About twenty adolescents with serious mental health problems have been participating for a year in an equine therapy project by Sant Joan de Déu Terres de Lleida that takes place in Juneda. The initiative seeks to improve their emotional well-being, social skills, and emotional regulation through interventions assisted by horses.
The program focuses on young people from the Residential Therapeutic Educational Unit "Acompáñame" and has maintained an attendance rate of over 80%. This figure contrasts with the clinical complexity of the group served and has also been accompanied by a high degree of satisfaction among participants.
Attendance exceeded 80% during the first year in Juneda
The project started a year ago and has become a regular activity for the adolescents served by Sant Joan de Déu Terres de Lleida. Participation includes about twenty young people from the residential unit.
The majority of the adolescents have expressed their desire to continue with similar experiences. This interest reinforces the continuity of a proposal that takes place outside the usual care environment, in direct contact with horses and nature.
Horses allow for working on emotional, cognitive, and social aspects
The interventions combine the presence of the animal with the support of professionals and social educators. The work addresses motor, cognitive, emotional, and social aspects within the same activity.
In the sessions, the bond with the horse, contact with the natural environment, and movement act as therapeutic tools. The objective is to improve the emotional regulation of adolescents and facilitate relationship skills in a group with serious mental disorders.
After the first year, about twenty young people from the Residential Therapeutic Educational Unit "Acompáñame" are participating in a program that Sant Joan de Déu Terres de Lleida is developing in Juneda.