Dr. Fasula reflects on her work in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and her experience with her clients at Crossroads Corral:

As a clinical psychologist and horse enthusiast that is EAGALA certified, I started a private practice in downtown Chicago focusing on psychotherapy and neurofeedback, while also offering clients Equine Assisted Psychotherapy.  Although many of my Chicago clients were interested in EAP, the closest facility was 60 miles outside the city, making it too logistically challenging.

After moving to Central Florida and opening a new practice, which also focuses on neurofeedback and psychotherapy, I have been delighted and thankful to find Crossroads Corral.  There are many cases where the in-office experience only takes a client so far, and I appreciate the opportunity to offer EAP as an experiential aspect to mental health.

For my clients who have plateaued with the in-office experience and participated in EAP, all have made significant gains after a few sessions.  As an example, I’ve worked with a teenage girl for close to a year that suffers from debilitating anxiety, which inhibits her ability to complete schoolwork and even attend school.  She has also been working regularly with a family counselor and a psychiatrist for almost two years.  Despite her continued treatment, she was barely passing her classes, and her parents could not get her to start her homework.  To-date, she has completed five EAP sessions, and her mother reported that she is sitting down every day to complete her homework, and her grades have improved across the board.  She told her mother, “Moose (her horse) killed my anxiety.”  She has related to the horses and transformed her experiences at Crossroads into positive outcomes in her life.

Family work becomes more meaningful and inclusive when working with the horses.  Typically, the biggest issue with family therapy is getting everyone to show up and actively participate in treatment.  Gathering your entire family in a therapist’s office is intimidating and can feel threatening.  Often times the “he said, she said” battle ensues, which can cause some to shut down and others to lash out, which significantly inhibits progress.  Within minutes of an EAP session at Crossroads, family dynamics are apparent, and the therapeutic activities compel each family member to work together to accomplish a cooperative task.  To date, I have received nothing but positive feedback about the EAP experience and am excited to offer such a unique and powerful tool to my clients.

 

Dr. Amber Fasula Psy.D., BCN

Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Board Certified in EEG Biofeedback

 

2017 is off to a great start at the Corral! Here are a few highlights of our first quarter that would not be possible without our “herd” of supporters!

 

• We wrote for and obtained a grant from Helpful Hands Inc, to provide 10 individual scholarships to at risk youth living in Seminole County. Each recipient will receive 6 sessions of our Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) Life Skill work, free of charge to their family. We were also granted funding to begin two at risk youth groups who will also receive 6 group sessions free of charge. Sessions have begun and we are still sending out applications.

 

• One of our incredible therapists, Kathy Wilkes, LMFT has much experience working with traumatic loss, bereavement and also the stress of caregiving. This year, we opened our gates to Gold Star Families as well as began a Caregiver support, Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) group as part of our veteran/military program.

 

• In February, two more Equine Specialists and another Licensed Mental Health Counselor were officially certified by the O.K Corral Series to help us with meeting the needs for our work in the community.

 

• We kicked the year off with the addition of a new board member, Rebecca Peeples. Rebecca is a CPA with 25 years of experience and is passionate about serving others and loves the outdoors. We are excited to have her on board to help us with our financials and more!

 

• Under the guidance of Dr. Amber Fasula who is an incredible clinical Psychologist we have partnered with, we added more clinical data to our program that is conducted Pre and Post with clients to gain more evidence of the benefits of our work and continue learning areas where we can improve

 

• Our Therapy program has grown tremendously in this first quarter!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The year is off to a great start, our therapy team and clients served has grown tremendously in the last three months! We appreciate your continued support as we follow our mission to promote personal growth, hope and healing through horses and serve Central Florida!