The Academy at Sisters provides Certified Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) allows girls to work with horses as part of therapy to address personal, social, emotional, and mental health issues.
The EAP exercises were designed by EAGALA Founder, Greg Kersten, (founder of the OK Corral Series Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine Assisted Learning Philosophy.)
This program assists the girls in acknowledging problems in their life and educating and empowering them so they may learn to create their own solutions. They develop confidence, healthy social skills, assertiveness with setting boundaries and much more, which translates to all areas of their lives.
The Academy at Sisters provides Horses are aware of and respond directly to our nonverbal cues that we are often unaware of or simply ignore. It is impossible to fool a horse as horses know whether someone is truly confident or presenting a facade; and they respond directly to the information they are given.
Sessions are led by two individuals certified in OK Corral Philosophy:
Sandy Ranger: Program Director
Dr. Julie Schneider: Licensed Psychologist and Clinical Director
The Academy at Sisters utilizes the OK Corral’s Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Philosophy to assist with individual treatment plans, victim recovery, community awareness, Parent Workshops and Family Sessions.
The feedback each young woman receives from the horse helps provide metaphors for how she navigates her human communities and systems.
In addition to this beneficial group session, students also have weekly opportunities to simply horseback ride and enjoy the responsibilities of taking care of such an inspirational animal.
