Wounded Warrior Resources

Servicemen and women are used to being active in their military life. Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is often a more appealing form of therapy because it mirrors other training and military experiences. Instead of sitting in an office talking (which often can feel confining and stigmatizing); in the arena or pasture with the horses, something active (physical and psychological) is experienced. This helps to facilitate addressing the many faces of distress brought back from military service. When addressing problems head on, this can often raise defenses. Reconnecting with nature and establishing a relationship with a horse can often bypass defenses and allow one to be more open to addressing issues in their life; as an important part of this treatment is experiential and non verbal. The use of the horse as a symbol for other relationships or experiences in a person’s life, or as a representation of different emotions, allows feelings, thoughts and ideas about problems to surface more readily. EAP allows an experience (not only talking but doing) about how to address problems and try different solutions. The activity is processed both at a here and now level, but then the service person is invited to connect this to other areas of their life where what they experienced might be relevant. It fosters aspects of resiliency including active coping (both problem focused and emotion focused), social connection and support, clarification of values, increasing cognitive flexibility in approaching life challenges, exploration of spiritual aspects of the self and ways to incorporate these into healing from trauma.

At Windhorse Farm we are familiar with barriers and special issues that surround the military. We have created ground based exercises with the horses meant to target emotional distress associated with a military experience. Some areas of distress that are addressed at Windhorse Farm include but are not limited to:

• Sleep disturbance
• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Difficulty concentrating
• Overwhelming feelings of guilt
• Loss of appetite
• Increased use of substances

• Addictive behaviors
• Post traumatic stress disorder
• Trouble processing grief
• Irritability/anger management
• Relationship/marital distress
• Spiritual issues