While the the foreground of understanding for attachment disorders was laid by the early Romanian adoption studies, they also left several questions in the minds of the researchers.

For one thing, although attachment style could be identified at a young age using the well known Strange Situation experiment devised by Mary Ainsworth, it didn’t always predict the nature of future relationships. It seems that some people with an insecure style for example, struggle mightily with fractured relationships, mercurial life choices, and often chaotic patterns of operation. On the other hand, others with the same diagnosis, did not display any of these features.

The difference appeared to be explained by the health of the child’s early relationships. When secure bonds could be formed after an early insecure attachment style the child seemed to to fare much better as an adult. However, when stable relationships could not be formed after the first insecure ones, the child, as an adult continued to struggle. Yet despite this knowledge, those with early insecure attachment styles would be left mystified when trauma occurs. It seems that it is when an unsettling event in life happens, those who have adapted well after a poor early pattern, would revert back to the same insecure attachment styles displayed as a child. The problem, of course was that those who did revert, having had no memory during the crucial attachment phase, would be at a loss to understand what was happening to them, or why.

And without a thorough family history, and the ability to interview integral family members, such as caregivers, a therapist would also be mystified. So, enter equine therapy. Is it possible that working with a horse can help to uncover some of the patient’s early bonding experiences, and explain how and why she/he may be reverting? Perhaps.

One thing that horses can do, that is beyond the capacity of humans is detect what underlying, or even unconscious emotional responses. They can do this because these things are housed in the patient’s physiology, become evident when entering different situations, like being near a horse. For example, a client with an characteristic insecure mistrust of intimacy will most likely cause the horse to move away. Yet, he/she may have learned to manage this distrust, enabling relatively stable human relationships, that only become unstable when in times of trauma. On the other hand, a client may want to be overly close to the horse, perhaps even dangerously so, which may help explain an exaggerated clinginess when traumatized or extremely stressed.

The interesting thing is that, in both of these instances, the patient may have learned to function relatively well, only reverting to early patterns in times of trauma. Yet, it is also during these times, when the patient is both most in need of understanding and least likely to receive it. And perhaps by turning to a horse, and by witnessing the equine’s responses, these early attachment patterns can be revealed.

Photo by Erika Olsen, avilable under a Creative Commons attribution license.

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From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (April 22, 2011)

BirthTouch.com (April 22, 2011)

Mental Health Social (April 22, 2011)

Nancy Sellers (April 22, 2011)

Nancy Sellers (April 22, 2011)

    Last reviewed: 22 Apr 2011