Drug Abuse and Horse Assisted Therapy

Literature Review
As Masini (2010) shows, animal-assisted therapy can be quite useful in helping patients engaging in substance abuse treatment. Masini (2010) highlights the benefits of equine-assisted psychotherapy in particular, as do Hauge, Kvalem, Berget, Enders-Slegers & Braastad (2014), who note that engaging clients with horses can facilitate the perception of having a stronger social support. As social support is a necessary part to overcoming or battling substance abuse, the animal-assisted intervention can be seen as a positive influence (Birtel, Wood & Kempa, 2017; Muela, Balluerka, Amiano, Caldentey & Aliri, 2017).
Animal-assisted therapy can have a positive effect on engagement and retention of individuals in substance abuse treatment. Kelly and Cozzolino (2015), for example, have shown that at-risk youth have been aided by animal-assisted therapy in their attempts to overcome issues of substance abuse. Animal-assisted therapy represents a “goal-oriented adjunct to traditional therapy programs” (Kelly & Cozzolino, 2015, p. 421). The way in which it works is this: the individuals struggling with substance abuse issues, such as self-control, “work through a structured, goal-oriented curriculum with certified therapy dogs and volunteer handlers…[to] complete progressively advanced tasks in which the youths transfer skills learned about dog handling to understanding and modifying their own behavior” (Kelly & Cozzolino, 2015, p. 421). In other words, animal-assisted therapy first focuses the individual’s attention on how to care for and control an animal—and the lessons learned are then applied to the person to help the person how to see to care for him or herself. The idea is that by learning to care for an animal, the person can learn life skills that will allow for a better understanding of self and the need to monitor one’s own habits by implementing skills learned through the animal-assisted therapy.
Other researchers have noted the same positive outcomes when conducting experiments in which animal-assisted therapy was used to help drug abusers overcome their addiction. Contalbrigo et al. (2017) conducted a controlled trial using a group of prisoners with substance abuse issues and a control group: the experimental group received dog assisted therapy and the control group received traditional therapy. They found that “inmates involved in the dog assisted therapy sessions significantly improved their social skills, reducing craving, anxiety and depression symptoms compared to the control group” (p. 683). Animal-assisted therapy was thus found to be an effective co-therapy in helped drug-addicted inmates deal with the side effects of detoxifying while in prison.
Klemetsen and Lindstrom (2017) have also found that animal-assisted therapy has some value as a supplementary intervention, as it offers substance abuse patients with a way to learn to value goals and use a goal-directed approach to personal development. The researchers conducted a mixed-methods approach to better understand the impact of animal-assisted therapy. They concluded that mental health and substance use disorder variables as well as patients’ positive attitudes are all moderating variables and “are thought to moderate the relationship between AAT and therapeutic alliance” (Klemetsen & Lindstrom, 2017, p. 106).
Kern-Godal, Arnevik, Walderhaug and Ravndal (2015) showed that animal-assisted therapy using an equine therapy focus to help young adults with substance abuse disorder has a positive effect as a complementary therapy. The researchers used an intention-to-treat design, and conducted univariate and multivariate analyses “to compare those receiving treatment as usual (n = 43) with those who received treatment as usual plus HAT [horse-assisted therapy] (n = 65)” and found that when HAT was used, more participants completed the therapy and were more likely to get to the end of the overall treatment sessions with positive developments (Kern-Godal et al., 2015, p. 21). Thus the researchers noted that there is “a statistically significant association between HAT participation and time in treatment, and between HAT participation and completion of treatment” (Kern-Godal et al., 2015, p. 21). This indicates that animal assisted therapy, particularly equine-assisted therapy, has substantial appeal to substance abusers who are engaged in therapy already: horse-assisted therapy as a complement to the regular therapy can give them more incentive to complete and gain from the therapy that they are already undergoing.
In conclusion, animal-assisted therapy and especially equine-assisted therapy has been shown to be successful in helping individuals suffering from substance abuse disorder to not only complete their therapy but also help them to gain a better control over their own lives, by taking the lessons they learn from the goal-oriented animal-assisted therapy and applying them to their own lives. They learn how to care for animals and how to control them, and this gives them both a sense of empowerment and a sense of knowledge of what it takes to be disciplined not only with animals but also with themselves. By taking a share of ownership over another living thing, they assume an air of responsibility that translates into how they see themselves as dictators of their own experience rather than as passive receivers of unconscious whims and desires. From an Adlerian perspective, animal-assisted therapy makes sense as a practical co-intervention to support overcoming substance abuse.
References
Birtel, M. D., Wood, L., & Kempa, N. J. (2017). Stigma and social support in substance abuse: Implications for mental health and well-being. Psychiatry Research, 252, 1-8.
Contalbrigo, L., De Santis, M., Toson, M., Montanaro, M., Farina, L., Costa, A., & Nava,F. (2017). The efficacy of dog assisted therapy in detained drug users: A pilot study in an Italian attenuated custody institute. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(7), 683.
Hauge, H., Kvalem, I. L., Berget, B., Enders-Slegers, M. J., & Braastad, B. O. (2014). Equine-assisted activities and the impact on perceived social support, self-esteem and self-efficacy among adolescents–an intervention study. International journal of adolescence and youth, 19(1), 1-21.
Kelly, M. A., & Cozzolino, C. A. (2015). Helping at-risk youth overcome trauma and substance abuse through animal-assisted therapy. Contemporary Justice Review, 18(4), 421-434.
Kern-Godal, A., Arnevik, E. A., Walderhaug, E., & Ravndal, E. (2015). Substance use disorder treatment retention and completion: a prospective study of horse-assisted therapy (HAT) for young adults. Addiction science & clinical practice, 10(1), 21.
Klemetsen, M. G., & Lindstrom, T. C. (2017). Animal-assisted therapy in the treatment of substance use disorders: A systematic mixed methods review. Human-Animal Interaction Bull, 5, 90-117.
Masini, A., PhD. (2010). Equine-assisted psychotherapy in clinical practice. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services, 48(10), 30-34. doi:http://fir.tesu.edu:2074/10.3928/02793695-20100831-08
Muela, A., Balluerka, N., Amiano, N., Caldentey, M. A., & Aliri, J. (2017). Animal-assisted psychotherapy for young people with behavioural problems in residential care. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 24(6), O1485-O1494. doi:http://fir.tesu.edu:2074/10.1002/cpp.2112