Monday, February 28, 2011

How to Thank a Therapist!

People often come out of horse therapy or equine courses with very thankful spirits. If you've been curious on how to show that appreciation heres some things others have done! :)

 

"I've given small, meaningful gifts... something very appropriate to our therapy, or something meaningful shared... 
To one who worked with me through exposure therapy re being strangled, I gave a warm and funny scarf with a card thanking my Therapist for "saving my neck"."


"I also write how I feel in a blank card and give them that..."

 

"I found a funny "when you know you have a lot in common with someone card". He really appreciated it and when he called to thank me I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was really touched that I had taken the time to do that for him."

"I took my Therapist home baked cake."

 

You can find more at this thread below...

 

http://www.ptsdforum.org/c/threads/how-to-thank-a-therapist.15129/

 

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Painting Therapy?

There are many types of creative therapy, including horse therapy and equine courses, but what about painting? According to this thread...

http://www.ptsdforum.org/c/threads/painting-therapy.12448/

and a few other sources it seems this could catch on. Right now its just a small group of individual people that paint out feelings and try to focus bad ones into better and more productive things. 

As one girl said...

"I have a painting from when I was 15 yrs old hanging on my wall. When I walk past it and look at it, I feel what I did at that age."

Paintings can bring you back to different times in your life whether they are good or bad. When you look back on a painting from the past at a rough time in life, it might make you thankful for where your at now. Or if your going through hard times and look back on a good painting you made in the past, it can renew hope. 

I think it would be great to start seeing Painting Therapy groups start popping up everywhere. It will probably be a while longer before you see this get any bigger, just like it took horse therapy years to "catch on". 

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Other Equine Groups on Facebook!

I don't normally promote other pages or groups, but hey why not :) If you guys like this group please check out these listed below and help give back to the equine and horse therapy community!!

"The University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture has several equine-related pages on Facebook with the latest news and events information. Stay up-to-date with the latest happenings by following their activity on these pages:

Equine InitiativeThe UK Equine Initiative is an overarching framework for all things equine at the University of Kentucky, including the undergraduate degree program, equine-related student organizations, equine research, and outreach activities.

University of Kentucky Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research CenterThe mission of the Gluck Center is scientific discovery, education, and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of the health and well-being of horses. 

Kentucky Equine Networking Association (created by the Kentucky Horse Council and University of Kentucky):The Kentucky Equine Networking Association's (KENA) mission is to provide an educational and social venue for equine professionals and other horse enthusiasts from all disciplines to share ideas and business strategies and obtain current knowledge on horse and farm management with the principal objective of enhancing individual horse ownership and the horse industry at large.

Saddle Up SAFELY: Saddle Up SAFELY is a new rider safety awareness program sponsored by UK HealthCare, UK College of Agriculture, and many community organizations. It aims to make a great sport safer through education about safe riding and horse handling practices."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=17789&source=rss&utm_sour...:+TheHorse/News+(TheHorse.com+-+News)

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Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Books on Horse Behavior

  1. The Ultimate Horse behavior and Training Book
  2. "I found Practical Horse Psychology by Moyra Williams an interesting read. Some the the chapters cover Urges and Instincts, The World as They See it, How Horses Feel plus a few more. ISBN 0 - 87980 - 247 - 2. Book sellers use that number instead of author or title. It's an easy to understand read, not full of technical baffle-gab."
  3. I like all the Mark Rashid books, they are written more like 'stories' than 'manuals' but they give you a good overview of different horses and their different behaviours and how to decipher them.
  4. The Ultimate Horse behavior and Training Book
  5. Understanding Horse Behavior
  6. Horse Behavior Problem Solver

Horse therapy focuses intensely on Horse Behavior and communication so the books listed above can be a great help to anyone looking to get into Equine Jobs.

 

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Positive Orientated Therapy

In this sarcastic article the writer shows you the amazing power of positive orientated therapy. Like horse therapy, when you are doing things in a very posistive way the effects are Long Term. 

"In a recent issue of the Journal of Positive Psychologyresearchers Michael Cohn and Barbara Fredrickson were able to demonstrate the sustainability of positive experiences with subjects who had engaged in loving kindness meditation (LKM). This is the first time researchers from the field of positive psychology have demonstrated that an intervention designed to enhance subjects’ well-being produced sustainable results. Prior to this the positivity of any specific intervention was notable, but its enduring effects were unknown. The researchers were able to show that subjects who used a LKM were able to have more positive experiences (PEs) and that these experiences were sustained for an extended period of time.

In this particular study the effects were measured more than a year after the original introduction of the practice of a LKM. Loving-kindness is the first of a series of meditations that produce four qualities of love: Friendliness, Compassion, Appreciative Joy and Equanimity. The practice begins by developing a loving acceptance of whom you are, and can be thought of as a form of self-therapy.


Negatively Oriented Therapy, NOT, hates this kind of advance in the field of positive psychology. We really do. Good news from them is bad news for us. We don’t like positive psychology and brood over their successes. When they publish something this good we are small-minded and jealous. This gives us the satisfaction of carrying a grudge and keeping our spirits low. But in an unprecedented move we are taking a proactive approach to help spread the sense of misery. Our mission is to sabotage good news and help people languish in a state of helplessness. If we are successful we will not rejoice, but rather find something else to annoy us. Our successes are our failures.In other words, this proves that if you engage in the practices of positive psychology, in this case Loving Kindness Meditation, you are not only likely to feel better initially, you likely will continue to have significant positive value in your life.

 

NOT proposes that such empirically validated progress be counteracted with the identification and promotion of new negative feelings. In the rapidly expanding field of positive psychology, the evidence–based, hard-data, scientific approach needs to be disparaged with shoddily constructed notions and flimsy concepts. Of course dwelling on bad news and ruminating over things outside our control typically keeps us from being enthusiastic about any advances from the positive psychology community. But to keep our spirits and motivation down we want to borrow a concept from the positivists. They promote the notion of “broaden and build” to enhance positive feelings. To keep up, we plan to broaden and build negativity, helplessness, and apathy. Feeling bad about life is an art form we believe in.

Lately the positive psychology scientists are making too good of a stride in their assertions. As a stopgap effort we want to make things up off the top of our heads and hope people will gravitate toward it. Toward this end we declare there are simply not enough negative terms for crummy feelings. The buzzwords of positive psychology — savoring, zest, optimism, and flourishing — are now being used more regularly. New research on the flow experience has bummed us out. We desperately need something to give equal acknowledgment to the evolution of negative feelings. We’ve begun exploring the possibility of a new quasi-miserable feeling, and think we may have hit upon something that will do the trick.

“Craptastic.”

This word seems to be a perfect addition to our endeavor.

The Hiptionary (a dictionary made specifically for slang words) defines “craptastic” as something so extraordinarily bad it is comical. While we certainly don’t wish to introduce merriment into our negatively oriented therapy, we thought something the positives might smirk at and find comical might chip away at their enthusiasm.

Here’s how we recommend you use “craptastic” in your daily vocabulary.

Question: How did it feel to come back from the Bahamas to ice and snow on the roads?
Answer: Craptastic.

Question: You sound like you are coming down with a cold and you look miserable. How do you feel?
Answer: Craptastic.

Question: Guess what? The people from IRS are at the door.
Answer: Craptastic.

You can also mumble or say it to yourself. Here is an example when you may want to say it under your breath. At the coffee shop they give you a coffee and you go over to the station and put in your milk and sugar. You think you have the lid on but when you go to take a sip the coffee spills all over you. What do you say to yourself?

You guessed it.

But more is needed if we are to keep up with the power of loving kindness meditation. The worst part about this type of meditation is that it can be brought into the streets and spread as you walk around with others. We are open to suggestions for new negative feelings.

The researchers from the Journal of Positive Psychology article also found that it wasn’t just LKM that helped people sustain their positive feelings. It was actually any form of meditation. In fact they also noted that the original LKM experience may have “… given people additional energy, optimism, or willingness to experiment…” More bad news for us here at NOT. It just isn’t fair that these people keep finding more evidence to help people change the way they think, and improve the way they feel.

How do we feel about it?

Bingo."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/02/03/negatively-oriented-therapy-...

 Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Family Treatment and Therapy

We get family in equine courses and horse therapy all the time! The turnout is normally....amazing. You get to see how the family operates and in most cases the group will leave the session more as a family than ever. Heres a story of someone who went for help and it helped their family. 

"Looking back at my active addiction I would have to say that my biggest enablers were the ones who really loved me. Whenever I was unable to get my hands on the funds that I needed to support my alcohol addiction and drug abuse I would undoubtedly turn to my family and close friends and tell them some story on why I needed money. I didn’t know it then but essentially my family and loved ones were helping me to continue my addiction.

When I finally made the decision to go to addiction treatment I had no idea that if I were going to be able to achieve long-term quality sobriety I wasn’t the only one who was going to have to change my behavior. The people who supported me throughout my addiction were going to have to change too. The family program offered at the addiction treatment center I attended helped them to learn how to keep healthy boundaries from me.

I have to admit that I was upset when I initially heard the teachings that my loved ones were learning in the drug rehabs family program. In fact it was outright scary. However, now I feel that these lessons have proved to be influential over the past five years as I have moved through life as a sober, productive individual. In the family program my loved ones learned how they could support me and my new found way of life without getting too involved. They learned that even though they could support me emotionally they could not enable me be giving me money or getting me out of trouble. More importantly they were taught that if I did indeed suffer a relapse they would have to separate themselves from me until I was ready to once again get help.

Fortunately, thanks to the teachings in addiction treatment I have not suffered from a relapse. The family program offered at addiction treatment not only taught my family and loved ones how to behave around me but in the end have made us a much closer and tighter nit group."

Source: http://www.recoveryconnection.org/blog/2011/01/an-addiction-treatment-family-...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

Please support us by "Liking" our page at...Horse Therapy

 

 

Monday, February 7, 2011

Resilience and Persistance

Resilience and Persistance are something many horses in horse therapy seem to have, but not many humans! In this article there are some tips for becoming more relilient to small problems in life. The reason I included "persistance" in the title is because many times we do things for self improvement, but quit after about a week! Remember if your going to do something remain persistant!!! :) They say if you do something for 30 days it will become a habit! 

1. Resiliency Means Accepting that All Things are Temporary

Sometimes we get stuck in our lives because we believe something is “forever.” We set ourselves up for this failure by telling ourselves that just because something has always been, it always will be. I think the death of our first parent is often our first wake-up call that things change in life. Nothing is forever.

It helps to put such change into perspective at times that change occurs, and remember that change is a natural progression of life. It doesn’t mean you should give up hope — hope is an important ingredient for our future — but it does mean you have to find a way to accept the inevitability of life’s natural rhythm. Fighting against it leads to hopelessness and feelings of frustration — two things that will make you less resilient, not more so.

2. Self-Aware People are Resilient People

If you approach some task and experience good outcomes time and time again, you begin to see yourself as effective — you get things done. You begin to understand better your own strengths and weaknesses, so when an especially difficult task challenges you, or an unexpected tragedy occurs in your life, you have a greater ability to put it into perspective. As Christy Matta, MA notes in her blog entry about resilience:

If they experience a failure, their confidence in their abilities motivates them to continue to try until they succeed. Very often they do succeed and over a lifetime become proficient in many areas.

On the other hand, doubt in oneself often leads to resignation after unsuccessful first efforts. Those who view themselves as competent and capable also often experience initial failure. The difference is that they maintain a commitment to their goal, even in the face of obstacles. A sense of competence produces continual effort, while feelings of incapability lead to capitulation.

Learn to become more self-aware and self-confident. This doesn’t mean you become a Super Person who can do anything, any time. It simply means you know what you’re good at — what you can do — and so temporary setbacks don’t turn your world upside down. It means building a positive but realistic view of yourself over time.

3. (Some) Adversity Helps You

Coping with a moderate amount of adverse events in one’s life — for instance, the death of a parent or a divorce — may be good for you. Research shows that people who have gone through some such events experience less impairment and distress than someone who’s gone through no adverse events, or someone who’s been through very traumatic events. Don’t hide from adversity — embrace it, in moderation. It will help you hone your coping skills further and better prepare you for the next event.

Adversity not only helps us build our coping skills, it also helps us put things into perspective. A person who hasn’t experienced any adversity in their life is going to have an especially hard time when the first event hits them, especially if it’s not until later in adulthood.

4. Our Social Relationships Bolster Us

Listening — really listening (sometimes called “active listening”) — to others is not only a valuable life skill to learn, it also will make you a more resilient person. Reaching out to others (see below) also helps build your resiliency during tough problem-solving phases in your life.

A good social network is a key component to helping to make you more resilient. Whether its through a group of friends, people from church, a group of people you know only from online or Facebook, or your family, being able to maintain some close relationships with other people helps a person build resilience.

5. Goal Setting and Understanding Your Problems is Important

Resilient people most often have goals — goals in their lives, their careers, their relationships, in practically everything they do. While nobody goes into a relationship expecting it to fail, someone with more resilience not only expects it to succeed, but for both them and their partner’s to grow — intellectually, emotionally, personally — while together. Goals help you move from the “Wouldn’t it be nice…” stage of thinking about something to making it more concrete and achievable.

Virtually all problems have solutions. Even if we don’t understand or see them at first, most problems in our lives can be solved. The resilient person accepts that, and thinks creatively (“outside of the box”) about some solutions that may not be obvious at first. They ask their friends, tap their social networks, and Google until midnight to look for something that may have not been obvious at first. Giving up is easy and simple to do. Working at something takes energy, motivation and effort. But in the end, working at something will also make you a more resilient person."

A Lovely Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/

 

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

Please support us by "Liking" our page at...Horse Therapy

 

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Humans as Rational Animals?

We are generally irrational when making decisions. "we choose the fast, computationally inexpensive strategy — the one that takes our brain less energy to figure out." This is a great article on human rationality by Jamie Hale! Just another reasons why horses are better than humans sometimes as an addictions counselor! Horses are rational animals, which is why we choose horse therapy

What is rationality?

Rationality is concerned with two key things: what is true and what to do (Manktelow, 2004).  In order for our beliefs to be rational they must be in agreement with evidence.  In order for our actions to be rational they must be conducive to obtaining our goals.

 

Cognitive scientists generally identify two types of rationality: instrumental and epistemic (Stanovich, 2009). Instrumental rationality can be defined as adopting appropriate goals, and behaving in a manner that optimizes one’s ability to achieve goals. Epistemic rationality can be defined as holding beliefs that are commensurate with available evidence. This type of rationality is concerned with how well our beliefs map onto the structure of the world.   Epistemic rationality is sometimes called evidential rationality or theoretical rationality. Instrumental and epistemic rationality are related.  In order to optimize rationality one needs adequate knowledge in the domains of logic, scientific thinking, and probabilistic thinking.   A wide variety of cognitive skills fall within these broad domains of knowledge.

Characteristics of rational thought

  • Adaptive behavioral acts
  • Judicious decision-making
  • Efficient behavioral regulation
  • Realistic goal prioritization
  • Proper belief formation
  • Reflectivity

(Characteristics taken from Stanovich, 2009, p.15)

Irrationality and intelligence

Why do we act and behave irrationally?

There are two issues that contribute to our irrational behavior — a processing problem and a content problem. The processing problem refers to how our brain processes new, incoming information. When choosing what strategies to apply when solving a problem, we generally choose the fast, computationally inexpensive strategy — the one that takes our brain less energy to figure out.

Although we have strategies that have great power, they are more computationally expensive, are slower, and require more concentration than the faster cognitively thrifty strategies. Humans naturally default to the processing mechanisms that require less effort, even if they are less accurate. Individuals with high IQs are no less likely to be cognitive misers than those with lower IQs.

A second source of irrational thinking — the content problem — can occur when we lack specific knowledge to think and behave rationally. David Perkins, a Harvard cognitive scientist, refers to “mindware” as rules, strategies, and other cognitive tools that must be retrieved from memory to think rationally (Perkins, 1995; Stanovich, 2009). Think of “mindware” as a human being’s software — the programming that makes our brains run.

The absence of knowledge in areas important to rational thought creates a mindware gap. These important areas are not adequately assessed by typical intelligence tests. Mindware necessary for rational thinking is often missing from the formal education curriculum. It is not unusual for individuals to graduate from college with minimal knowledge in areas that are crucial for the development of rational thinking. Another type of content problem, mindware contamination, occurs when one has acquired mindware that thwarts our goals and causes irrational action.

There have been a variety of tests developed to assess rational thinking skills. Utilizing tests of rationality are just as important as using intelligence tests. Rational thinking skills can be learned, and with the development of rational thinking skills we can expect better judgment and decision making in everyday life.

Irrational thinking has a big impact in our lives. Because of irrational thinking “physicians choose less effective medical treatments; people fail to accurately assess risks in their environment; information is misused in legal proceedings;” (Stanovich, 2009), millions of dollars are spent on useless programs, services and products in government and private industry; millions and millions of dollars are spent on dietary supplements; and the list goes on.

 

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/01/31/are-we-rational-animals/

 

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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