Typical session

 

Participants and horses move freely in an arena of 20/40 m. the horses may approach the soldiers or may stay away from them, they may approach one of them or the whole group or may stay away from them at free will. The therapeutic team may encourage an interaction with a horse while the soldiers are walking around.

An experienced observer may notice during this interaction a communication pattern of any given participant. Does he stand quietly and expect the horse to come to him? Does he approach the horse from the front, from the side or from the rear.

Does he touch the horse and where, does he get frustrated if the horse does not respond or does he get annoyed. Does he try to use force to move the horse, does he try different methods. Does he approach the therapeutic team for help.

 

Process of the intervention: the first interaction of the participant with the horse represents the way he approaches others in life.

Often the participant will identify with some behavioral trait of the horse and will say: "he is just like my friend in my unit, my commander, my mother…"

The team uses This metaphor to enable the participant to acknowledge the way he has chosen to communicate with the horse and to open the door for him to make subtle changes in his behavior.

 

It will be both personal and group treatment.

At the end of the program there will be an open feedback discussion and personal feedback session with the participants in order to recommend further treatment if necessary.