EquiTherapy at LIV Durban

20/02/2023

We would like to take a moment to thank you for supporting EquiTherapy at LIV Durban over the past few years. It has been exciting to see how this form of Therapy has impacted the lives of the children here at LIV.

Together with the LIV team we have decided to move all Equine Therapy related communications over to the main LIV Durban social media page.

We would love your continued support and ask that you https://www.facebook.com/livdurban continue following the work we are doing with the children and the horses.

Blessings to you all!

01/01/2023

🐎🐴Happy new year to all our equine therapy supporters! 🐴🐎

Upon entering a New Year, we want to wish you a wonderful and Blessed 2023 ahead, from everyone at LIV.

17/11/2022

Can you say it without saying it?

This week our groups have been learning
about ‘Silent Communication’.
Horses are masters at reading body language and communicating through postures, gestures and expressions.
Our equine friends have been fantastic teachers this week as the children learn about the power of understanding communication through body language.

09/11/2022

⭐️ Way to go, Team Amadeus! ⭐️

Working towards finding ‘WIN/WIN’ solutions in an EAL session all about negotiation 🤝 👏

03/11/2022

🖤 We love you Rain!

Our children often find it difficult to identify and express their emotions. It can be a scary and vulnerable place to venture with people but oh so easy with their equine companion.
It’s incredible to observe these beautiful interactions.

28/10/2022

Happy weekend from our handsome Amadeus and the team 🤍

17/10/2022

Active Listening is a skill that can be learned as we practice to become more engaged in hearing and responding.
Our teams today were developing their ability to listen and understand one another. Well done ‘Team Rain’ 👏 🐴 🎉

06/10/2022

Our children have been busy helping around the yard during the school holidays.
We’ll be prepared and ready to recommence our Equine-Assisted Learning programs next week!

21/09/2022

‘Let’s do it together!’

Our groups have been learning the importance of working with one another, embracing individual strengths as well as trusting and respecting all team members (including their horse!)

14/09/2022

1. Breathe

“Breathing is the number one and most effective technique for reducing anger and anxiety quickly " ( Scott Dehorty, LCSW-C, of Delphi Behavioral Health)

When you’re anxious or angry, you tend to take quick, shallow breaths. This sends a message to your brain, causing a positive feedback loop reinforcing your fight-or-flight response. That’s why taking long, deep calming breaths disrupts that loop and helps you calm down.

2. Admit that you’re anxious or angry

Allow yourself to say that you’re anxious or angry. When you label how you’re feeling and allow yourself to express it, the anxiety and anger you’re experiencing may decrease.

3. Challenge your thoughts

Part of being anxious or angry is having irrational thoughts that don’t necessarily make sense. These thoughts are often the “worse-case scenario.” You might find yourself caught in the “what if” cycle, which can cause you to sabotage a lot of things in your life.

When you experience one of these thoughts, stop and ask yourself the following questions:

𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻?
𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁?
𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲?
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻?
𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁?

02/09/2022

The Fight Trauma Response 📍

📍Often presents as a temper that can be explosive and unpredictable. It can feel confusing as an individual will seem to flip a switch - which often makes it look like they're overreacting.

📍The fight trauma response can be activated when someone feels stressed, threatened, and unsafe.

📍This response's goal is to "fight" off the threat, either by physical acts, with aggression, mocking, or shaming.

📍After this response, individuals may often experience guilt or shame.

🖤Do you go into fight?

🥕If confronted with a threatening situation, horses prefer to protect themselves by running away from the danger as flight animals , but if running away from a threat isn't an option, horses can protect themselves by biting, striking, rearing up, bucking, or kicking🥕

Watch out for these illustrations in my next booklet 😍



Creative georgie