One of the therapies in use at Oklahoma drug rehab centers is equine or horse therapy. The bond between horses and humans has existed for thousands of years. While this may be a relatively new type of treatment in addiction recovery, it works by allowing you to form close bonds with the animals and to gain some insight into your thoughts and feelings. It may also help improve your self-confidence and teach you new ways to cope. Working with the horses even has physical benefits in that it can relieve stress, lower your blood pressure, reduce anxiety, and help with symptoms of depression.
How it Works
Each session lets you focus on establishing a bond with the horse by interacting and caring for it during your recovery. Horses are kind and compassionate animals and respond well to human care and will reciprocate in kind. Since they are pack animals, they are particularly suited to feeling and responding to your mood whether it be sadness, joy, or fear. While you may struggle when you first start working with a horse, once you begin to open up the horse will become more patient with you and understanding.
Helps to Build Healthy Relationships
Some of the things that are most important during your recovery are learning how to build trust, set boundaries, and how to communicate better. Working with the horses in Oklahoma drug rehab centers allows you to learn and to strengthen the skills in a nonjudgmental and safe environment. If you have been addicted for a while, chances are that you have cut yourself off from society. In equine therapy, how you treat the animal will either elicit a positive or negative response. In that way, you will better learn how your behavior affects the people around you. The Vizown Advanced Residential Treatment and Recovery Center for Women offers equine therapy and believes that it is one of the crucial tools in the recovery process.
the recovery process.
