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Your Donations Change Lives
Because of the tremendous amount of pressure that COVID-19 continues to press on daily life, young and old are suffering from anxiety and helplessness. Therefore, EAD continues to provide critical mental health services on site with our horses for those in crisis. Your one time, monthly or annual donations will be used to care for our horses, staff, those in need, essential workers and programming throughout 2021.
EAD's 10th Anniversary
2021 marks Equine Assisted Development's tenth year operating as a non-profit and fifth year serving at the Grand Rapids, location.
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2021 theme: Braveheart
Horses are strong and have big hearts and they encourage us to to be brave in life whatever we're facing and to attend to the condition of our hearts.
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COMING SOON
Open for Therapy
EAD is open earlier in the season this year offering a variety of individual and group programming and horse therapy events available to the public.
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Equine assisted therapy is unique and universal in its ability to make a positive impact on every individual who works with our horses, providing healing to various forms of trauma. EAD wants to bring hope to our clients, our city and our community.
Our most critical equine therapy and equine learning work is done with at-risk clients referred to us by outside agencies throughout West Michigan (such as Manasseh Project, Family Outreach Center, Arbor Circle and public schools with high at-risk populations). Many of our clients have troubled histories including: abuse, sex trafficking, addiction challenges, low self-worth, mental illness, behavioral and identity issues.
What does equine assisted
psychotherapy look like?
Our evidence based equine therapy experiential programs are interactive through a variety of non-riding activities. All of our EAP equine therapy sessions are facilitated by a certified equine specialist and a therapist who help process activities and emotions with participants. Most sessions are 45 minutes and cater to the client's specific needs.
How does equine (horse) therapy work?
Using dialog, horse-centered activities, observation and open-ended questions, clients discover perceptions and mental processes behind their beliefs and actions. Equine therapy helps people tell their story and find their own solutions in a non-judgmental, emotionally safe place - an arena and farm, right in the city, right where you are.
What is equine therapy's impact on mental health?
Sessions take place in the barn, arena or pasture. Each session builds upon the last to help create new neural pathways in the brain. Client's engage critical thinking, decision-making, communication and self-awareness skills, observing how horses mirror perceptions and mental processes behind their beliefs and actions.