Humans Aren’t the Only Ones Who Can Help Heal Trauma
Nature and animals can help too
I work in the fast-expanding field of nature and animal assisted therapies and learning. I have done so for over 12 years. My specialty is equine assisted interventions, supporting healing from stress and trauma.
I also combine nature and animal assisted interventions with bottom-up approaches like movement-based modalities, mindfulness, and expressive arts.
Why do I work in this field? Why do I spend so much time thinking about it, educating on it, researching it, writing about it, advocating for it, developing programs for it? Expanding on theories for this field?
It is not because I love animals and especially horses (I do), or because I love being out in nature (I do that, too). It is because I know it works.
And I know that a lot of traditional “help” for people with severe trauma does not help. But instead, often adds to the hurt and suffering, pain and confusion that survivors of long-term abuse and neglect, attachment and developmental trauma, live with (as did I).
Why is it working?
A great deal of that why is because it offers more relational opportunities, that are less threatening than relationships with other humans.
