NSU Horizons Fall 2010

10 horizons “This is perhaps the first collabora- tion in the country in which a university has created a community partnership using equine-assisted therapy to provide an internship site for family therapy graduate students,” said Shelley Green, Ph.D., NSU professor of family therapy and training director for Stable Founda- tions. The program also offers clinical services to individuals, families, and groups in the local community. “This model allows for a unique experience of learning by doing, and is based on the belief that people have the ability to find their own answers,” said Green. In contrast to therapeutic riding approaches, equine-assisted family therapy (EAFT) does not involve mounting a horse. “Therapeutic riding for people with disabilities is great work, but it is not what we do. This is psycho- therapy for individuals and families, and we incorporate a horse as a tool in that work,” said Lorisa P. Lewis, M.S., L.M.H.C., program director of Stable Foundations, who is internationally certified in equine-assisted psychotherapy. NSU’s equine therapy program follows the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association’s model for equine-assisted therapy and uses a team composed of a licensed mental health professional, an equine specialist, and one or more horses. The therapist and client discuss feelings, behaviors, and observations that they have during the session. The experiences are related to day-to-day situations and are expected to enable a person to make positive changes in his or her life. Tommie V. Boyd, Ph.D., chair, Department of Family Therapy, and Honggang Yang, SHSS dean, both believe in the advantages of equine therapy. “Equine-assisted therapeutic training is a rewarding advancement for families working on relationship issues,” said Boyd. “Dean Yang and I are pleased to support these new endeavors with Dr. Green and Stable Foundations. Equine therapy has been utilized for a number of years, and we are excited to include this training in our family therapy programs.” The partnership between Stable Foundations and NSU began with Lewis and Green. They both believed in the benefits of incorporating horses into clinical work with families, and they shared a vision of developing a training model for NSU family therapy graduate students. Green said a “generous offer” from Amy Sperling, who owns 15 acres in Davie, to use her stable and paddocks, plus two of her horses, has helped the program grow. “This helps us bring in another component for students in NSU’s family therapy program. It really promotes a positive training environ- ment,” said Green. With EAFT, horse experience is not necessary, and most clients arrive with no horse knowledge at all. Why horses? “Horses pick up on the subtleties of human behavior. They are highly attuned to their environment and what is going on around them,” said Lewis. Students who train and work using the EAFT model have found it invalu- able in their development as therapists. Randy Heller, a fourth-year family therapy doctoral student at NSU and a clinician in private practice in Planta- tion, Florida, felt including horses in her training as a therapist could be valuable for her clients—and herself. “My instincts were telling me to do one thing, but I was more focused on what I thought should be happening. Trusting myself allowed me to be in a more trusting relationship with the horse,” she said. While EAFT is proving its enor- mous value for those training to become family therapists, it is empowering for families in therapy. The horses allow the therapist to see how family members Left: Horses assist clients with life and relationship challenges.