 Equine-Facilitated
Psychotherapy & Learning EFP/L | August 2010
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What's New?
2010 Events
HEAL Workshops
in
England
Cornwall, UK
August 27 - 29
Horse World:
Human World
Bristol, UK
September 3
- 5
MUCH MORE
including
Special EFL Sessions
Chehalis, WA
October 13
- 14
Click HERE
for full listing
including what's
coming in 2011
Private Sessions and Lessons Available
Contact HEAL for more information
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Summer Greetings, HEAL Readers!Transition. Change. Flow. Crisis. Challenging times require a lot from us. 90% of the challenge is "in here", not "out there". Staying soft enough to "go with the flow", and trusting enough to keep believing. Allowing yourself to be creative. Taking time to breathe and practice the art of being present. Working with horses in Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy & Learning (EFP/L) is a practical, natural and fun way to learn these skills. Read this month's feature article on Emotional Agility. Welcome to the August HEAL Newsletter. We share news, stories and tips from the world of Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy & Learning (EFP/L) to inspire, uplift and educate. This month get the latest HEAL updates - addition to the HEAL herd, new programs and initiatives at HEAL, and have an early bird chance at the economical "special EFL sessions" at HEAL in October. As always you can check out our favorite reads and links.One change here at HEAL that affects you as a reader is the frequency of this newsletter. Starting this month, the news letter will be published quarterly instead of monthly. After this issue, you can look for us again in November 2010, then in February, May and August 2011. Change feels vulnerable. When we have the keys and the right company, it's not so intimidating! Come join us or let us hear from you. We value input from our readers and invite you to write in with viewpoints and questions. Please send them to us at news@humanequinealliance.org.Blessings and Gratitude,Leigh
Leigh Shambo, MSW, LMHC
Human-Equine Alliances for Learning (HEAL)
360.266.0778
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Human-Equine Alliances for Learning (HEAL)
Good Reads...
Haunted by Combat:
Understanding PTSD in War Veterans Including Women, Reservists, and Those Coming Back from Iraq
by Daryl S. Paulson and Stanley Krippner Ph.D.
Way of the Horse:
Equine Archetypes for Self-Discovery - A Book of Exploration and 40 Cards
by Linda Kohanov and Kim McElroy
Videos to Watch...
Temple Grandin (HBO Movie 2010)
Now available through Netflix and other outlets
Claire Danes stars as Temple Grandin, a brilliant young woman coping with the stigma of autism at a time when it was misunderstood. With the support of her loving family, Temple dedicates herself to learning and becomes a famed animal behaviorist. Temple's passion for animals gives her a unique ability to understand them, and she fulfills her love of education by teaching about autism and the most humane ways to treat both livestock and pets.
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Emotional Agility or...
Flowing with the Go
by Leigh Shambo, MSW, LMHC
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Late August begins the transition from leisure to work, from growth to harvest, from play to study, even from light to dark. Our emotional world also moves through transitions, as well... or does it?
Last month we published an article, Freedom and Intuition, in which we discussed freeing your emotions and intuition... allowing the information to come through, to flow. Perhaps you've had a chance to practice that a little over the past month. Did you find useful information in the practice?
Emotion and intuition offer us a great deal of information - about our own state and the state of what is around us. "So, now what do I do with all of this information?" you might ask, "Where do I take it from here?" "And how can a horse help me understand and learn from what I am experiencing?"
As you watch a group of horses... really experience their world without applying human thoughts and ideas to what is happening... you may notice how awareness, emotion and activity flows through the herd. The herd and the individuals in the herd frequently shift their attention and activities based on subtle energetic communication through the herd. For example, a herd of five horses is grazing peacefully when a breeze comes up. One of the horses may lift its head at the sensation of a breeze and the new scents it carries. In essence, that horse has become more alert; its awareness is heightened as it evaluates this new information. The other horses in the herd quickly tune into the shift in energy, as well. The horses may suddenly all lift their heads and trot a few feet as if alarmed or threatened. Then almost as quickly as the herd became alarmed, they again settle back into calm grazing.
So what happened there? To you as an outsider, it may have appeared as if the herd went a little crazy for a few seconds. You didn't see any threat; the horses weren't in any danger. In fact, what you witnessed was emotional agility - the skill of making smooth transitions through emotions. Did the horses panic and run around and around trying to flee some unseen foe? No. Did the herd disregard the one horse's original concern? No. Instead each horse allowed their emotional and intuitional flow. They relied on their emotion and intuition to protect them, but also relied on their brains to evaluate the risk and help them gauge their reaction. In truth, that whole process took only a matter of seconds, then they were all back to their original relaxed state.
Let's apply that to ourselves. Life happens, doesn't it? It's full of triumph and challenge, joy and sadness, courage and fear. Do you ever find yourself in a prolonged state of agitation? Fretful or worrying? Clinging to past disappointments? Feeling angry out of proportion with something that happened? Do you "beat yourself up" over something you wish you'd done differently? I suppose most of us have found ourselves stuck in one of these from time to time. Each of these states originates with emotion, which is our body's way of providing information. We differ from horses in that we are often conditioned to dismiss our emotions and intuition in favor of our thoughts.
What if, instead of swirling around in a pattern of thinking that doesn't serve us, we allowed the emotions to flow through us, providing only information? Then we could use our brains to discern how we wanted to use that information. For instance, let's say that you are worrying about an upcoming event. Rather than continuing to worry about what might happen, you might spend a little quiet time paying attention to how your body is feeling. Is there tension in one area, or some other sensation? Some find it helpful to relax and focus their attention on that area, breathing into the area, opening themselves up to the information there. Or you might "hit the pause button"... ask yourself what you're afraid of, what's really worrying you. Are you feeling vulnerable, unprepared or incapable? If so, you might ask yourself if what is concerning you is true or likely to happen. Or you might seek help from an outside resource. Sometimes bringing what is underlying to the surface, becoming conscious of it, naming it, allows us to release ourselves from its hold. You might, like the horses, find that you can move through uncomfortable emotions rather than ignoring them or piling them up and carrying them with you.
Like the horse's body, our bodies will let us know what is needed. It is then up to us to evaluate that need and decide if we are willing to do what it takes to flow through a situation. The more comfortable we become moving through this process, the more agile we are at accessing and using the information our bodies provide us. We become comfortable with the transitions from calm to aroused, then to calm again.
At HEAL, we (both humans and horses) help people navigate into and through their emotional being. We allow the horses to model their own emotional agility and help us access our individual abilities to enjoy the flow of emotion, intuition and discernment - to flow with the go.
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Upward Transitions at HEAL!By Leigh Shambo, LMHC and President of HEAL
New programs and initiatives
Wow, lot's of changes have been happening here at HEAL. And though these changes are the fulfillment of our own visions, it's still true that change is not always comfortable! Vulnerability is our frequent companion when we choose to grow and thrive. My husband David and I have prayerfully felt our way into many of the projects we are now in the midst of, aware that the dreams require much of us. Our dreams 'have us' every bit as much as we have them!
Leigh and David to winter in WA
One transition at HEAL is really 'no transition'... David and I will 'stay the course' this winter in Chehalis, Washington, (instead of going to Bishop where we spent last winter in California's High Sierra). Our primary objective is to better serve the clients and students who are in ongoing services at HEAL. We've seen a significant increase in individual sessions this year, with more clients using health insurance for therapy sessions. We've added a billing service to submit claims directly, to lower the client's out-of-pocket cost. This winter we begin a new group for elders struggling with mental health issues, and we'll be targeting outreach efforts to veterans with PTSD. We'll also continue our research to substantiate EFP as 'evidence-based' mental health practice.
Positive outcomes with EFP/L informs HEAL research and writings
Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy & Learning (EFP/L) is gradually gaining recognition as a valid intervention for serious mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and PTSD. Recently, the director of a mental health agency that contracts with HEAL called HEAL EFP 'cutting-edge technology' for mental health intervention. Referrals from professional providers throughout our region are increasing. It is compelling to see the direct evidence of lives changing in response to new perceptions and awareness experienced with the horses.
All of this provides ample fuel for the creative fires! The HEAL Model™ of EFP/L has evolved through my own practice, study and research with important contributions from my closest colleagues, my husband David Young and my mentor and collaborator Kathleen Barry Ingram. We've received oh-so-much encouragement to write and publish more about the HEAL EFL Model™. We're listening!!
Newsletter switches to quarterly schedule
Another HEAL transition that affects you as a reader is the frequency of this newsletter. Starting this month, the newsletter will be published quarterly instead of monthly. We feel this will better serve you as a reader by matching the amount of information we include to your ability to use and digest it. Meanwhile our mission is better served as we can most efficiently channel our efforts to serve clients, to conduct EFP/L research and to writing. The next newsletter issue will be sent to you in November; after that in February, May and August. We'll 'see' you then!
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Transitions in the HEAL Herd:
Meet Cloud
by Leigh Shambo, MSW, LMHC
|  A "Cloud" (affectionately called "Cumulous Nimbus") has entered the HEAL atmosphere! Ricki, the HEAL operations manager, found Cloud, a 14 year old gelding, advertised on the internet, and showed his picture to Leigh. The first thing to catch her eye was his build - some horses just have a natural balance that gives them easy-to-ride gaits - and next was the look in his eye. Confidence and connectivity. He seemed to be saying, "Choose me!" Our subsequent evaluations found him calm and safe, with a lively, interactive spirit.
We are often asked, "How do you pick a therapy horse, or do your horses choose you?" The reality is a bit of both. In this case, a certain niche in our herd needed to be filled. Our smallest horse Gem is moving into semi-retirement. Gem is around 35 years old, the equivalent of a person being around 100 years old! Still a vital presence in the therapy herd, Gem is no longer being ridden. We knew it was time for HEAL to find another small horse with the soundness, temperament and training to teach people about riding and to give therapeutic riding lessons.
Cloud, meanwhile, was looking for a job. He seemed to want to come with us. As we completed some of the business of the purchase, we turned Cloud loose again and he went over for a last visit with his pasture mate. When David picked up the halter and lead rope, Cloud turned purposefully and strode energetically toward David, lowering his head into the halter, then stepping calmly into the trailer (which he had not done in 5 years). We are happy to have Cloud's vivacious presence in the HEAL herd. He excels at active ground play and riding sessions for many diverse types of clients. And guess what? He adores our elder Gem and has become her gallant protector. Come meet and work with Cloud!
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SPECIAL EFL SESSIONS OPEN TO PUBLIC Great Opportunity October 13-14!
Leigh Shambo & Kathleen Barry Ingram  | HEAL Facilitators in Training are completing their 5-month program, and on 2 days in October (13-14) they will be facilitating 6 private sessions of Equine-Facilitated Learning. So, not only will you have the fresh skills of those who have trained intensively with the powerful team of Leigh Shambo, MSW, LMHC, and Kathleen Barry Ingram, MA, but both of these skilled women will be present to witness and assist you in your experience.
Act Quickly!
With only 6 spots available at this rate of $50 per session, they'll fill quickly. If you would like to be one of the fortunate folks who will enjoy the experience at this amazing rate, please respond right away by e-mailing Ricki Martin, the HEAL Operations Manager. Ricki will be scheduling the sessions. In your response, please include your first and second choice for session dates and times along with your phone number and the best time to call you. We and our students hope to see you here at HEAL during graduation week!
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All content is (c) 2009 Leigh Shambo unless otherwise noted.
Thank you
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