Who we help:

We help people who have a range of problems including social exclusion, offending, victims of violence, anxiety, depression, self harm, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Our programmes train people to recognise and manage anxiety or dominance which has been causing them to become disengaged, disorganised, shut down or aggressive.

We specifically target those who are hardest to reach; people who are unable or unwilling to participate in conventional ‘talk based’ therapies and therefore do not engage in other available provisions.

Instead, we teach a behavioural change programme based on natural horsemanship principles, transferring successful behavioural training techniques for horses into the human world.

SUMMARY OF PROGRAMME DELIVERY

We are the only charity in Devon approved to deliver TheHorseCourse.orgs evidence based courses.

The Restart:

Our flagship programme, the ReStart, is well-evidenced click here to view evidence and underpins all of our work. Our facilitators also offer taster and top up sessions as needed.

The ReStart is usually delivered in over 4 or 5 consecutive days, working for approx 2 hours per day with 1-to-1 facilitator support. We teach, rehearse and repeat key resilience skills in an intensive and challenging, but fun way with feedback in-the-moment from specially trained horses. There is no discussion of the past. All sessions take place in action with the horses, there is no classroom content or talk-based therapy/counselling.

Development of skills is embedded in work towards a horsemanship groundwork certificate. Tasks are guided by the facilitator and the horses are selected and trained to provide especially clear and easily observed physical feedback to participants, many of whom will not have interacted with horses prior to taking part in the programme. The methodological focus is on social/emotional shifts being made ‘in the moment’, in response to difficulties encountered. Participants are unmounted handlers, learning to work in partnership with the horses on the ground. The course employs an approach using a series of specific tasks as tools to develop positive habits. Specifically, the skills addressed by the course are:

• Engagement (Confidence as a Learner) - enthusiastically taking on new challenges, pushing limits whilst also taking care of own confidence
• Responsibility - taking responsibility for our own thoughts, emotions and actions
• Calmness - having the habit of calmness and knowing how to create it in difficult situations
• Assertiveness - able to be calmly assertive, without getting aggressive or upset
• Realistic Analysis & Planning - Stopping to think before acting, making a realistic assessment of situations and planning accordingly
• Focus & Perseverance - working towards goals despite setbacks
• Relating to Others / Empathy - seeing the needs of others, offering care and support, feeling closely connected
• Communication & Language - two way, respectful, assertive communcations, having language to talk about thinking and emotions

On the last day, each participant has a robust reflective session with their facilitator – looking at their progress in each of the areas of the Skills Star (below). Upon successful completion of the course, participants are presented with a certificate.

The Highlight:

The Highlight is a one day adaptation of the ReStart, in which a group of participants will get a taste of the skills above but will only have time to work in detail on one or two key areas. For less extreme or less entrenched behaviour, we are finding a single day can be enough to trigger the crucial shift. This day has also been reported as a way to dramatically improve the relationships between staff and service users, resulting in lower levels of conflict and improved engagement or progress with talk-based provision.

The Non-verbals Toolbox Training: