Program Ideas from DreamPower Horses for Heroes. Martha C. McNiel, LMFT, TRI, CEIP-MH

Transcription

1 1 Program Ideas from DreamPower Horses for Heroes Presented by Martha McNiel, LMFT, TRI, CEIP-MH at the PATH Intl. Horses for Heroes Pre-Conference November 8, 2011 Lexington, Kentucky I. DreamPower Horses for Heroes Programs A. EFP Groups for OEF/OIF Veterans B. GWOT Day at the Ranch C. Horses for Heroes with Heart Couples Communication Workshops D. Family Fun Days E. Individual and Family EFP (equine facilitated psychotherapy) for children, teens, adults and families F. Individual OT (occupational therapy) G. Volunteers II. EFP Groups for OEF/OIF Veterans Target participants: OEF/OIF veterans who are living at home in the community (if they are in treatment, it is outpatient services) A. What worked 1. Short-term groups (4-5 weeks) 2. Focusing on developing riding skills 3. Allowing reasonable risks for active young adults (they cantered in 4 weeks!) 4. Lots of action very little talking when does the therapy happen? 5. Don t expect them to show up before 11:00 am! 6. Don t compete with college schedules (they won t come) 7. Include lots of competitive activities and competitive riding games 8. Using vets as volunteers (we only use veterans as volunteers for these groups) 9. Being flexible to meet the group where they were at on a particular day 10. Allowing the vets to talk as much or as little as they chose 11. Reaching out to vets via and Facebook, especially those we were concerned about 12. Using the book Down Range to Iraq and Back by Bridget C. Cantrell as a guide and giving copies of the book to every veteran, staff and volunteer who wanted one (we bought used copies on amazon.com) 13. Having a licensed psychotherapist who is also a vet lead the discussions 14. Developing a good relationship with local Vet Centers for recruiting 15. Including spouses and children on the last day as a Family Fun Day 16. Developing individual relationships with each veteran, getting to know them, letting them know we truly cared about them individually

2 2 17. Allowing veterans to participate in more than one group and to volunteer, to continue an ongoing relationship with DreamPower as long as they chose to B. What did not work 1. Too much talking (happened on rainy days when we could not ride due to rain) 2. Not enough physical challenge 3. Volunteers who wanted the vets to be or talk nice (they were not allowed back) 4. Volunteers who were not able to listen and wanted to talk too much (also not invited back) 5. Expecting participants to come without a LOT of encouragement C. Logistics 1. Recruiting participants a. Vet Centers b. VA clinics c. local junior colleges 2. Payment a. MOU requires that these groups be free to vets b. grants and donations from local businesses and service organizations 3. Schedule: 11:00-11:30 Check-in 11:30-12:00 Groom and tack horses 12:00-12:45 Riding 12:45-12:55 Check-out (mounted, in the arena) 12:55-1:00 Untack and put horses away [Groups are usually 4-5 sessions.] 4. Horses, tack and equipment III. GWOT Day at the Ranch A. Outreach day to recruit OEF/OIF vets to participate in the 4-6 week EFP groups. B. Schedule: 10:00-10:45 Register; introductions and check-in; assign horses 10:45-11:30 Groom and tack horses, walk to arena 11:30-12:45 Riding Instruction 12:45-1:45 Lunch 1:45-2:45 Mounted competitive games 2:45-3:00 Check-out (mounted, in the arena) and put horses away C. Logistics 1. Recruiting participants via Vet Centers and college veterans groups, plus /facebook/yahoo/craigslist. 2. Payment (no cost for veterans) 3. Horses, tack and equipment 4. Food IV. Horses for Heroes with Heart Couples Communication Workshops Will be presented in detail at another seminar during the PATH Intl. Conference Detailed hand-outs from that seminar will be included on the hand-out CD.

3 3 V. DreamPower Horses for Heroes Family Fun Days A. What worked 1. Recruiting via (103 participants, 55 on a waiting list) 2. Allowing the veteran or military personnel to identify their "family" - spouse, children, nieces and nephews, mother-in-law, anybody they consider "family." 3. Keeping the focus on family FUN. 4. Dividing the families into groups with 3 families in each group. 5. Enlisting adequate volunteers. We had 41 volunteers participate in 8 stations. 6. Rotating family groups through the 8 stations every 20 minutes. The volunteers at each station did their activity 8 times in a row, with 3 new families each time. The 8 stations were: horseback riding (children only, on a lead line with a TRI assigned to each horse); grooming the mini horses; playing with the goats; cowboy roping; learning how to steer with a bridle (children steered their parents through an obstacle course on the ground); face painting, arts & crafts and bubbles. 7. Inviting social work and recreation therapy staff from local VA clinics to come with some of the families they had referred. 8. As a result of one day, we had requests for equine facilitated psychotherapy for two individual children of veterans; family therapy for one family related to deployment; and three couples signed up for the upcoming couples' communication workshop for veterans 9. Finishing the day with parent-child games like gunny sack races, egg-in-spoon races, three-legged races, egg toss, etc. Any child and any parent could "borrow" a child or a parent for an event, if they needed to "borrow" one. 10. This event was requested by a number of veterans from the EFP Groups. B. What didn t work 1. I was caught off-guard by the number of participants who registered (over 100 more than two weeks in advance). We put 55 on a waiting list for the next Family Fun Day. 2. The food was more expensive than budgeted (due to the large number of participants; a local church stepped up and paid for all the food). 3. The riding horses got tired of all the mounting and dismounting. 4. Not all the stations stayed exactly on schedule (there was no bell to ring when it was time to rotate) so they sometimes backed up. 5. It was tricky to figure out which station to send families to, when they arrived late. C. Logistics 1. Recruiting (all via and online nothing went out in print) 2. Enlisting volunteers (many were veterans or family members of veterans or active duty military) 3. Figuring out which stations to offer (to appeal to various ages, ability levels, interests) 4. Had to bring in one port-a-potty for the crowd.

4 4 DreamPower Horsemanship Horses for Heroes with Heart February 12, 2011 SCHEDULE 10:00-10:15 Registration/Check-in Oak Tree 10:15-10:45 Introductions Oak Tree 10:45-11:15 Overview of the Day Oak Tree 11:15-11:30 Break 11:30-12:00 Skill #1 12:00-12:30 Skill #2 12:30-1:30 Lunch Oak Tree 1:30-2:00 Skill #3 2:00-2:30 Skill #4 2:30-3:00 Skill #5 3:00-3:15 Break 3:15-4:00 Skill #6/Wrap-Up Oak Tree 11:30-12:00 12:00-12:30 1:30-2:00 2:00-2:30 2:30-3:00 Team A Team B Team C Team D Team E Covered arena 2 Covered arena 3 Outdoor arena 4 DreamPower barn or round pen 5 DreamPower tie posts

5 5 DreamPower Horsemanship Horses for Heroes with Heart February 12, 2011 The Sound Relationship House 7. Create Shared Meaning Shared Meaning Warrior s Horse 6. Make Life Dreams Come True System 5. Manage Conflict Well Dealing with Grooming/Self-Soothing 4. Embrace a Positive Perspective Difficulties 4 Phases of Pressure 3. Turn Towards Each Other (deposit in the emotional bank account) Building Trust Walk 2. Share Fondness and Admiration Friendship Reward the Try 1. Know Each Other Well with each other Horseopoly

6 6 Welcome to the ranch! DreamPower Horses for Heroes Family Fun Day August 13, :00-10:15 Registration (by the covered arena) 10:15-12:45 Ranch Activities (see below for locations) 10:15-10:35 Station 1 10:35-10:55 Station 2 10:55-11:15 Station 3 11:15-11:35 Station 4 11:35-11:55 Station 5 11:55-12:15 Station 6 12:15-12:30 Station 7 12:30-12:45 Station 8 12:45-1:45 Lunch (oak tree picnic tables) 1:45-3:00 Family games and races for all ages (covered arena) Station 1 Horseback Riding Covered Arena Station 2 Cowboy Roping Outside Arena Station 3 Arts and Crafts Hay Barn Station 4 Bridles and Reins DreamPower Round Pen Station 5 Miniature Horses DreamPower Barn Station 6 Face Painting DreamPower Barn Pavilion Station 7 Goats DreamPower Barn Station 8 Bubbles DreamPower Tie Posts So that all the children will have an opportunity to ride, we are going to reserve horseback riding for children ages Children younger than 3 can have their photo taken on a horse, but will not be allowed to ride because their necks are not yet strong enough to safely hold their head correctly on a moving horse. DreamPower horses are able to safely carry riders up to 200 lbs., so children weighing more than 200 lbs. will not be able to ride today. Adults will have to wait until another day for riding. Thank you to Morgan Hill Bible Church for providing our lunch today! Please remember: Smoking of any kind is not permitted on the ranch property.

7 Time House Floor Level 9:30-10:15 Registration/ Check-in Skill Name Therapist Horse Handler Horses Location Prep/Setup All Oak tree Tables, chairs, clipboards Supplies Forms, pens, name tags, markers 10:15-10:45 Introductions Introductions Martha Oak tree 10:45-11:15 Overview Gottman s Research & Theory; Campaign Ribbons Martha David Oak tree Folders assembled; Stars and hearts in plastic bags Folders, stars and hearts in bags How to adapt for wheelchair? 11:15-11:30 Break 11:30-12:00 1 Love Map; Horseopoly David Melissa Rocky Lexie Covered arena Hang questions Questions on cards Driveway (mini) 12:00-12:30 2 Positive Reinforcement, Groundwork Dyan Garry Tulips Honey Classy Covered arena 3 rope halters Mini in driveway 12:30-1:30 Lunch Lunch Oak tree Drinks, ice Paper goods, drinks 1:30-2:00 3 Building Emotional Connections/ Blindfold Trust Walk 2:00-2:30 4 Allow your partner to influence you; softened start-up 2:30-3:00 5 Soothing Physical Arousal, grooming Annette Rebecca Minis Outdoor arena or driveway Lisa Renae (4 phases of pressure, body scan) Jon Chester (other horse?) Juergen Sandy Pete Red DP Round pen or DP barn Set up obstacle course 2 blindfolds and obstacles Driveway (mini) 1-2 halters DP barn aisle Tie posts 2 grooming buckets with grooming tools 3:00-3:15 Break 3:15-4:00 7 (Wrap-up) Creating Culture of Relationship; Little horse exercise Martha Oak tree Chairs Little horse, cards, pens, list of qualities Groom mini