Horses Help in Addiction Treatment in Thailand

USA - English

• USA - English

CHIANG RAI, Thailand, Sept. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Horse therapy, technically equine-assisted therapy, is meant to complement other other forms of psychotherapy. Horses are especially sensitive to the demeanor and emotions of humans and are able to tell if humans are in a negative or positive state of mind.

Horses are a highly social prey species, with thousands of years of domestication and living with and being dependent on a predator species. Horses are attuned to their environment, the other horses in the herd, and humans as well. They can act as a mirror to the emotions of a human.

Equicoaching is the type of equine-assisted therapy offered at Siam Rehab in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand. While there are other therapies which involve riding and grooming horses, equicoaching simply has humans interact with horses and coach them into performing simple tasks such as walking to a certain part of the paddock, or stepping over a small branch.

Equicoaching is a form of experiential learning, which complements the language-based therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and self-help group/12-step recovery program.

Working with large mammals in therapy is not for everyone, and Siam Rehab reinforces that this is a complementary and optional treatment. Some people have serious doubts as to whether this form of treatment is legitimate. And in an experiential setting, each individual has their own experience of the equicoaching.

In "A systematic review of effectiveness of complementary and adjunct therapies and interventions involving equines," published in the Journal "Health Psychology" in 2013, the authors found that while there are still few studies of the effectiveness of equine-assisted therapy, those which were well designed showed promising results and show that there is evidence for this treatments effectiveness.

Equine-assisted therapy sessions at Siam Rehab are conducted by equicoaching expert and educator Eric Van Poucke, who has published four books on the subject. He has worked for decades in the field of equicoaching, which is used in team building and management training, as well as therapeutically.

Siam Rehab is the first, and only substance addiction treatment center in Thailand to incorporate equine-assisted therapy into their program. It was important that the integrity of the addiction treatment was not compromised by adding something that was not rigorous. It was also important that the therapy be flexible and individual, even when clients visit as a group.

Treatment at Siam Rehab starts with Dr. Mark Sukkhosawat, a licensed psychiatrist and general practitioner medical doctor with 19 years of experience specializing in addiction treatment.

The psychological treatment at Siam Rehab includes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing, and a core self-help group/12-step program. And now equine-assisted therapy is available as an optional component of the comprehensive substance addiction recovery, and many clients find it helpful in seeking to change their lives for the better.

Quotes from Clients at Siam Rehab regarding Equine-Assisted Therapy:

• "The horse therapy was quite an eye opener for me. Interacting with other humans, a lot of psychology is involved. It makes things complicated. The horse is pure and direct. It showed me how I really felt with no strings attached. There was no questioning and doubting a horse." --Siam Rehab Client
• "I get a lot from counseling and I can speak about my feelings, but the horses show me how I feel, and what impression that makes on those around me." --Siam Rehab Client
• "I wasn't sure about the therapeutic value of a horse until I opened myself up to the process. I found that by letting go of insecurities the animal was much more trusting and responsive. I can't lie to a horse. I had to make internal changes." --Siam Rehab Client
• "Working with the horse became emotional for me. I was talking to the horse, but then I realized I was talking to myself. I was no longer facing the horse, I was facing myself." --Siam Rehab Client
• "The horse therapy is very individual. We come as a group, but each one of us gets something unique and individual out of it. It helps with self-reflection, as the horse reflects your moods, your thoughts, your emotions and feelings. And as the horse reflects these things it helps for us to self-reflect, to reflect on ourselves." --Siam Rehab Client
• "I was surprised that the horse feels what I feel. When I was confident, the horses walked up to me, but when I was feeling less confident, then the horses stopped. They really can feel what you feel." --Siam Rehab Client

SOURCE Siam Rehab

Related Links

http://siamrehab.com