A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE EFFECTS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY ...

5.1.1 Adjunctive Uses
Interventions employing equines have been applied across age groups and cultures (Dell
et al, 2008) to a wide array of clinical difficulties and challenges; it has been applied in work with
children and adults, individuals, families (Kersten, 1997; Thomas, 2002) and groups (Trotter,
2008; Vidrine et al, 2002), and is not gender-specific. This treatment approach has been used to
address mental health and human development issues including emotional disorders (Ewing et
al, 2007; Greenwald, 2001; Iannone, 2003), behavioral issues (Antoon & Basile, 1996; Bowers,
2001; Tetreault, 2006), attentional difficulties (Beckman-Devik & Ansin, 2008; Gamache, 2004;
Zanin, 1997), substance abuse and addiction disorders (Dell; Hazelden, 2007), eating disorders
(Christian, 2005; Colclasure, 2004; Cumelia, ; Lutter, 2008), depression (Bray, 2002; Frame,
2006), anxiety (Moreau & McDaniel, 2000), relationship problems (Russell-Martin, 2006), and
difficulties related to abuse and trauma (Yorke, 1997; 2008; Yorke et al 2008). It has been applied
to populations ranging from at-risk youths (Chandler, 2005; Cole, 2005; Hayden, 2005; Kaiser et
al, 2006; Sapir, 2007; Washburn, 2004) to the terminally ill (Haylock & Cantril, 2006). Horseassisted
interventions have been used in residential settings with children and the elderly (All,
Loving & Crane, 1999), hospices and hospitals (Boysen, 1985), and prisons (Cushing & Williams,
1995).
While typically interventions which include horses are brief and experiential in nature
(Klontz et al, 2007), theoretical and clinical orientations that have successfully incorporated
equines include cognitive behavior therapy (Eggiman, 2006; Frame, 2006), humanistic and
transpersonal psychology (Tramutt, 2003), and psychodynamic therapy (Karol, 2007).
Psychotherapy which employs horses in the treatment plan is a non-traditional form of therapy
that, by its very nature, may be appealing and relevant to client populations not otherwise
amenable to traditional office-based forms of therapy. Pending further research, it may be that
this form of therapy is particularly useful for certain clinical populations.
The quality of the therapeutic relationship has been described as the most significant
factor in successful outcomes (Lambert& Bergin, 1994); It may be that horses facilitate the
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