Equine Therapy for the Treatment of Alcoholism and Addictions
Our patients have access to various therapies, including horse-assisted therapy for addiction treatment. This is an innovative technique in addiction rehabilitation, where the horse acts as a co-therapist.
Direct contact with the horse enhances impulse control and awareness of the present situation, while also helping to improve different areas, such as motor and sensory skills.
Rehabilitation Center with Equine Therapy for Addicts in Lima, Peru
The use of equine therapy for addiction treatment involves taking the patient out of their usual therapeutic environment, as it is an outdoor treatment technique. Equine therapy in addiction rehabilitation uses the horse as a co-therapist, being a socially accepted, interesting, peaceful, docile animal with a variable temperament. It serves as a great option within the rehabilitation program, allowing for group work, outdoor activities, and contact with nature, which is very different from traditional therapy.
"Horses provide an alternative to overcoming fear and building self-confidence."
Research shows that horses offer a natural opportunity to overcome fear and develop self-confidence while providing benefits such as fostering self-control and autonomy, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms, and improving interpersonal relationships by providing tools for conflict resolution, among others.
Contact with horses induces relaxation and reduces anxiety, helping patients disconnect from daily worries and routines. This technique increases self-confidence and self-esteem.
At Opción de Vida, we are pioneers in using horse-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of addictions.
Our high-quality treatments are delivered by a team consisting of a mental health professional, an equine specialist, and a horse, all working together to achieve our therapeutic goals.
Features of Our Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy Program (EAP)
- Sessions with personalized goals.
- Groundwork activities with the horse.
- Therapeutic exercises on horseback.
- Area exclusively designed for this work.
- Highly qualified instructors.
- Psychological supervision to track progress.
Why Choose Us?
Our team consists of highly qualified and experienced professionals.
Our center has all the necessary features to complement the best service.
A diet tailored to meet individual nutritional needs.
A program approved and evaluated by national and international institutions.
Structured, observable, and evaluable phases to motivate progress.
Mental health professionals provide support throughout the resident's stay.
EQUINE THERAPY FOR ADDICTIONS AT ODV
Our Addiction Treatment Service with Equine Therapy
Opción de Vida offers specialized treatments to help patients with the rehabilitation of self-destructive behaviors. Equine therapy, also known as horse-assisted therapy, involves activities and exercises with horses.
This type of therapy is suitable for individuals with addiction problems as it helps increase confidence, self-esteem, and positive attitudes, while also fostering better self-acceptance and improving verbal and non-verbal communication.
On a social level, it promotes respect, responsibility, care, and positive attitudes, all of which contribute to the reintegration of the individual into their family environment.
What Is the Relationship Between Addiction and Equine Therapy?
Addiction often leads individuals to manipulate their environment to obtain rewards from others, lying to themselves and avoiding unpleasant emotions. When interacting with a horse, these behaviors lose their importance, as individuals face their own way of relating to themselves and others without the possibility of evasion.
People with addiction often justify their erratic behaviors by blaming others, including the horse, saying it’s “untrainable” or “it doesn’t like me,” just as they face their surroundings. In this case, the horse responds directly to how we treat it, requiring sincerity, empathy, and genuine interest in the other.
For calls and information via WhatsApp, click here.
Why Is Equine Therapy Necessary for Addiction Treatment?
Addiction treatment requires constant innovation and the integration of new strategies, techniques, and methods to increase its effectiveness. One such strategy is incorporating horses into the treatment team. Horses respond to non-verbal communication and cannot be manipulated verbally, requiring genuine interactions. Horses react to our sensations, emotions, thoughts, and actions.
For calls and information via WhatsApp, click here.
What Does Equine Therapy Involve in Addiction Treatment?
La relación con el caballo es realizada de manera no verbal, lo cual invita a participar de acciones corporales, posturales, actitudinales afín de lograr realizar la tarea encomendada, el caballo responde al aspecto corporal y actitudinal, depende cómo actuamos para que responda de manera efectiva; este aspecto convoca a auto observarnos y corregir nuestro comportamiento para lograr la acción encomendada al equino.
What Is the Difference Between Equine Therapy and Horseback Riding in Addiction Treatment?
Horse-assisted therapy is a modality that includes a horse for personal and emotional development. It focuses on activities and exercises, both groundwork and riding, and differs from traditional horseback riding. The goal is for the patient to become aware of their own process. Through interaction with the horse, aspects such as self-awareness, self-esteem, personal confidence, socialization, responsibility, and empathy are developed. It allows direct access to emotions, bypassing psychological defenses, helping patients discover aspects of themselves, their feelings, behaviors, and behavior patterns.
For calls and information via WhatsApp, click here.
Why Use Equine Therapy for Addiction?
Equine therapy involves establishing a relationship between the person and the horse. Everything observed in this interaction relates to the person’s behavior. Through this relationship, the patient can connect and become aware of their emotions and thoughts in the present moment.
The patient steps out of their usual addiction treatment environment. Through the bond established with the horse, attention is focused on oneself and the surrounding environment in the present.
The key principles of equine therapy that support addiction recovery are:
- Focus on the here and now: Living in the present.
- Learning through experience: The patient learns from their interactions with the horse.
- Personal responsibility: The patient is solely responsible for the horse’s reactions. They cannot blame the horse; their behavior generates the horse’s responses.
For calls and information via WhatsApp, click here.
Why Do Horses Help Addicts Therapeutically?
Horses are social animals that maintain relationships within a herd. However, they do not communicate as humans do; their forms of communication are simpler.
When a person establishes a relationship with a horse, they must adapt their communication to the horse’s language to create a bond of understanding.
For someone struggling with addiction, behaviors such as manipulation, deception, and emotional avoidance become more pronounced due to the difficulty in addressing them. In equine therapy, these behaviors are “dismantled,” and the patient returns to their true self, without the possibility of manipulation or deceit.
Horses are highly sensitive to human emotions and respond to them automatically, even if the person tries to hide their feelings.
A responsive horse acts as an emotional mirror, constantly reflecting how the person feels and behaves during the session. Verbal communication means nothing to the horse; it responds to non-verbal cues, which come from the person’s emotions.
For calls and information via WhatsApp, click here.
What Is the Relationship Between Emotions and Equine Therapy?
Horses are incredibly sensitive to human emotions and respond to them automatically, even if the person tries to hide their true feelings.
A responsive horse will act as an emotional mirror, reflecting the person’s emotions and actions during each session. The horse responds to non-verbal communication, reacting to aspects the person may not be consciously aware of. These reactions are a clear indicator of how the person feels about themselves and their relationship with the world.
For calls and information via WhatsApp, click here.
Benefits of Equine Therapy for Addiction
Immediate satisfaction and impulse control are achieved through therapeutic horseback riding and horse-assisted addiction therapy.
Equine therapy for addiction is extremely beneficial both psychologically and physically. It promotes neuromuscular, emotional, and cognitive development by fostering a healthy interaction with the horse.
Horses require consistency and discipline, whether grooming them or working with them. This contrasts with addiction, where instant gratification and the “easy way out” are the norm. Most importantly, horses reflect human body language.
Advantages of Equine Therapy for Addiction Patients:
- Disconnect from worries.
- Realization of how they communicate with their surroundings.
- Development of skills to improve functioning in daily life.
- Improved self-esteem and self-confidence.
- Enhanced self-control and autonomy.
For calls and information via WhatsApp, click here.
Where Is Our Equine Therapy Rehabilitation Center?
We are located at Avenue Escala Baja with, La Huaca, Mala 15608. We also welcome patients from Amazonas, Áncash, Apurímac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Callao, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huánuco, Ica, Junín, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Moquegua, Pasco, Piura, Puno, San Martín, Tacna, Tumbes, Ucayali, and throughout Latin America.
At Opción de Vida, we also treat patients from Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, the United States, and Switzerland.
START A LIFE FREE
FROM ADDICTIONS
Contact us to begin your admission process at Opción de Vida.
