From darkness to light

WORLAND - Entering the foster care system can be a scary, dark time for any youth, and one young Worland youth came out into the light several months later through equine and art therapy.

For six months the Wyoming Department of Family Services has been working with a teenager in foster care.

According to social services worker Alison Fink, "Part of [the teen's] goals of independent living skills is tapping into [the teen's] individual artistic interests and easing [the teen] into transition into high school. 

"The teenager went into protective custody about 8 months ago and has a beautiful story of healing and hope to inspire others.  While being in foster care was difficult, [the teen] sees the transformation which has occurred and continues to evolve within [the teen's] family of gaining connections and support in a high-conflict family environment."

While in foster care, the teen was mentored by a local art teacher. Fink said the foster teen's project of gaining experience in project management was working on a mural to illustrate the teen's story and give hope to others new to the process of being in custody and preventative services.

The mural, which adorns the wall of the Worland DFS office now, is also part of the ART 321 Healing Through Art exhibit in Casper through the month of September. The show focuses on mental health awareness and the healing aspects of art in all mediums.

Fink said the mural, along with a smaller version, was completed and framed just in time for the opening reception during Casper's last Art Walk of the season Sept. 5.

Fink said that over 570 people attended the opening reception and it was a huge success.

A description of the piece and the circumstances surrounding it are included in the exhibit.

The artwork illustrates the teen's 'zones' of the process of healing and reunification with the teen's family.

When interviewed last week, the teen said the first zone in the painting, which is dark with gravestones, is the chaotic/attack zone where there was a lot going in the teen's life and being in custody.

The teen said that upon entering foster care, while the family was welcoming, it was hard to actually feel welcome because it was not home.

The middle of the painting, the second zone is the help zone, the teen called it, which is when the teen received help from DFS and entered counseling through Healthy Frontier

Counseling.

The third zone with bright sun, green leaves on the tree, a dove flying in the bright blue sky and horses lazily grazing in a pasture is the healing zone where the teen returned safe to home.

Fink summarized the painting, stating, "Horses are important in the artwork because equine therapy was used with the family and the tree is the roots to safety and connection.

"Symbolic images in each zone of the mural are the birds, horses and roots of the trees. Zone 1 will have the horses with their ears back, Zone 2 with one ear forward, Zone 3 ears forward and grazing since the horse feels comfortable, safe and basic needs are being met.

"We are utilizing the mural as doubling up as scaling during multidisciplinary team meeting and family meetings to assess what stage each member in their path to healing. For example the youth working on the project expresses herself Zone 3 of healing and had a positive outcome of change within her family."

HORSES

The horses in the teen's painting was not by happenstance but rather Healthy Frontier Counseling uses equine therapy for their counseling.

Healthy Frontier Counseling began in 2011 with Jeanna Butterfield, who is dually trained as an equine specialist and mental health professional. Emily Herby is an equine specialist with Healthy Frontier.

They use the Eagala Model, which is a worldwide equine-assisted psychotherapy program. According to the Eagala website, "The Eagala Model is so effective because it embraces the science that humans learn best by doing. The model prescribes a hands-on approach where clients are given the space to project and analyze their situations, make connections, and find their own solutions. Since the solutions are personally experienced in conjunction with intellectual understanding, they tend to be deeper, more profound, and longer lasting."

Their patients are referred from the courts or the Wyoming Department of Family Services as it was in this case. They serve not just Washakie County but have accepted patients from Park, Fremont and Natrona counties.

"It's important that people understand we are trained. There is an extensive training and certification process. Some people think all you need is a horse and that is not the case," Butterfield said.

According to the Eagala website, "When inside the arena, all the work is done on the ground with the horses front and center, deliberately unhindered and never ridden, and allowed to interact with the client as they wish. This creates the space for the client, with the support of the professional facilitators, to reflect, project, and make deep connections."

"Horses mirror what's going on [with families or individuals]. The horses will play it out," Butterfield said.

According to Eagala, horses are sensitive to their environment. They state in the website that horses, "instinctively analyze and react to our body language and other nonverbal cues providing us with valuable feedback and insights." The website also notes that horses have distinct personalities, just like humans, which Butterfield said provides insights when a particular horse with a particular personality picks out a client.

Herby added, "It's individual therapy and family therapy at the same time. It's not just one person, they have to act together as a unit. We try to work on individual and unit issues at the same time. We give them tools on being healthier [as individuals and as a family unit]."

She noted two patients many years ago were a mother and daughter. They were told to go anywhere in the arena, the daughter choosing the middle, the mother choosing one end of the arena. The horses pushed the mother toward the daughter while one horse nipped at the daughter. The more the daughter cried out for the mother the more the horses pushed the mother toward the daughter. Once together they embraced and expressed what was going on and the horses dispersed to other parts of the arena.

THE PROCESS

Butterfield said they begin with an intensive intake session to try and determine the need of their client. Then the first session in the arena is the "picking session." The client is asked to go stand somewhere in the arena and then one of the horses usually will "pick the person."

She said that until the horses have picked the individual clients Butterfield and Herby do not engage with the client.

Once picked they will ask the client if the horse reminds them of anyone and go from there.

Each session Herby observes the horses for shifts, patterns (over a session or over many sessions), the uniqueness of what the horse is doing and any discrepancies.

How long the clients are in counseling is on a case-by-case basis, Butterfield said. She noted, however, that what they can accomplish in one session with equine-assisted therapy, takes about half the time of traditional therapy.

Most importantly, Butterfield said, she and Herby "can't bring in our stuff. It has to be their [the client's] story. They have to process it out. What they do in here, ends up outside."

HEALING

The teen who painted the mural exemplified the Butterfield's statement. Through the counseling, the teen has been able to trust people more, make new friends and is working on coming out of their box.

The teen described the first session as "awesome."

What the teen would like to share with others who might be in foster care or who are struggling, whether at home or somewhere else, "Getting help is a good thing; and it will get better."

Due to confidentiality requirements with the Department of Family Services the Northern Wyoming News agreed to withhold the name of the youth involved in the project in order to be able to tell the teen's story.