17th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 18-20, 2018 • Denver, CO
| Equine Therapy: A Foundation for Family and Infant Well-Being
Equine Therapy: A Foundation for Family and Infant Well-Being
Most commonly, equine therapy, or hippotherapy, is used as a term for equine-assisted activities (specifically occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy). However, equine therapy can include these components while exploring psychological, emotional, and relational issues, including attachment repair. Ruptures in bonding and attachment are a fact of life. How we carry these messages in ourselves, and how we reinforce these messages in others is optional. Many parents experience a (temporary) rupture in providing bonding and attachment for their deaf and hard-of-hearing infants and toddlers, associated with the common grief response or other stressors. Unfortunately, in the general population non-secure attachment has been linked to many negative outcomes (e.g. higher rates of substance abuse, mental illness, suicidality, poor academic achievement, etc.). With equine therapy, we can efficiently support parents as they support their children. Due to the poignancy of equine therapy interventions, equine therapy can optimally support emotional regulation, nervous system regulation, emotional availability, and healthy responsiveness to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. The therapeutic metaphors and parallels between parenting/leadership and horsemanship are profound.
This poster contains a handful of underlying beliefs. Attachment can be ruptured when parents receive a deaf/hard-of-hearing diagnosis of their child (influenced by grief). Secure attachment is based on learning that the world is safe and that one is intrinsically okay (acceptable). One’s sense of safety and acceptability can be objectively seen in both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system arousal and subjectively seen through self-reports of well-being. An infant’s sense of safety and acceptability are enmeshed in the caregivers’ sense of safety and acceptability (due to lack of differentiation and autonomy at this stage of development). Attachment ruptures can be healed. Equine therapy and wilderness therapy can be particularly supportive for attachment work and infant mental health (as documented by their impact on physiological measures).
- Participants will learn about the physiological and relational benefits of equine therapy.
- Participants will be able to identify the relationship among bonding ruptures, trauma, and secure attachment.
- Participants will learn about nervous system regulation and its impacts on infants and young children.
Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded or the speaker has opted not to make the presentation available online.
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Jessica Dallman
(), Natural Wisdom Counseling LLC, jessicadallmancounseling@gmail.com;
Jessica Dallman is a tri-lingual (English, ASL, Spanish) multicultural counselor based out of Wisconsin. Jess is passionate about weaving together trainings as a wilderness/equine therapist (Naropa University), special education teacher (Teach for America), early interventionist (Gallaudet University), and infant mental health clinical mentor (UW-Madison) to serve clients and the community. They have an interdisciplinary, relational, and social justice framework that she brings to all of their work. Jess launched the Wisconsin Hawthorn Project, a free trauma-informed care resource for agencies that serve children and families, and provides Reflective Supervision/Consultation to organizations serving young children.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Receives Salary for Employment from NCHAM (Elizabeth Seeliger).
Receives Salary for Employment from NCHAM (Elizabeth Seeliger).
Receives Salary for Ownership from Natural Wisdom Counseling (Jessica Dallman).
Receives Salary for Ownership from Natural Wisdom Counseling (Jessica Dallman).
Nonfinancial -