| Summary: | Equine Assisted Therapy is, from a social work perspective, a relatively unexplored arrangement of therapy in which the horse is part of the treatment. This study illustrates the equine therapist’ experiences of Equine Assisted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (EA-CBT) and Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) up against people suffering from mental health issues. The research questions are: How do we use horses as a part of the treatment up against people with mental health issues? What components can be identified as a central part of the treatment in Equine Assisted Therapy? The empirical material was collected by using hermeneutic approach and qualitative semi-structured interviews with three practicing equine therapists. The main result showed that horses are used as therapeutical co-workers, as well as a metaphor for the individuals’ emotions. The horses take a significant part of the patients’ sense of coherence (KASAM) as well as the patients’ mentalization, especially through emotional understanding and communication. Furthermore, the result indicate that the horse is as an important link in the encounter between therapist and patient. The analysis was based on an analytic method, in which the empirical material is the starting point of coding and creating themes. The central conclusions were that the horse play a significant role in the promotion of the humans’ ameliorative mental health. It does not only play role for the mental health issues, but also for the patients’ conduction after the treatment.
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