Connections Equine Therapy in Arizona is expanding its "Downrange Program" for the fall season. This program is designed to help veterans and/or their family members. It's about having a place for them to meet and network with other veterans and their families while working with the horses to address issues that may be complicating their lives.
Learning to meet challenges with aid of horses
The focus of equine-assisted work is to engage in creative activities with the horses that require problem solving and responding to challenges that carry over into every-day life.
Connections Equine Therapy Program was founded by Andrea Baldwin in March of 2000, in Cornville, Arizona. It now serves Northern Arizona's Verde Valley, Connections provides therapeutic riding classes, equine assisted learning and equine assisted psychotherapy.
According to their website, their participants are courageous individuals with a wide range of mild to profound challenges and disabilities. They range in age from toddlers to seniors, and once they are aboard their equine partner, the challenges of their lives seem transformed.
Connections Equine Therapy is now offering a program to help develop the coping mechanisms needed to succeed with the transition from military life to civilian life.
The focus of equine-assisted work is to engage the client in creative activities with the horses that require problem solving and responding to challenges which may create emotional triggers. It is an experiential and solution-oriented approach that encourages clients to seek creative and functional ways to deal with unfamiliar tasks and develop insights based on their own reactions to the situations.
In the context of addressing the need of veterans, some of the specific goals are:
- Recognition of coping strengths and abilities
- Development of further coping strategies
- Awareness of trauma
- Acknowledgement and addressing of ability to adapt
- Acceptance of impact on life
Statistics show that many veterans are seriously at risk for suicide, divorce, violence, mistreatment of family members and mental disorders that make life a challenge after
multiple deployments have taken their toll and created these statistics.
The veterans that the staff at Connections interviewed provided the framework needed to tailor a program to their unique needs. Beginning this fall, veterans and their families can take advantage of opportunities to develop the resources needed to meet the changing challenges in their lives.
Learn more about the available programs by calling 928-539-0791 or email Connections@commspeed.net. These sessions are provided to veterans and their families at no cost.