Topic: How do competencies for becoming an adventure therapist compare and contrast with a different method of experiential treatment?
Gass, Gillis, and Russell provide a detailed chapter on the competencies held by adventure therapists in Adventure Therapy: Theory, Research, and Practice. The authors explain how a true adventure therapist is competent in three areas, holding the knowledge and skills of an adventure leader, a counselor or therapist, and a client specialist. Possessing an exemplary level of competency in each of these areas would take a substantial amount of time, therefore, I feel such individuals are extremely valuable.
Another form of experiential therapy that has a similar method for competency development is equine assisted psychotherapy. This website discusses the EFPL (Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy and Learning) Certification. Similar to AT, there are different areas of competency that come together to form a true equine therapist or a complete treatment team. These include a licensed counselor or therapist, an education specialist, a horse specialist, and a riding instructor. As seen here, according to the EAGALA Certification information, they require a treatment team of a mental health specialist and equine specialist as opposed to allowing one individual to perform both roles.
The Certification Board for Equine Interaction Professionals website provides information on this organization and the training programs they provide. This organization came together with the purpose of creating a knowledge base for best practices in this field as well as standards for excellence. The website expresses the concern felt when equine programs began to spring up and there were no such standards or certification boards. A few incompetent programs or services could catch media fire and potentially ruin the whole profession. AT professionals have also recognized the need to create standards and best practices as well as conduct research to inform the public as to the benefits of AT.
One thing is clear from the text and from both of the websites discussed here; in both fields, professionals are expected to continuously build their knowledge, skills, and overall competencies throughout their career. This not only means keeping up to date certifications and attending the latest training seminars, but also simply having an open outlook and always making room for growth.
References:
Certification Board for Equine Interaction Professionals. Retrieved from: http://www.cbeip.org
EAGALA. Certification Program. Retrieved from: http://www.eagala.org/Certification_Program
Gass, M. A., Gillis, H. L., & Russell, K. C. (2012). Adventure therapy: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
HEAL: Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy and Learning. EFPL Certification. Retrieved from: http://humanequinealliance.org/the-heal-model/efpl-certification/
Renee, I enjoyed your post, I thought it was very interesting. I find equine assisted psychotherapy very intriguing because it is so mysteriously magical how a fully grown horse can influence a persons’ mental state. It is interesting that equine therapy utilizes such a vast amount of professionals in their field, from a licensed therapist to a riding instructor, equine therapy uses a number of different professionals to complete therapy. However, when a field such as equine therapy utilizes a substantial amount of professionals to complete their mission, it requires the field to declare competencies for all the different types of professionals. Therefore, equine therapy has a complex array of competencies for the substantial amount of professionals utilized in the field. Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really great that you included equine therapy. I had never really given it much thought until this class and now it seems like its popping up everywhere. Thats probably in part because, as you pointed out, there are many similarities, even in their competencies. Adventure therapists and equine therapists both have to be two main things, they have to be therapists and trained in their respective kinesthetic skill. I think this in itself makes them very similar- they are both inherently more than one thing.
ReplyDeleteRenee, I think you did a really good job with this post. By using different job duties (riding instructor, horse specialist, licensed therapist, and education specialist) in equine therapy, to me it shows that they are really serious about what they do, and they are very specialized in it. As you said, there are many competencies required for equine therapy. Horses are beautiful animals, and I believe we could all learn something from them. Equine therapy is not a type of therapy you would ordinarily think of but seeing how horses can influence a person's mental state, proves that this type of therapy may work. Thanks Renee!
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