The Eagala Model
First things first…
What does Eagala stand for?
“Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association”
Eagala Has 4 Key Standards:
Team Approach
All Eagala sessions involve a team consisting of a licensed mental health professional, an equine specialist, and horses- all of whom work collaboratively with the client.
Solution-Oriented
The Eagala model holds a belief that all clients can discover the best solutions for themselves when given the opportunity. Your team will provide an environment conducive to exploration, problem-solving, overcoming challenges, and discovering.
Ground-Based
No riding is involved in Eagala sessions. Instead, sessions include ground-based techniques that encourage the horses and environment to become metaphors in the client’s story.
Code of Ethics
Eagala has high ethical standards for its practice, and an ethics committee which develops and oversees protocols for upholding these standards to ensure best practices and the highest level of care.
So, what does all of this information mean for your treatment?
It means that your team will be approaching you as an expert- we believe you know yourself better than anyone else, and with the right approach, you can discover and implement your own solutions. We will not judge your behavior or give you advice, but rather look through a neutral, curious lens with you at your story and how it appears in the space around you during your session. While you are in session, your team will be tracking the environment (not you)- are there shifts? patterns? anything unique? what about discrepancies? We’ll also be actively filtering out our own opinions and ensuring we stay in a curious, non-judgmental frame of mind. During a debriefing, you might be encouraged to share your experience with your team about what was occurring while you were observing or interacting with the environment. We recognize that this is a unique approach. Eagala is informed by many therapeutic modalities, including person-centered approaches, experiential therapy, animal-assisted therapy, and postmodern techniques.
More information about Eagala can be found on its website: eagala.org
“Equine assisted therapy is one of the most unique approaches to healing available- it enables us to visualize our problems, and our growth, in a very literal way, and receive feedback from horses in the moment.”
— Lauren Penley, LMFT, Eagala Certified- Eliada’s Equine Assisted Therapy Clinician