Colorado Recovery Launches Partnership With Therapeutic Riding Center
Colorado Recovery has teamed up with the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center (CTRC) in Longmont, CO to expand services for their clients. The Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center is the oldest therapeutic riding center in the Centennial State and has been operating since 1980. Equine-assisted therapy incorporates horses into the therapeutic process. People engage in activities such as riding, grooming, feeding, and leading a horse while being supervised by a mental health professional.
The goals of this experiential form of therapy include helping people develop skills such as emotional regulation, self-confidence, and responsibility. Mature horses typically weigh between 900 and 2,000 pounds and it can sometimes feel a little bit intimidating to have such a large, majestic creature participate in therapy sessions.
However, because of its demonstrable benefits, equine-assisted therapy has grown in popularity. Horses are keen observers and are vigilant and sensitive to movement and emotion. They often mirror a client’s behavior and feelings, conveying understanding and connection that allows the client to feel safe.
Potential benefits of equine therapy include distress tolerance, emotional awareness, impulse control, self-esteem, social awareness, and improved social relationships.
Michele Bruhn is the executive director at Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center. “Our mission is to change the lives of people with disabilities and mental health issues by promoting their physical, psychological, and social well-being through equine-assisted activities and therapies,” she says. “CTRC maintains a herd of more than 25 magnificent therapeutic riding horses. Each member of our herd is a treasure in a way that is unique to them, each with their own tale to tell.”
On its 39-acre campus, CTRC offers therapeutic horsemanship, equine-assisted therapies, and equine-assisted mental health services. “The horses are really the modality of treatment,” says Bruhn. Clients are not necessarily learning how to ride a horse as our therapists work on different goals for each individual client. We evaluate our clients’ affect and body structure and then match the right type of horse with that person.”
All CTRC instructors are certified through Path International. The first Colorado Recovery patients started equine therapy in mid-September.
Colorado Recovery
The treatment program at Colorado Recovery aims to empower adults with mental illness, and those who support them, with an unrelenting optimism for recovery, purposeful involvement in the community, and an enhanced sense of meaning in life.
Our treatment facility provides the services needed to address schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other serious mental illnesses which are specific to each individual. Call us at 720-218-4068 to discuss treatment options for you or the person you would like to help.
