Horses and Heroes
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Working with horses is fast becoming an accepted form of human development and learning or therapy, with a variety of applications. Founded by Sun Tui in 2007, IFEAL has developed an accredited and regulated qualification in Equine Facilitated Human Development and Learning (EFHDL) known as the IFEAL Method, using evidence-based psychological frameworks.
Horses 'feel' rather than 'think' us
In 2011, Sun, an army veteran herself, initiated the development of a set of specialised programmes, based on education and life skills for serving and ex-serving military personnel and their families - the charity, The Dare to Live Trust.
With the help of horses, the charity aims to address some of the issues and challenges former service personnel face as they integrate back into civilian life, a time when many service men and women confront their greatest fight for survival.
Many suffer from mental health issues, such as depression, anger, anxiety and stress. Such problems lead to relationship difficulties and, in extreme cases, social exclusion. Through the Dare to Live programme, participants learn to recognize their own value and unique significance. This is often the key to unlocking their potential and allowing them to successfully transition into civilian life.
The hidden wounds carried by the veterans cause many to feel that life has become futile. They frequently feel a sense of hopelessness, with a resultant high risk of suicide. Families break down and it is hard for them to find stability or hold down a job. Flashbacks cause them to relive the trauma of war in every waking moment. Many talk about feeling abandoned by the military. They describe their experience of military life as being bent into the shape of killing machines, losing the ability to think for themselves, only able to think as the unit they are a part of. Some relate their experiences as being brutalised so they can go on to brutalise others.
As Dare to Live facilitators, we often witness what appears to be a loss of soul or spirit on meeting these individuals. They present as if facially masked, pale and expressionless, shell-shocked, and often have a look of being disconnected from themselves and the world around them.
By the time veterans arrive on a Dare to Live programme, they frequently have a diagnosis of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). This mental health disorder impacts people’s lives in many ways and we now know that the symptoms of PTSD are the result of real changes in the brain.
As well as the symptoms described above, survivors of trauma commonly feel jumpy, overly watchful and have difficulty concentrating or sleeping (known as hyperarousal). They have anger outbursts and a tendency to self-destructive, suicidal and abnormal risk-taking behaviour. Avoidance of places, things or people that remind them of the trauma can lead, in extreme cases, to refusal to leave the house or perceived place of safety. Low mood and anxiety are common, as are relationship problems, due to an inability to trust others and feel safe.
Horses at its heart
The Dare to Live programme has been created with horses at its heart. Horses are particularly suited to helping people work with difficult emotions, learn to trust enough to allow relationships to develop, and find internal places of safety. Being prey animals, horses are highly sensitive to each other and their environment, and have had to use this constant state of awareness to stay safe and ensure survival. These skills mean they can accurately read human emotional states, responding to non-verbal communication in the moment and to emotions that may be known or unknown to the individual. In other words, horses “feel” rather than “think” us.
Horses are not interested in what we do or say. They are looking for honest and congruent communication which means they respond honestly to what we bring to the relationship. This reflection allows the veteran to understand and recognise the impact their behaviour may have on others. If an approach doesn’t work, the veteran learns a different approach is needed. In this way, the horses create the space for helpful and gentle emotional experience to take place.
It is the non-judgmental nature of horses that allows the veterans to find new ways to set appropriate boundaries and build their confidence and trust. Developing empathy for the horses means they can get in touch with the feelings and needs of another. Ideally this translates into improved relationships in their normal daily lives.
A new way of communicating
Dare to Live is structured so that participants, with the help of the horses and specialist Dare to Live facilitators, experience connection; a new way of communicating and relating that eventually leads them to look at a new direction for their future. It is a trauma-focused programme, providing participants with tools to improve their ability to regulate their nervous systems, thereby creating a place for healing and recovery.
This is based on the notion of limbic resonance, the idea that the limbic system of the brain allows us to share deep emotional states with other mammals. These states include empathic harmony and the emotional states of fear, anxiety and anger. Horses have a very large and well-developed limbic system, so by being in their presence there is the opportunity to experience a deep sense of non-judgmental connection. This leads to revision of neural pathways and new ways of thinking, feeling and behaviour.
As facilitators, we have the privilege of witnessing the veterans’ experiences with the horses and observing the power of the relationships developing between them. These can lead to transformation and a sense of hope for the individual. Recently, a veteran told us that following the work with the horses, he saw, “a light in his darkness for the first time in years”.
Veterans tell us that by the end of the programme they have a renewed sense of self and awareness of their bodies. They say that they can trust their bodies to give them honest feedback, which makes them less reliant on the vagaries of their minds.
It is our job to facilitate working within a veteran’s stretch zone, however large or small this may be. For instance, for one person it is about feeding themselves; another could want to feel safe enough to have 6 hours undisturbed sleep; yet another may want to leave the house alone, for the first time in years.
The veterans’ safety is a priority, so we keep in touch by phone. We repeatedly hear that with the help of the horses, the programme has enabled them to create some stability in their life. They are experiencing improved relationships with family and friends. With a renewed sense of self, they report being reconnected to life. They are active in their own recovery.
So much to celebrate, none of which could be achieved without the horses, who are at the heart of it all. These wonderful creatures can see beyond the mental and physical wounds of the veterans, and quite literally carry them to safety and beyond, away from the battlefields of their minds.
So much to celebrate, none of which could be achieved without the horses, who are at the heart of it all.
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Grace Lawson Baker, BA Hons, PgDip Sharon Clifton, Dip TA psych. MBACP. CATT, EALF. MSAFE As well as working for The Dare to Live Trust, Grace Lawson Baker and Sharon Clifton work as clinical trauma-focused therapists in their own private practices. They have both trained at IFEAL Qualifications in the IFEAL Method of Equine Facilitated Human Development and Psychotraumatology. Dare to Live founder Sun Meyer originally spent 3 years studying at EponaQuest in the USA and then went on set up IFEAL Qualifications in 2007 providing accredited and regulated qualifications in The IFEAL Method in Equine Facilitated Human Development (EFHD) and Equine Facilitated Psycho-traumatology (EFPT). Sun is a researcher, lecturer, tutor and supervisor in the field of Psychotraumatology and PTSD To find out more about the work of the Dare to Live Trust go to www.daretolive.org.uk |