ETA has secured a Licensing Agreement with a SpiritHorse Therapeutic Center, Corinth, Texas, for the use of its award-winning curriculum of special use for clients on The Autistic Spectrum, those suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury, those with Neo-Natal and Adult-Onset Strokes, and Cerebral Palsy. As such, Equine Therapy Associates is licensed to operate a SpiritHorse Center utilizing the SpiritHorse Program, and is part of the SpiritHorse 501(c)3 group tax exemption. ETA's Director, Dr. Carol Rae Hansen, was certified as an Instructor in the Spirit Horse Equine-Assisted Health Care Method in June, 2010. The Spirit Horse Program's success has been studied extensively in the U.S. and Western Europe and found successful, by clinicians at medical and university centers.

Award-wining
SPIRITHORSE CURRICULUM

for Autism Spectrum Clients, as well as those suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury, those with Neo-Natal and Adult-Onset Strokes, and Cerebral Palsy

The results have been especially promising for clients on The Autism Spectrum.Researchers who have found the results of the SpiritHorse method "Significant" include The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Department of Psychiatry, along with the Autism Treatment Center Research Department, the University of Texas at Dallas Department of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, as well as the Texas Woman's University Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, the University of North Texas Department of Rehabilitation, Social Work, and Addiction, and the Liberty University Department of Counseling. Together, they completed a two-year study of the SpiritHorse method as it worked with its Autistic clients. The first 35 participants in this study fell in the "Severe/Moderate" range prior to treatment, with an average score of 38; at the end of six months of riding at SpiritHorse, the students had shifted to an average score of 33, for a 58% improvement, with a movement half-way along the scale toward a "non-Autistic" rating score of 29.5 on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). The results of this study have been accepted for publication in The Journal of Alternative Therapy in Health and Medicine. Please see this link for the published article.

Subsequently, VU University of Amsterdam sent two representatives to study the SpiritHorse method for four months, and rated their preliminary findings as "Excellent." The university will soon produce a report(s) to be published in the European Union's medical journals. Please see this link for an article from Holland also please see this link for a reveiw of the article from Holland.

The SpiritHorse Program method's success has generated numerous awards: most recently, Charles Fletcher, founder and creator of the SpiritHorse Method, was chosen in 2014 as an Encore.Org Purpose Prize Fellow, a national award given to entrepreneurs and creative problem-solvers later in life, please see this link for more information, comparable to the MacArthur Fellows for younger researchers and entrepreneurs. Please see the link for View the SpiritHorse website for a full listing of the extensive awards it has won.