131 Equine assisted psychotherapy and learning as an effective complementary form of substance use disorder treatment for college-age young adults in a residential treatment program

Abstract

The young adult population in the United States has faced a substance use disorder (SUD) epidemic with significant increases recently due to the stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic. Relapse has been prevalent within this population due to ineffectiveness of traditional intervention strategies, and thus, non-traditional treatment options have been a growing trend for SUD treatment in young adults. In particular, equine assisted psychotherapy and learning (EAPL) has been documented as a successful complementary treatment strategy for mental health conditions in young adults but research concerning the use of EAPL in residential treatment programs for SUD is lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of EAPL in a residential treatment program for developing an emotionally safe environment for learning for college-age young adults with SUD. Participants were college-age young adults (ages 18–25 years) that were in a substance abuse residential treatment program with an EAPL onsite program. Participants (n = 61) received weekly equine therapy sessions during their stay at a residential facility and were assessed at the beginning and end of their treatment program using the following 3 assessment methods: a self-reporting emotional safety survey, an equine knowledge exam, and an instructor-based equine physical skill evaluation. t -tests were performed comparing the scores for the assessments at the beginning and end of the treatment program. Total scores for emotional safety ( t (58) = 2.36, P = 0.02), equine knowledge ( t (58) = −2.53, P = 0.01), and physical skills ( t (63) = −8.91, P = 0.00) showed a significant improvement by the end of the program. These results suggest EAPL can be an effectual complementary form of SUD therapy for developing an emotional safety environment for learning in a college-age young adult residential addiction treatment program. These young adults not only felt emotionally safe, but were able to develop their knowledge and skills in equine while going through SUD treatment. EAPL may offer an avenue for creating an emotionally safe environment for learning for other mental health conditions for young adults within a residential treatment program.