A Pilot Study Assessing the Effectiveness of Equine-Assisted Learning with Adolescents |
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Authors: | Briana L. Perkins |
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Affiliation: | Mental Health Research Department, Gastonia, North Carolina |
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Abstract: | This study contains an observation of six female participants (N = 6) who completed 8 weeks of a psychoeducational life skills program. The program included psychoeducational sessions that covered life skills related to partnership, respect, boundaries, communication, emotional regulation, problem-solving, and teamwork followed by an Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL) session. A paired sample t-test was conducted to measure the effectiveness of the equine therapy program with the psychoeducation lesson. A mental health professional, equine specialist, and a ranch worker observed and scored participants’ behaviors after each session. A paired-samples t-test was conducted after week 4 and week 7; the results indicated that participants showed improvement in communication, confidence, and respect scores. The participants demonstrated improvements with emotional regulation t(11) = 2.862, p = .015. |
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Keywords: | Equine-assisted learning animal-assisted therapy life skills creativity in counseling |
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