Animal-Assisted Psychotherapy by Parish-Plass Nancy;

Animal-Assisted Psychotherapy by Parish-Plass Nancy;

Author:Parish-Plass, Nancy;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Purdue University Press


The Therapeutic Setting of the Stable and Its Surroundings

In the literature there are different approaches regarding the importance of the physical setting in therapy (Jung, 1963; Wolfberg, 1954). In EFP great significance is placed on the setting, which is an integral part of the process. EFP is practiced in a unique therapeutic setting that includes the stable and its surroundings and the available natural environment, offering an opportunity to use its advantages and confront its limitations.

A client approaching the stable can hide the fact that he or she is attending therapy. This is especially important when dealing with adolescents, who are facing identity formation and object to being labeled “patients.” The client and therapist can choose to have a session in a certain location that will have a symbolic meaning and implications for the therapeutic process. For example, a horse stall may be experienced as an intimate, protective, and homelike setting for one client, whereas for another this same location may threaten and project suffocation or stress.

Riding outside of the stable premises usually takes place in natural surroundings, which can be very relaxing, as a nonthreatening environment that promotes openness. Time off from daily stress encourages the client to listen to and connect to the physical and mental self. Therapy carried out in a nontraditional environment (outside a clinic) enables different aspects of the client to emerge and be expressed within an experience of freedom and open space (Bachi, 2000).

Nonetheless, providing EFP in nature can pose difficulties in creating intimacy and protection in an open setting with no physical boundaries, necessitating the establishment of virtual boundaries.



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