Therapy dogs are well known as companions for people looking to manage their mental health, but Bergen Equestrian Center wants to spread the word about a program using their own four-legged friends: horses. I am.
Bergen Equestrian Center has opened a dedicated space at Overpeck Park in Leonia for the county’s first equine mental health program called “Stable Living.” A ribbon-cutting on the program’s new center (a building that previously housed another boarding facility for the park’s horses) was celebrated Tuesday morning with local officials, nonprofit leaders and program members.
Anna Gassib, co-owner of Bergen Equestrian Center and founder of “A Stable Life,” started the program 12 years ago with a vision to combine horses and therapy.
Stable Living helps people dealing with anxiety, isolation, addiction, loss of a loved one, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder by participating in activities other than horseback riding as a means of developing life management skills It’s a treatment program. This therapy is dedicated to helping people of all ages, with clients ranging from the age of 12 to his 89 years.
The new dedicated space for the “Stable Living” program will help make sessions more private and separate from the larger equestrian center in the park, Gasib said. Previously, clients attended sessions in the main stable, which was used by many people.
“I’m very excited,” Gasib said of the new space. “I think this will allow us to expand further and help more people in the county.”
Gasib said treatment plans are created in collaboration with mental health professionals and are individualized based on each person’s needs. For example, someone with anxiety might work on breathing exercises in front of a horse.
This program allows therapists to “integrate the emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that arise as clients work with horses, and understand how the horse responds to them and how that relates to other relationships in the client’s life.” The purpose is to help you understand what you are doing.
Over the years, the group has partnered with Columbia University, the Women’s Rights Information Center in Englewood, Bergen Family Center, Spring House, Covenant House, Bergen County Family Guidance Division, and the New Jersey Office for Victims of Crime. We have supported people who are of their service.
The Women’s Rights Information Center in Englewood is helping bring groups of women who have experienced domestic violence or human trafficking into 10-week sessions, said executive director Lil Corcoran.. Next year, Corcoran hopes to fund research into how equine therapy can help people with all kinds of mental health conditions.
Karen Arnone of Palisades Park said her 15-year-old granddaughter Jazmin joined the program 18 months ago and comes once a week to help manage her PTSD after her mother was murdered. Arnone said the difference the program has made in her granddaughter’s life has been “remarkable,” and the program has become a place where she feels truly safe.
“Once she started working here, it was incredible,” Arnone said. “Once we went inside, a horse was making noises and getting attention. Anna just told her, ‘Horses know there’s something in you.’ That’s where I was.”
Arnone said the horse then rested its head on Jazmin’s shoulder, as if hugging her, making it a special moment for her.
“She feels safe because it’s a big animal,” Arnone said. “She feels like she’s in a protected space, and I believe that’s how Anna does therapy. She doesn’t do things by the book.” [therapy with Jazmine], she talks to her, discusses the problem and collaborates on how to overcome it. ”
To learn more about A Stable Life, visit bergenequestrian.com.
