Thanks to Mac, my friend on Facebook, I learned about this wonderful program that uses Equine Assisted Therapy to help veterans with PTSD.
Suze Maze, a licensed clinical social worker, offers this program for soldiers stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia in the Warriors in Transition Program.
"I've always wanted to come back and work with the military...Equine Rescue of Aiken [South Carolina] is a perfect match. We have horses who need healing and we have soldiers and people who need healing."
She goes on to describe the special power horses have...
"...they all have their own style of therapy that they like to work with. One horse likes to work with people who have Attention Deficit Disorder, another works with those who have mental challenges; [the horses] migrate toward them. I worked with civilians in Kentucky. We have a conscious mind, things that we're aware of, and we have [the] sub-conscious and unconscious. The horses seem to be able to get at that innate sub-conscious...things the person being treated may not recognize. It makes people think outside the box to come up with their own solutions."
Suze Maze has what it takes to be a qualified equine therapist. On her Facebook profile page, she says, "After a forced retirement from riding racehorses for 20+ years, then pursuit of a professional career as a licensed clinical social worker, I am now able to combine them both with Equine Assisted Psychotherapy."
Anyone wanting to learn more about this particular program could contact Suze directly at Operation Open Arms. You can get more information about other Equine Assisted Therapy programs at the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association website (EAGALA). They have programs around the world.
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