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Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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Speaker 1: brain Stuff. Lauren bol Obam here ever, wonder how, of course,

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Speaker 1: could help you pope with grief, trauma, and emotional pain.

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Speaker 1: It turns out that horses may possess an evolutionary advantage

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Speaker 1: that enables them to pick up on our most subtle

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Speaker 1: emotions while at the same time not being judgmental and

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Speaker 1: even uncovering emotional blind spots. That means that they may

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Speaker 1: be an ideal tool for teaching people how to deal

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Speaker 1: with everything from a life ending diagnosis and physical death

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Speaker 1: of a loved one to miscarriage, divorce, and much more.

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Speaker 1: For the article this episode is based on, Has to Work,

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Speaker 1: spoke via email with Gail Carruthers, an equine guided learning

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Speaker 1: teacher who founded and owns sky Blue Acres Farm in

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Speaker 1: Pustl in Ontario, Canada, where she operates a non clinical

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Speaker 1: equine learning center called the Equine Intelligence Agency that helps

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Speaker 1: clients manage grief and major life losses. She said, as

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Speaker 1: a prey animal, horses don't rely on vocalization to communicate

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Speaker 1: because using sound would give away their position to a predator.

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Speaker 1: Horses instead have developed a sophisticated silent method of communication

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Speaker 1: that's built upon sensing energy by using their body language, stance,

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Speaker 1: and position. A mere twitch of an ear, rise of

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Speaker 1: a shoulder, or shift in the hips is enough to

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Speaker 1: convey life sustaining information to the entire herd simply by

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Speaker 1: being able to detect the ripple of energy. House to

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Speaker 1: Works also spoke by email with Lissa Corcoran, founder and

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Speaker 1: executive director of the Atlanta based Flying Change Equine Therapy,

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Speaker 1: which also helps clients process grief and loss. She said,

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Speaker 1: I think equine therapy is especially effective as it pertains

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Speaker 1: to grief and loss because grief is a relational experience.

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Speaker 1: We are missing a communication with someone we love, so

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Speaker 1: a new relationship with a horse can soothe that ache.

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Speaker 1: Equine learning or therapy offers people the chance to interact

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Speaker 1: with horses via exercises such as coaxing them to come,

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Speaker 1: picking up and cleaning their feet, or walking them through

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Speaker 1: an obstacle. Course and equine therapist observes how a person

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Speaker 1: interacts with the horse, then helps shed light on issues

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Speaker 1: that might need to be worked through. The Caruther's adds

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Speaker 1: that many unrecognized emotions that might have been ignored or

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Speaker 1: even forgotten from past situations can become prominent when a

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Speaker 1: person passes away. She said, While the loved one was alive, resentment, anger,

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Speaker 1: and the inability to forgive could have been managed, but

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Speaker 1: once a person passes away, the opportunity to find resolution

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Speaker 1: is over, and people can feel profound guilt and or

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Speaker 1: anger from past unresolved situations. Horses can feel this energy,

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Speaker 1: mirror it back, and provide a safe container for the

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Speaker 1: grieving individual to release the emotion. The release can be

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Speaker 1: a simple acknowledgment of that anger or in a response

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Speaker 1: of forgiveness as the anger is expressed and mourning can

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Speaker 1: start to heal the emotional pain. Working with animals and

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Speaker 1: getting fresh air and exercise are all generally considered to

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Speaker 1: be good for us, but is equine therapy scientifically proven.

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Speaker 1: Dr Hallie She'd, a licensed professional counselor and founder of

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Speaker 1: Texas based Equine Connection Counseling, explains on her organization's website

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Speaker 1: that a horse's mirror neurons might provide an answer as

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Speaker 1: to how the animal can reflect a client's in our

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Speaker 1: world back to them. Mirror neurons are type of brain

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Speaker 1: cell that some researchers think help humans and other animals.

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Speaker 1: Recognize and empathize with emotions in other living things. She

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Speaker 1: wrote that some people believe that horses have substantially more

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Speaker 1: mirror neurons than humans, which could make them experts at

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Speaker 1: understanding nonverbal communication. Also, while horses have a similar limbic system,

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Speaker 1: the region of the brain responsible for feelings and emotions

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Speaker 1: as humans do, horses also have a smaller neo cortex,

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Speaker 1: that's the area of the brain responsible for thinking and

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Speaker 1: analytical thought. This limited analytical capacity, paired with refined nonverbal communication,

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Speaker 1: maybe part of what endears horses to people. Horses react

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Speaker 1: to us but render no judgment, and we have their

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Speaker 1: undivided attention when we're in their presence. Corchoran said, we

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Speaker 1: have seen clients of all ages and backgrounds motivated by

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Speaker 1: the guidance, acceptance, and love of a horse to grow

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Speaker 1: into happier, healthier, more peaceful, and more loving people. Of course,

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Speaker 1: there are lots of different therapies and types of intervention

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Speaker 1: out there, and every person who seeks treatment will have

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Speaker 1: different needs, goals, and responses. But as an experiential psychotherapy,

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Speaker 1: ecoined therapy has sometimes assisted in cases where traditional modes

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Speaker 1: of therapy like talk therapy seemed to come up short.

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Speaker 1: It offers a different experience by bringing people outdoors into

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Speaker 1: a non threatening and inviting atmosphere and offering them a

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Speaker 1: chance to use all their senses while learning and processing

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Speaker 1: through emotional challenges. It can also be more expensive than

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Speaker 1: traditional therapies and may not be covered by insurance benefits.

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Speaker 1: If you have insurance, you should contact your insurance provider

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Speaker 1: to discuss the details in advance. As with any therapy,

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Speaker 1: today's episode is based on the article courses have an

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Speaker 1: Extraordinary ability to help Humans on how stuff Works dot Com,

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Speaker 1: written by Wendy Bowman. Brain Sufface production of I Heart

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Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com and

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Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Klein. Four more podcasts from my

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Speaker 1: heart Radio visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Two