The Surprising Way to Become a Better Equine Therapist (and reasons why you should do this too!)
Working on yourself is a crucial aspect of becoming a better equine therapist. You’ll feel happier, be more productive and you will notice a huge difference in your treatments. If you’re followed me for a while, read my emails or articles you’ll know that mindset work is a huge part of what I do. When you remove your blocks it makes your path to success much easier.
Here are several reasons why working on your mindset contributes to your effectiveness as a therapist in the equine or canine field:
Self-Awareness:
Understanding your own emotions, triggers, and biases enhances your self-awareness. This awareness allows you to approach therapy sessions with horses and clients with greater mindfulness and empathy.
Emotional Regulation:
Horses are highly attuned to human emotions. By working on your own emotional regulation, you create a more stable and secure environment for both yourself and the animals. This can positively impact the therapeutic relationship.
Effective Communication:
Developing your communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal, is essential when working with horses and their owners. Clear and compassionate communication fosters trust and cooperation between you, the horse, and the client. This is much easier when you aren’t worrying about whether you are ‘good enough’.
Empathy and Compassion:
Cultivating empathy and compassion for yourself and others allows you to connect on a deeper level with both the animals and their owners. This connection is fundamental in understanding and addressing the unique needs of each horse and client.
Continuous Learning and Adaptability:
Having a growth mindset encourages a mindset of continuous learning and adaptability. The field of equine therapy is dynamic, and staying open to new ideas and techniques ensures that you are providing the best possible care for your clients.
Building Resilience:
The nature of equine therapy can be challenging, both emotionally and physically. Strengthening your resilience helps you navigate difficult situations, setbacks, and the inherent uncertainties in working with animals and people.
Setting Boundaries:
Knowing your own limits and setting appropriate boundaries is crucial in any therapeutic setting. It allows you to maintain a professional and healthy relationship with both the clients and the animals under your care, avoid burnout and give you time to spend with your own animals.
Enhanced Problem-Solving Skills:
Personal development often involves honing problem-solving skills. When you release old blocks and change your mental programming you make space. Space for creativity and thinking – you literally create more mental bandwidth. This is beneficial when faced with unique challenges that may arise in equine therapy sessions. The ability to think critically and creatively enhances your effectiveness as a therapist.
Modelling Healthy Behaviours:
As a therapist, you serve as a role model for your clients. Working on yourself and embodying healthy behaviours not only improves your own well-being but also inspires those you work with to pursue their own personal growth and positive change.
Stay in your lane:
Working on building a mindset for success means that you don’t care about what other therapists are up to. You focus on your work, your growth and your success.
In conclusion, as you invest time and effort into your own personal development, you not only improve your individual well-being but also enhance your ability to connect with, understand, and positively impact both the equine clients and their owners in your therapy sessions.
If you’d like my help with building a mindset for success then come join the Expert Academy – my 8 week accelerator program for equine and canine therapists. You’ll lose your secret self doubt, and learn strategies to fill your diary and make more money as a practitioner.
