HFH Blog 2: What does horse work and counselling have in common?
Our Narrative approach to equine assisted therapy is unique, partly because of the horses we choose for our program and partly because of our commitment to the principles of Narrative Therapy.
The Horses for Hope process is reciprocal. Both horse and human give to the other and receive from the other through listening and forming trust.
Participants attune themselves and connect with horses to create a safe space to try new or challenging activities. The activities are usually rudimentary in helping them to feel okay with humans. It may be something as simple as helping the horse accept touch, or getting them prepared to be ridden (which we don’t do here). We take things slow because going too far too fast can undo months (if not years) of steady progress and trust. Our program horses have no dramas in telling us when they are scared, or if something is too difficult. To that we listen and respond.
Our participants do all the work with us; and it is very real work. Each time a horse works with a new person they experience new possibilities. Over time and through repetition, we hope, they become as one participant recently described the process - “not as connected with [their] past”. Their inner landscape shifts. More possibilities emerge for the horse. What was once too scary or too difficult is now a walk in the park/paddock.
In our discussions before the horse work, we make a point to tell the horses story – both what we know about their life before entering the program, and what we’ve seen during. Often there is resonance between the struggles and successes of the horses and participants. Tales of fear, isolation, and vulnerability are just as common as stories of resilience, perseverance, and trust.
Often, we see in the horses what we can struggle to name in ourselves.
After our time of horse-work, we all re-tell what happened in the yard. In this co-retelling, stories emerge for both horse and human that run counter to the dominant problem-saturated perspectives. People who are “angry” show calmness, people who “internalise”, share, people who are “difficult” exhibit understanding. Parts of ourselves that were hidden in the undergrowth of our identity emerge and flourish. The horse work reflects back to us actions and skills we may not have considered about ourselves before. It gives us an opportunity to look differently at ourselves.
We have options to make meaning from this encounter.
Here is our departure point for ‘therapeutic’ conversations. The skills and values demonstrated in the horse yard don’t quite fit with the stories of powerlessness and incompetence.
As staff, we are guided by participants who, being the experts in their own lives, share strategies, stories, and treasures that are often glossed over. We take seriously the knowledges of survival that our horses and participants tell us. Amongst the seriousness of ‘counselling’, we too try to have fun. Every day the horses remind us to do this. Having a sense of playfulness and curiosity helps us to see things in a new light. And seeing things in a new or different light can open us to a world of possibilities.
Stay tuned for our next blog which will outline the journey a horse takes through our program.
Jack O'Sullivan - Horses For Hope Counsellor