Strength and Learning Through Horses work with disadvantaged and vulnerable young people from all across London and Hertfordshire.
The Pixel Fund’s generous donation will enable 6 young people to access experiential therapy programmes. These young people are excluded from mainstream education or are at risk of exclusion, are struggling with complex mental health challenges & social/emotional challenges and are unable to successfully engage with traditional mental health interventions & educational support provided by the school.
Equine Assisted Therapy provides the young people with a unique opportunity to improve their mental wellbeing by working with the natural behaviour of horses alongside a specifically designed therapeutic intervention.
Watching the horse’s natural behaviour allows the young person to normalise negative feelings they might have; such anxiety or fear as it is often easier to see and understand these emotions within the horse’s behaviour, rather than in humans. As the horses give immediate and non-judgemental feedback to the young people, this enables them to think and reflect on the horses’ behaviour and their own thoughts, behaviours and feelings; these learnings are transferred to their wider lives.
Strength and Learning Through Horses have had a surge in referrals of young people experiencing mental health crises exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, who are at risk of further deterioration and disengagement with statutory services and education. They have an extensive waiting list at present; these include schools as well as individual referrals from other organisations (such as social and youth workers, other mental health professionals and parents). Many schools have noticed a dramatic decline in their student’s mental health due to Covid-19 and they have had more requests to run group therapy programmes than ever before; the schools are hoping these programmes will help with the integration back into school life that many students are still struggling with.
All young people that attend a therapy programme will experience:
*Improved mental health and wellbeing
*Increased aspirations for the future
*Increased confidence and self-worth
*Increased engagement with education and their communities
*Improved behaviour
*Improved relationships; with peers, teachers and relatives/carers
*Reduced violence/criminal activity
*Increased communication, teamwork and leadership skills.
Many young people struggle with traditional talking therapies but thrive in the outdoor environment and are incredibly engaged with the horses. 84% of young people that attended a therapy programme at SLTH in the last academic year reported an increase in their confidence and 100% of referring staff said they had noticed an improvement in the young people’s behaviour and relationships with their teachers and peers.
The referring organisations all report that there is a gap in service provision for alternative approaches to engaging young people in therapy & education, when the traditional interventions which they offer fail. Strength and Learning Through Horses meets this gap & helps address the mental health of young people where schools are unable to help.