Dance with those that run with laughter

At Camino Recovery we aim to work for you, but most importantly we work with you in order to create the best results possible. The process of recovery in any sense is never an easy one, and so the treatment needs to be as practically relevant as possible.

Here at Camino Recovery we practice Equine-Utilised Psychotherapy whereby our clients work closely with horses. As addiction is an ongoing battle, psychotherapy with horses is designed to help define boundaries in relationships, whether it be with a person, a substance or yourself.

Horses have the ability to reflect physical as well as emotional states in individuals due to the fact that we are, at heart, herd animals. What is instinctive to a horse, therefore, becomes the most amazing teaching tool to a person.

In this way, ‘horsenalities’ and personalities meet to open new lines of communication we may have thought never existed.  This ‘joining’ experience between horses and people often leaves them unable to define exactly what it is that makes the experience so powerful, but it works well and the results speak for themselves.

In his new book, Equine-Utilised Psychotherapy (Dance with those that run with laughter) by leading American psychotherapist and programme director of Camino Recovery, Don Lavender, he explores why EUP works and what it is that makes human relationships with horses so profoundly moving.

A former Roman Catholic priest, Don has been a therapist now for 30 years, with 27 of those specialising in addictions, family work and trauma resolution. Partly descended from Native Americans, he opened a private practice in London in 2002.

Now working in Spain at Camino Recovery, he is perhaps best known for his pioneering work in equine assisted psychotherapy, or EAP, which he first helped to develop in US treatment centres some 20 years ago.

To find out more about the theory and uses of EAP or to purchase the book, click here for more information.