Communicating Resilience among Adolescents with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) through Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP)

Abstract

This qualitative study explored communicative processes of resilience in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) among young women with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Utilizing communicative resilience, findings suggest that adults, peers, and equines assist adolescents in (a) crafting normalcy, (b) building new communication networks, (c) legitimizing negative feelings while foregrounding positive action, (d) putting alternative logics to work through goal-oriented talk, and (e) cultivating identities of empowerment. Communication messages and processes in equine assisted therapy are considered, specifically, how relationship building with humans and equines fosters resilience among adolescents with ACEs.

Keywords:

• Adverse Childhood Experiences
• communication resilience
• equine-assisted psychotherapy
• human and horse interaction
• qualitative interview

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the editor and reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. We also wish to thank the research participants and the community program who so graciously helped us complete this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) began in Europe (Tyler, 1994) as a new model for therapy in substance abuse programs, helping families of delinquents, and helping children with attention deficit disorders (Frewin & Gardiner, 2005). In the United States, the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association (EFMHA) was created in 1996 as a branch of the NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) in order to develop and regulate professional and ethical standards of equine assisted psychotherapy. Although many different modalities of EAP exist, a few programs are most commonly used for youth exhibiting maladaptive behaviors, OK Corral (“O.K. Corral Series,” 2016), EAGALA (i.e., Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association), (“The EAGALA Model,” 2016), and TF-EAP (Trauma Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (“What makes us different,” 2016).

2. Relationship building behaviors were observed and described by participants in the following ways, (a) the “join up,” (b) working “at liberty,” and (c) rhythmic riding. The researcher engaged in extensive note taking during these activities. Additional analytic memos (Lindlof & Taylor, 2019) were written, drawing on interpersonal communication concepts and theories. The “join up,” was a conversation initiation ritual, used to gain the horse’s attention without a halter or lead, with one’s nonverbal body language. The horse indicated attention through pointed ears, synchronous movement, body positioning, and allowing the human to approach without running away. Once the join up was successful, one worked with the horses “at liberty,” using nonverbal cues to initiate and sustain movement from the horse (e.g., attachment/detachment behaviors, circling gait in the arena, directing movement without being tethered to the horse with a rope or lead). This activity represented “working on the relationship” with the horse, or relational choice. It manifested through synchronicity of partners, humans not forcing the nonhuman animal to comply through ropes, whips, or forced pressure. Additionally, rhythmic riding, running with or riding the horse in tandem, encouraged teamwork and interactional synchrony between girl and horse. Mental health professionals and equine specialists assisted clients in these interpretation processes, fostering relationship building processes among humans, as well.