Jack’s Story

 

Jack is a 10 year old boy who lives with his single-parent mother.  His negative behaviors had been escalating over the past year to the extent that his mother was seriously considering sending Jack to live with the biological father he barely knew. 

 

Jack was becoming physically aggressive towards his mother, bullying other children, having explosive anger outbursts, and refusing to obey his mother and teachers.  Jack had been sent to traditional “talk” therapy with no improvement.  He said that he didn’t want to change his negative behaviors and was pretty sure that he would end up in jail one day.

 

Jack was sent to Opening Gates, LLC for Equine Assisted Psychotherapy.  At the first session, Jack announced that he was “allergic to horses” even though he admitted that he had never been near a real horse.  During that first session, Jack spent time observing the herd and identifying various horses and his perceptions of their behaviors and personalities.  He smiled throughout the session.

 

At the second session, Jack announced that he “hates horses”.  During this session, Jack was asked to halter a horse.  He chose a horse that most reminded him of himself and spent the remaining time trying to figure out how to accomplish the task, with no additional help from the staff.  Eventually Jack was satisfied with the results.  He smiled broadly and softened his emotional stance.

 

The third session was a joint session with his mother.  Jack refused to talk during the entire session, even though the task was to jointly saddle a horse.  Communication between Jack and his mother was difficult but they ultimately were able to get the horse saddled.  Jack may have realized that his refusal to talk only made things more difficult  for himself, because he never refused to talk in a session again. 

 

During the fourth session, another joint session with his mother, both Jack and his mother worked together to negotiate the assigned obstacles.  They often laughed and his mother began to practice her new skills of identifying his positive behaviors.

 

When Jack came for his fifth session, both he and his mother were jubilant.  His mother announced that everyone saw a huge change in Jack, noticing his happiness, improved willingness to obey, and better interactions with other children and adults.  Jack smiled throughout the session.

 

At the sixth session, Jack continued to act relaxed, serene, and happy.  His mother was no longer considering sending Jack away and continued to work on her improved positive parenting  skills.  It was decided to terminate therapy due to Jack’s remarkable progress.

 

A week after the termination session, the following note was received in the mail at Opening Gates, LLC:  “Hi, Mr. & Mrs. Walters.  Thanks for giving time to help with my therapy and for being so kind and nice.  Say bye to the horses for me!  Love and Thanks, Jack”.