Flint Hills to Expand Services EAGALA to Be Offered in 2009! While many folks are familiar with horses used in therapeutic riding and hippo therapy, not everyone has heard of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) and Equine Assisted Learning (EAL). Both are non-traditional mental health approaches to helping individuals meet treatment or learning goals.  This summer Flint Hills will begin offering a specific form of EAP known as EAGALA.  EAGALA which stands for Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association was founded in 1999 and is currently practiced around the globe.  It has members in all 50 U.S. states and in 33 countries.  The EAGALA model is one of several forms of EAP currently being practiced to help those with mental health or emotional issues.  It can also be utilized for clients with marital or family issues. Other applications include team building exercise for businesses wanting to improve employee communication, problem solving, and productivity.  Like traditional forms of therapy, EAGALA can and is used to help people dealing with a wide variety of problems including addictions, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and anger management issues, as well as abuse victims, troubled teens, and those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Two questions often asked regarding this form of therapy are: How does EAP work? And Why use horses?  EAP is experiential therapy which incorporates horses in ground exercises only-no riding is involved!  Working with horses takes not only effort and work but also problem solving. People learn lessons and skills during EAP sessions which they can apply to their own life.  Also important in this process is the fact that horses have the ability to mirror human body language and to read human emotions.  To quote the EAGALA website, “Horses are very much like humans in that they are social animals. They have distinct personalities, attitudes, and moods…horses provide vast opportunities for metaphorical learning.”  The EAGALA model requires two team members: a mental health specialist (MH) and an equine specialist (ES). The MH specialist is a licensed mental health provider who plans and facilitates the session according to the goals and needs of the clients. The ES is responsible for selecting and handling the horses used during the sessions and ensuring the safety of both client and horse. The ES must have a minimum of 6,000 hours of hands-on experience working with horses and 100 hours of continuing education in the horse profession. The continuing education must include ground work experience, horse psychology, and the ability to read horse body language/nonverbal communication. Both the MH and the ES must successfully complete EAGALA workshops to obtain EAGALA certification. Furthermore, membership in EAGALA and twenty hours of continuing education every two years are also required to practice this form of equine assisted psychotherapy. Practitioners must also adhere to a strict code of professional ethics to ensure the safety, well-being, and privacy of the clients. This past March Brigitta Bogan, Valerie Taylor, and Theresa Flaigle, LBSW completed a three day EAGALA workshop.  When they complete part two of this workshop in July they will earn Level I EAGALA certification. FHTRC hosted EAGALA sessions this summer to Breakthrough Club members and hope to soon be able to host soldiers dealing with PTSD. For more information call FH @ 733-8943.  More information on EAGALA is available on their website at www.eagala.org.