Don't like the idea of talking to a counsellor?
Not a problem, talk to a horse instead!
Rachel Cox
Last Update 2 years ago
Sarah came to me on the advice of a friend's mum and she suffered from social anxiety, mild low mood and lack of confidence, she was especially worried at the time because she was about to start work experience at a cafe where she would have to take on instructions quickly and speak to lots of people in a day.
When she arrived, she hid behind her friend and could barely even say "hello" - so we went straight up to the field where I picked out Forty for her session.
Why Forty?
Well, I placed Sarah next to Forty's head on the other side of her body from me and I stood back at the shoulder and said to Sarah - talk to her, I can't even hear anything, I've not got my hearing aids in and so whatever you say I can't hear so you're just talking to the horse ......!
It always gets a bit of a smile which helps relax people :)
So Sarah stands looking at Forty who looks back at her and then she turns to her ear and starts to barely more than a whisper tell her of what her fears are and how scared she is that she's going to have to talk to people and let everyone down at her job ...
After a short period of time, maybe 5 minutes, Forty gently moves her head around Sarah's back and encircles the space with her neck - so that Sarah is now on the same side of her head as me, and we are about 1m apart, so as Sarah has got into the flow of talking and expressing her concerns, instead of whispering them into Forty's ear, she is now encircled with her neck to hold her and support her as she continues talking about what she's feeling directly to me - and allowing me to ask questions and to hear what she is saying.
Whilst being physically protected from everyone else - just me and Sarah encircled by a horse - talking about her worries and fears and addressing those and making inroads on how we can start to deal with them and work through the underlying negative feelings that she is holding in her head and letting overrun.
Oh yes, and as for the confidence, in that same session, Sarah started to lead Forty around the field, away from me, away from the other horses and, after a couple of times, I told her Forty doesn't really like going for walks on her own - so she's won over her trust and put her confidence into Sarah - and the beam of a smile I got lit up the sky!