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Our Services
Happy, emotionally strong people through
equine assisted psychotherapy and equine assisted learning ...
What if a horse could teach love, trust, communication, empathy, appropriate boundaries, healthy conflict resolution, teamwork, creativity, honesty, patience, and resilience? What if a horse could motivate & empower a person to be their best and happiest?
They can. And with Flying Change they do.
In Flying Change we have seen clients of all ages and backgrounds motivated by the guidance, acceptance, and love of a horse to grow and develop into happier, healthier, more peaceful, and more loving people. Through their relationship with a horse we have seen:
- a woman with depression get out of bed for the first time in a week, in order to come visit her horse in a session
- a young man with ADD learn to plan, sequence, and follow through in order to complete a task and reach his goal
- a mother of a teenage girl learn to set healthy limits with her child
- a group of young men with oppositional defiant disorder decide to work together as a team
- a teenage girl with anxiety learn to manage her fear in order to ride
- a group of abused girls learn to nurture and provide healthy love to an abused and rescued horse
- a girl with low self-esteem smile triumphantly at her success with her equine partner
Under the guidance of trained counselors and horse professionals with specialized training in the field of equine assisted mental health we use proven interactive experiences with horses to foster emotional, social, spiritual, and psychological growth. Our program provides clients with experiential opportunities to practice healthy life skills in a physically and emotionally safe environment, and the confidence to take those skills back into their family and life. Each client is treated as an individual; goals, and session plans are carefully matched to the needs, temperament, and emotional or personal goals of the client.
Benefits:
- Self-esteem and confidence
- Anger and anxiety management
- Relationship building skills
- Communication
- Boundary-setting
- Self-evaluation
- Teamwork and cooperation
- Leadership skills
- Successful planning and completion of tasks
- Increased self-discipline and responsibility
- Empathy and respect for others
A special bond grows between our clients and their horses. Developing empathy for their horses and learning to support their equine partners creates an awareness of others' feelings, interests and needs. Inpiduals who learn to treat a horse with kindness, respect, responsibility and loving discipline are empowered to be better parents, better partners, better students, employees and friends, both as children and adults. Learning to share power and develop partnership with a 1000 pound animal is a tremendous boost to self-esteem. The joy, confidence, and infectious sense of accomplishment gained from life skills learned at the barn transfer to a client's life.
Who can benefit?
Clinical studies indicate that equine assisted psychotherapy and experiential learning can positively impact depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, grief/loss/divorce, abandonment, family of origin issues, and post traumatic stress resulting from physical or sexual abuse. Our services have proven beneficial for individuals facing these issues; those growing through a life or family transition - death, divorce, blending families, relocation - also benefit from our support. Many of our clients courageously face these issues within our program; an equal number choose to engage in equine experiential learning simply for self-improvement and the joy of connection with our horses.
Our services benefit everyone from inpiduals presenting with clinically diagnosed disorders to the "worried well" - people who have no diagnosable problem, but feel within themselves an interest in growth and change. Our programs are open to all children, adults and families who are interested in becoming happier, healthier, and more aware in their lives and relationships.
Flying Change Equine Assisted Services Include:
- Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, in which an equine facilitated mental health specialist and a licensed therapist together develop and implement a therapeutic program of equine assisted psychotherapy as a treatment intervention for children, adults, and families. Activities with the horses are designed to bring up therapeutic issues and provide opportunities for insight and resolution.
- Equine Assisted Learning, in which the relationship between human and horse is used as a mirror to promote exploration of feelings and behaviors, and to enhance and teach healthy life skills.Equine experiential learning can include personal growth and development workshops and classes, including teambuilding and experiential opportunities designed to improve self knowledge and skills in the areas of communication, confidence, healthy conflict resolution, teamwork and leadership skills, effective parenting, and relationship building.
- Riding for Emotional Growth: Flying Change accepts a limited number of riding students per year as yet another way to offer opportunities for interaction and growth. Flying Change is not about equitation, horse shows, or year end points. It's about metaphorical learning, using activities with horses - on the ground or in the saddle - to promote awareness and then relate that learning to life beyond the barn. Our goal is to teach communication, trust, responsibility, partnership, and empathy. Within the philosophy of our riding program, the outward expression of these principles is a responsible, considerate equestrian who rides with grace, balance, and sensitivity.