Equine Therapy

Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) will be practiced at Equi-Veda Wellness Centre in Fort Erie.  EAT is utilized to treat various mental health conditions such as anxiety, ADHD, eating disorders, addiction, and depression, promoting confidence, self-awareness, and empathy among patients. An equine-assisted therapy session involves a client engaging in caretaking activities with a horse, guided by an equine specialist. This can include grooming, feeding, and leading the horse around an enclosure. More complex activities may involve creating an obstacle course. The mental health professional and client discuss the session, lessons learned, and target behaviors or emotions for the next session. EAT generally consists of: a series of consistent weekly sessions, youth in interactions with an individual horse assessed as a therapy animal, and incorporating a trained and regulated mental health professional in guiding the youth through observation, identification, self-reflection and reframing.

 

Animal Integrated Programs

Pathstone Mental Health continues to embed innovative, and evidence-based therapies to support our young people and families to thrive. Pathstone has introduced Animal Integrated Interventions. This is a broad term that is commonly used to describe the use of various animals in animal assisted therapy. Animal integrated interventions are goal-directed interventions which can be an integral part of the treatment process. They are designed to promote improvement in human physical, social, emotional or cognitive function. Facility animal are expertly trained to partner with a handler and are committed to serving their clients.