Hippolysis provides the following equine assisted services:

  • Learning
  • Personal Growth and Development
  • Therapy
  • Team Building and Leadership development

 

The sessions can be:

  • Individual (all ages-children, adolescents, adults, elderly)
  • Family
  • Group (schools, athletes, professionals)
  • Company teams

 

Equine assisted sessions take place at Hippolysis center facilities in Marathon. (link to map)

Niki Markoyanni (psychiatrist and advanced certified Eagala mentor, founder of Hippolysis) and her team of certified professionals provide all the services at Hippolysis. (link to biographies)

 

Process

Participants take part in activities/exercises with the horse(s). No riding is involved. The participants interact with the horses from the ground.

 

Duration of session

The participant(s) and the horse(s) form a relationship and work together in the activity. The process usually takes up to an hour in individual sessions and up to two hours in group sessions. There are certain occasions where more time may be necessary for the process to be complete and this is provided accordingly.

 

Duration of cycle of sessions

The number of sessions required for each goal set varies. Experience with the method has shown that six to ten sessions are usually required to complete a cycle.

 

 

Equine Assisted Therapy

It is considered a brief kind of therapy since it provides substantial and positive change to a person’s health and quality of life, in a short amount of time. The session can be individual (child, teen, youth, adult), family or group.

 

Equine assisted therapy has been very successful for:

  • Stress, depression, panic attacks, phobias, anger management, emotional disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse, addictions, video game and internet addiction, sexual abuse and sexual dysfunctions
  • Family therapy, couple’s therapy, conflicts, dysfunctional communication, domestic violence, grief/loss
  • Children & adolescents with learning disabilities, socialization issues, delinquent/provocative behavior (youth at risk), emotional and communicational issues, confidence and self-esteem issues
  • Asperger’s Syndrome and autism (developmental disorders), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), refusal of attending school, bullying, victimization
  • Group therapy for leadership, cooperation, competition, communication (clean language), creative thinking and alternative solution finding (thinking out of the box), problem solving, responsibility and initiative acquisition.

 

Equine Assisted Learning

The most essential thing in learning is not the accumulation of information but training the mind into perceiving, connecting and processing information, so us to understand it.

Equine learning is effective with children, adolescents and youth with learning disabilities by:

  • Developing and reinforcing self-esteem, self-respect and confidence
  • Expanding management skills under pressure, stressful circumstances (exams, interviews etc.)
  • Professional orientation for adolescents
  • Re-education and professional orientation for youth and adults
  • Broadening the skills needed to recognize and deal with emotional abuse, that threatens the self-esteem and lead to lack of initiative and effective problem-solving
  • Expanding skills needed to deal with physical abuse
  • Dealing and transforming success/failure

 

Equine Assisted Self Awareness and Personal Growth with Horses

  • Processing personal goals
  • Emotional intelligence and self confidence development
  • Processing and re-evaluating personal value system
  • Processing and re-evaluating personal, familial and social restrictions
  • Release from internal traumatic recordings
  • Balancing inner needs and desires, capabilities and expectations with life’s reality
  • Managing and transforming life’s disappointments into a pain-free experience
  • Connecting with gratitude towards life

 

Equine Assisted Team Building

  • Effective communication through «clear language»
  • Problem solving through alternative solution
  • Crisis management
  • Creative thinking development
  • Co-operation versus antagonism
  • Responsibility acquisition
  • Flexible role interchange
  • Raising productivity
  • Developing new fields of activity
  • Development of human resources
  • Enhancing faith in group spirit
  • Developing skills to promote the team’s work