I am Mike Kelley, Director of Equine Therapy here at Spirit Lake Recovery in McKenzie, Tennessee.  Today I want to share the particulars of our program and my plan is to post often to share this remarkable therapy because it truly astounds us on a regular basis.  I hope you will find our approach to be both innovative and interesting. 

In the early stages of planning the programs for Spirit Lake Recovery we determined that we wanted to incorporate various horse activities into our equine therapy program to get the maximum benefit for our clients and from our animals and facilities.

Our research confirmed that there are major therapeutic benefits for individuals who are involved in the normal daily activities of caring for horses.  We decided to require each of our clients to participate in this basic activity that we call Equine Relationship.  Each client is assigned a horse when they enter the Spirit Lake program and they are responsible for the care of that horse during their stay.

Each morning at 6 am and again at 5 pm in the evening the clients are in the arena, cleaning stalls, grooming, feeding and watering their animals.  They are supervised by an equine specialist or a trained assistant as they perform their “Good Horse Keeping” duties.  According to each client’s physical and emotional abilities, they are involved in all elements of horse care, all the way to cleaning hoofs.  Clients who are unfamiliar with horses are carefully monitored as they learn the proper techniques and gain confidence. 

At first some clients are not excited to be shoveling “horse poop” before breakfast but within a few days the activity becomes almost fun and early morning becomes the most enjoyable time of the day.  The client’s relationship with their specific animal quickly grows into responsible affection and they look forward to their time together.

In addition, each weekday we conduct our Equine Assisted Psychotherapy activities using the EAGALA model (visit EAGALA.org to learn more).  These activities involve clients with their horse and with other horses so that they learn to deal with the various personalities, as individuals as well as in the herd.

We are careful to limit the dangers of duel relationships and keep our Equine Relationship activities separate from our Equine Assisted Psychotherapy activities.  The therapy team, which includes our licensed mental health therapists and our equine specialists, communicate daily regarding all events, comments, actions and reactions of individual clients that are relevant to their therapy.  This communication promotes a synergy between all treatment modalities and allows an individual treatment plan to be tailored to the needs and progress of the client.

The frequency of activities with the horses is allowing rapid progress in our clients.  Issues that are dealt with regularly include:

·         Responsibility

·         Boundaries

·         Risk management

·         Communication skills

·         Anger Management

·         Problem solving

·         Self-Esteem

Clients are able to confront these issues and develop skills that become habitual and natural which allows these skills to be used in their life after Spirit Lake. 

This work has proven to be life changing, and not just for our clients, but for me and our staff. I feel very blessed to be a part of this powerful therapy and I hope that those who read about it can glean a bit of what makes it so special and effective.