About Breaking Free
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BREAKING FREE IS A 501(C)3 NOT-FOR-PROFIT SERVICE THAT SERVES OUR COMMUNITY WITH ACTIVITIES THAT ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BREAK FREE FROM CIRCUMSTANCES THAT PREVENT THEM FROM REACHING THEIR POTENTIAL IN LIFE.
WORKING WITH HORSES, BREAKING FREE CAN HELP PEOPLE RESOLVE CONFLICTS, NEGOTIATE DIFFICULT LIFE TRANSITIONS, AND FIND THE STRENGTH TO OVERCOME ADDICTIONS, ABUSE, AND OTHER HURTFUL CONDITIONS. Testimony This program is designed to help trauma survivors break free from the internal negative memories and messages programmed in our heads, either by others or by our own doing. You learn a lot about yourself in realizing the horses reflect your internal thoughts and emotions, as if to give validation. Thus, you and your horse connect as if you become one. By teaming up with such a large beast, you learn how to gain power and take control of something much bigger than yourself. More than having control over a horse you can also have control over your life. In just the first 12 weeks of Breaking Free I gained confidence, self-esteem, self-worth and pride in my accomplishments whether it was my work with the horses or in everything I did outside of the program. More than that, I lost mountains of anger, fear, anxiety and depression. I'm very blessed for all the Angels at Breaking Free! Thank you for changing my life! LH
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Breaking Free begins by involving people with horses on the ground. When clients request, Breaking Free will continue services through riding, facilitating discussion and reflection with every session. The goal is to assist clients to discover solutions for challenges in their lives and reach personal goals. Sometimes that involves working with horses on the ground, and sometimes it involves riding. Clients do not need to be knowledgeable about horses in order to benefit from equine assisted mental health experiences. Breaking Free does not discriminate, nor does it collaborate with any organization that discriminates against persons because of race, religion, disability, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation.
Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) focuses on building cognitive processing skills through experiences with horses on the ground. Perhaps a group (church, school, business) wants to clarify its mission, or build better communication with audiences and constituents. Or perhaps a group wants to improve team coordination, or refresh their sense of purpose and goals. EAL provides opportunities for groups to think together productively, in order to reboot, revise and re-engage.
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy focuses on the emotional health of clients and families, and sessions typically involve an individual or the individual and key family members. The client goals determine the content of the sessions and the number of sessions. Every EAP session has three staff involved, the equine specialist, a mental health specialist, and the horses. Breaking Free will provide a mental health specialist if the client does not have someone they want to work with, or the client's usual mental health provider can become an ad hoc part of the team during treatment. |