Uinta Academy: Equine Assisted Therapy for Young Adults

Uinta Academy provides its clients with multiple treatment options, all of which are designed to provide long-term support for many issues. Recently, therapist Hannah Paxton expanded her certifications to include equine-assisted therapy. She earned her certification at the O.K. Corral Training program in Pueblo, Colorado, and brings this unique therapy to Uinta.

Why Uinta Academy Embraces This Therapeutic Option

Over the years, Uinta Academy has adapted to new research on treatment methods which provide hands-on care that focuses on a person’s specific needs. When Paxton discussed earning an equine-assisted therapy certification, the academy embraced the idea and helped her achieve her goal. This unique care method has been acclaimed in recent years for its efficacy.

Equine-assisted therapy is an approach that introduces youth to reciprocal relationships with horses. It includes talking with the horses, grooming them, and learning respectful horsemanship. At Uinta, each teen is given their own horse to care for, teaching personal responsibility. This approach aims to give teens a positive support system, including a non-judgmental, calm, and patient horse friend.

Experts at Uinta Academy find that their clients often respond positively to horses and use them as a mirror to themselves. As they spend time caring for their horse they experience high levels of positive emotions. These feelings can help them better understand who they are and give them a stronger look into the emotional and behavioral problems that impact them.

Just as importantly, equine therapy gives teens a positive outlet for their nervous energy. Rather than turning to destructive behaviors, like drugs or unsafe sexual intercourse, clients take care of horses, feed them, talk with them, and learn new skills. This positive interaction helps teach teens new skills and reinforces the importance of positive emotional interactions over negative ones.

Equine-assisted therapy also taps into a teen’s love of animals by letting them interact with gentle and kind creatures. Horses aren’t just beautiful animals but empathetic ones that can read and respond to a person’s emotions. While they might not understand why a person is sad, they can provide support by interacting with them through nuzzling and neighing.

Since joining Uinta Academy in 2021, Paxton has helped bring new and exciting treatment methods. Her clients appreciate her adaptive and variable care options, especially the ways she teaches how to apply these lessons in their daily lives. Care at Uinta is designed to provide students with a better understanding of their emotions and how to thrive in life.

Equine-assisted therapy is just one concept that Uinta Academy has interwoven in its care methods. Their goal is to build a complete-person therapy option that helps teens and young adults take their emotional care into their own hands and build better and healthier relationships. In this way, teens can achieve more mature outlooks and use their life skill lessons to become happier people.