The Effects of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Adolescent Addiction - Research Proposal Example

? The Effects of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Adolescent Addiction of teacher of Addictionis one of the most serious issues facing our society today. It affects almost every society and every demographic, regardless of a person’s education, social status, background or habit. According to coachinginternational.com, “One of every eight Americans has a significant problem with alcohol or drugs, with 40 percent of the group having a "dual diagnosis,"(2012). This is a very alarming statistic that shows us that the person that you sit next too on a bus could be addicted to some substance. Add to this the fact that addiction or dependency “has become one of the most severe health and social problems facing the United States.” (2012) These issues regarding addiction make it a very alarming and very concerning issue. Addiction on its own is dangerous enough but add to that they issue of adolescents being addicted to different substances and we are left with a situation where in children become addicted to things without the knowledge of their families and the issue grows. According to the same article above, “by age eighteen, almost 12 percent of all young people are illicit drug users”. This information comes as a shock to parents who may come to realize that their child may be addicted to some form of chemical or substance, or even alcohol without their knowledge. The philosopher and Philippine national hero Jose Rizal once said “The youth is the hope of our future” but looking at the statistics above, the future looks very scary and bleak. It is very admirable if a child does not get caught up in this type of situation where in he or she is addicted to substances or alcohol, but as for the remaining 12%, treatments must me performed in order for them to be freed from the grip of substance abuse and once again become productive, happy, and safe members of society. This is where therapy comes into play. Therapy is the tool used for people who are suspected or proven to be affected by substance abuse, and who want or need to become better. This paper will concentrate on one certain form of therapy which can be considered an alternative type of therapy which can be used in place of other, more traditional types of therapy which may not have worked on adolescents in the past. This type of therapy is the Equine assisted psychotherapy, and its effects on the treatment of adolescent addiction. The paper will focus on adolescents who are affected by general addiction and will not focus on one certain addictive substance. The paper will make use of articles relating to this topic in order to provide the most up-to-date, educated, and objective information regarding equine assisted psychotherapy and its effects. The main question that the paper will answer is, “does equine assisted psychotherapy have a positive or noticeable effect on adolescents who are being treated for addiction issues?” The paper aims to find out if this type of treatment or procedure has any positive effects on adolescents who are undergoing addiction treatment. The goal is to use current, modern and academic articles and papers and analyze them or collect the data and evidence from them in order to determine if equine assisted treatment is effective, or has a positive effect. The paper will discuss the information in different parts and then conclude with a definitive statement of whether equine assisted treatment is effective or not. The sections that this paper will be dividing to are as follows: Review of related literature Methodology, research and tools Conclusion Review of related literature This section of the paper is dedicated to presenting and reviewing current literature that tackles topics which are similar to or close to our topic, namely Equine Assisted Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Adolescent Addiction. These literature and articles will be used in order to gather relevant information about our topic and use it in order to make an educated assumption of hypothesis as to what the result of our research would be. The first article that this section will tackle is one by Summit Psychological Services P.A. titled “Horse-Powered (horse-assisted) Growth and Learning” This particular article focuses more on one element of our topic which is the equine or horse assisted therapy. It gives us a great overview of what horse assisted therapy is, what it entails, its bare basics and some of the effects that can be expected from it. (Kahn, J.S Johnson, A. W., N.D.) The article explains that in Horse-Powered Growth and Learning, its not about horsemanship, rather “In fact, it doesn't involve riding at all.” The article explains that its about interacting with the horse that provides the therapeutic effects. It also notes that EAP or Equine-assisted psychotherapy specifically, “Being in the presence of a horse can be surprisingly therapeutic.” (Kahn, J.S Johnson, A. W., N.D.) It explains that the horse’s instincts drive it to “perceive, and react to, our deepest feelings and fears; they mirror our subconscious in unexpected ways.” This shows us that this type of therapy has a potential to affect people in unique ways. The article also lists “addictions” as one of the problems that this type of therapy can be used for. The next article to be discussed in this section was made by Robert Lee Hotz. (2012) This article concerns its self with certain research regarding teen’s propensity to try drugs. The article states that based on research done on 1,896 14 year olds, results and evidence suggest that some teens may be more inclined to try alcohol or drugs, simply because “brains work differently, making them more impulsive” This information shows us that aside from outside stimulus such as peer pressure, there may be other dangers that can affect whether or not a child may be more inclined to try drugs or any other addictive substance, and this, therefore gives much more room for teens and adolescents to become addicted to these substances. This is of concern to this paper because these are exactly the same people who this paper looks at, in terms of improvement with addictions through therapy, and who are included in this paper’s target demographic. The article continues to describe that based on research, the reactions and test results of teens with ADHD and teens with a history of alcohol, or substance abuse look similar. However, the research goes on to explain that even though these reactions and test results look similar, it is a totally different portion of the brain that drives the result. The next article that this portion of the paper aims to discuss concerns its self with laying down some facts about equine assisted psychotherapy and then, determining if it is valid or not. This is the article by Margarita Tartarkovsky called “Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy: Healing Therapy or Just Hype?” (2008) This article shows us some background information on EAP and summarizes some great information for the paper such as, according to the article, “therapists can use clients’ reactions to horses’ behaviors to understand how clients interact with people and help them gain self-awareness.” This article also lists other ways in which EAP works such as, this type of therapy also helps the patient build trust. According to the article, people who are affected by psychological or other disorders, or who are addicted to certain substances may have experienced trauma, thus making it difficult for them to share with therapists and others of the like. This therapy is a great way for these patients to be more comfortable and remove barriers such as trust issues. Another way in which it may be effective is that this type of therapy helps affected individuals to foster relationships that do not have the risk of judgment or rejection. This helps them to transition to human relationships more comfortably. This is much safer and, apparently, more effective than making these individuals interact unprepared. The article does, however, admit that in terms of supporting research for EAP, there are only a few available researches that confirm or test EAP’s effectiveness. There are researches that have come to confirm EAP’s effectiveness such as that done to “explored EAP’s effectiveness in 63 children who witnessed violence between their parents and experienced child abuse” and this showed positive results. The question that this article posses is why is there a shortage in research material confirming EAP? The main reason is that “experience-based therapy, such as storytelling or art therapy is difficult to quantify.” The article ends by asking if EAP is worth trying or not. Although there is a lack in supporting research, the research that does exist show positive results. This means that EAP has a level of effectiveness that can and should be tried. It is plausible to see improvements with EAP, but before trying this, the article lists some things that may need to be checked before trying a certain facility such as certifications, trained mental health providers, and equine experts that will be present to assist if needed. The final part of this section of the paper is dedicated to making a hypothesis regarding the effects of EAP in the treatment of adolescent addiction. Based on the information found so far regarding EAP, as well as supporting articles also related to EAP and adolescent addiction, this paper comes to the hypothesis that equine assisted psychotherapy has a positive effect on adolescents undergoing addiction therapy, and undergoing EAP will merit positive effects with the patient. The next section of the paper will attempt to verify this hypothesis. Methodology, research and tools This portion of the paper is reserved for discussing the papers ways and means, its method of gathering information, dissecting information from articles and its attempt to answer the paper’s main question. This is also the portion of the paper that discusses its limitations and coverage of subjects or demographic. This portion will briefly discuss all of this information on a very concise, detailed and objective manner. This section will be broken down into sections in order to further simplify the details and explanations. These sections are as follows: Methods of research and data gathering Method for data analysis Scope and limitations of the study Significance of the study Method of research and data gathering This paper requires that diligent and detailed research be made on articles that discuss the topics that this paper is also discussing. This is in order to get a baseline regarding the common results of modern researches on the topic. The method in which this paper gathered information is by collecting data from 10 articles that are related to the topic of both equine assisted psychotherapy, and adolescent addiction, or both, and break down the information that they provide, and analyze them. The research was made via internet sources that are published and are peer reviewed articles, in order to confirm the validity of the articles that this paper used. After the data is collected, the researcher proceeded to analyze the provided information and summarize them in separate notes in order to be able to compare the information with each other. Cross-referencing the information will further assist in checking for the validity of said information. Some quotes or sections of some of these articles and papers have also been used within the paper’s body in order to support the paper’s statements. Method for data analysis The analysis of the data that was collected from the articles serves to verify the information, collect necessary answers that address the paper’s question, and also verify the hypothesis and assumptions or statements made in the paper. The articles were read, reviewed, analyzed, and key information from these articles were extracted and noted or summarized in separate locations. These then, were labeled and cross referenced with each other in order to confirm their validity and accuracy. After this has been done, the information was collected as one piece of bulk information and restructured in such a way that it can be used to answer the main question of this paper, which is whether equine assisted psychotherapy has a positive effect on adolescents who undergo addiction treatment. Scope and limitations of the study This paper concentrates on Equine assisted psychotherapy, and its reported direct or observable effect on adolescents undergoing addiction treatment. It only concentrates on one form of Horse-assisted Growth and Learning, which is EAP, and only concentrates on adolescent addiction. The hypothesis, conclusions and statements made in this paper only focus on the given demographics, and further review or testing may need to be performed for other forms of Horse-assisted Growth and Learning, or for other mental or psychological health issues. Further evaluation and research may be necessary to cover other facets of Horse-assisted Growth and Learning in order to verify the results of this paper. Significance of the study This study is significant to several demographics and parties due to the fact that it verifies a therapeutic method that could potentially help a very important part of our society with a very serious issue, which is addiction. Based from the article “Signs When Adolescent Addiction Treatment is Needed” addiction issues may stem from other mental or psychological problems such as anger issues, and therefore, unless these issues are resolved, the addiction issue would also be hard to overcome. This method allows for the root issues to be identified, and resolved, which in turn, allows for the addiction problem to be “nipped in the bud” so to speak. This study is significant to the field because it provides definite confirmation to a method that has a high potential in helping adolescents with this issue, and gives the field a confirmed tool to use for this sort of problem. This study is also significant to the adolescents themselves because an alternative method can now be confirmed for them to either use, or avoid, depending on the conclusion of the paper. This is also significant to the families of the adolescents because, depending on the conclusion of the paper, their families may have a new option to attempt, when none have worked. The schools may also benefit from this paper because their students will now have a way to vent their issues in a safe and unique manner. Conclusion Based on the evidence provided by all of the research works which have been analyzed and referenced, as well as the articles that have been reviewed, this paper concludes that despite the lack in confirmatory work for Equine assisted psychotherapy, it definitely has a positive effect on adolescents that are undergoing addiction therapy, and evidence from the referenced articles show that adolescents that undergo this type of therapy show great improvement and are seen to continue to stay away from the addictions that they are treated with. The articles and researches show us that this type of therapy helps these adolescents and improves their overall state of being, which in turn, promotes the other methods or therapies being used on them, and helps them reach their therapeutic goals. References Adolescent Addiction Treatment. (2012). Signs When Adolescent Addiction Treatment is Needed. Retrieved 2012, May 2, from http://www.adolescentaddictiontreatment.net/ Coaching International. (2012). Addiction Statistics. Retrieved 2012, May 2, from http://www.coachinginternational.com/stats.html CRC Health Group Inc. (2011). What is Equine Therapy? Retrieved 2012, May 2, from http://www.crchealth.com/types-of-therapy/what-is-equine-therapy/ Duda, M. (2007), Equine-assisted therapy at addiction treatment center. Retrieved 2012, May 2, from http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/vc7equinetherapy.page Hotz, R.L. (2012, April 30). Are Some Teenagers Wired for Addiction? Health Blog. Retrieved 2012, May 2, from http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2012/04/30/are-some-teenagers-wired-for-addiction/?mod=google_news_blog Kane, S. (2012). What is Equine-assisted therapy? Retrieved 2012 May 2, from http://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/addiction-treatment/what-is-equine-assisted-therapy/ Newport academy. (2012). Equine-Assisted Therapy. Teen Treatment Center. Retrieved 2012, May 2, from http://www.newportacademy.com/treatment-program/equine-assisted-therapy/ Summit Psychological Services, P.A. (2012). Horse-Powered (horse-assisted) Growth and Learning. Retrieved 2012 May 2, from, http://www.summitpsychologicalservices.com/services/horse-assisted-psychotherapy Tartakovsky, M. (2012). Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy: Healing Therapy or Just Hype? Retrieved 2012 May 2, fromhttp://psychcentral.com/lib/2008/equine-assisted-psychotherapy-healing-therapy-or-just-hype/all/1/ Veterans Multi-Purpose Center. (2012). More on Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. Retrieved 2012 May 2, from http://www.vetsenews.com/equine-assisted-psychotherapy.shtml Read More