Clients are more likely to view a natural, outdoor setting with horses to be a relaxing and safe environment for intervention over traditional therapeutic settings (Bachi et al., 2011).
The engaging, interactive and positive experiences in Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) allow clients to reframe their initial negative concepts of therapy (Bachi et al., 2011; Dell et al., 2011). As a result, clients’ resistance and reservations are reduced, allowing for deeper participation in the therapeutic process and enabling change to occur (Miller & Rollnick, 2002).
EFP has been found to enhance relationships, interpersonal effectiveness, trust, self-esteem, and overall feelings of well-being in participants (Rothe et al., 2005; Schultz, Remick-Barlow, & Robbins, 2006).
Clients report being more independent and self-supportive following EFP (Klontz et al., 2007).
82% of adolescents who participated in EFP with their families had a clinically significant improvement in mental health symptoms (Mann and Williams, 2002; as cited in Trotter et al., 2008).
Equine assisted social work improved the relationship between clients and social workers through authentic and informal interactions during horse activities (Carlsson, Nilsson Ranta, & Traeen, 2014).
Horses could act as a catalyst for the development of trust between client and staff (Karol, 2007).
EFP helps clients to identify, validate, and attend to their non-verbal cues and emotions rather than suppress them with maladaptive behaviors (Stauffer, 2006).
Studies indicate that equine assisted therapy can be less time intensive and more intimate, focused, and intense; therefore, it is a more cost effective alternative to traditional therapy (Meinersmann, Bradberry & Bright-Roberts, 2008).
