Excerpt from: Psych Central (click for full article)
In 2008, at the East Mountain Youth Lodge, Dr. JoAnn Jarolmen, a social worker, conducted a pilot study on equine therapy for troubled youth. She studied 13 teenagers who took part in a program called HorseTime, founded by Kathy Krupa, an Equine Growth and Learning association certified instructor, and found that, after working with the horses, the teenagers were less angry and aggressive, improved their relationships with their parents and peers and had fewer suicidal tendencies.
And perhaps not surprisingly, the public is quite supportive of the idea of using horses to prevent suicide. Veteran Rescue Equine Therapy Ranch recently used Stay Classy, a crowd supported fundraising site to fund their equine therapy program, quickly reaching their target goal of $500,000.
A 2005 study conducted by a Masters student at Denver seminary for the degree of Counseling Psychotherapy also had similar findings, as at-risk adolescents, age 12-18 who participated in an equine-assisted therapy program demonstrated better psychosocial functioning compared to those who did not. While improved psychosocial functioning will not guarantee reduced suicide risk, it can certainly be considered to be associated with it.
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