75% of patients complain that their medical providers do not communicate well…

Horses for Healers is an experiential learning workshop specifically designed for medical healthcare licensed professionals, medical residents and medical students to provide an understanding and even mastery of nonverbal communication (body language), as well as to enhance solution focused creative thinking skills. Horses are the main instructors of this course, so essentially we are providing horses and a completely unique environment to provide excellent bedside manner. There is zero riding involved, and participants need zero horse experience to benefit fully from the lessons taught by our 4legged colleagues.

Horses for Healers is a completely novel modality which utilizes horses to become the non-judgmental and objectively honest biofeedback devices measuring the effectiveness of our human nonverbal communication skills. The nice thing about working with horses is that they will honestly let you know when our body language is not working (not clear or not safe), and then will answer just as honestly after we make adjustments which elicit a different response…it becomes obvious for participants to see the subtleties between trust and not trust.

What does this have to do with patient/person centered care? Engaging with others using heightened nonverbal awareness, combined with the necessary verbal communication skills immediately translates into authenticity, compassion, and trust (safe) when establishing patient rapport as a natural first step.  The wave of the future in healthcare is above competency, it is combining expertise with compassionate and connected care. For the patient it is about feeling that they are safe in trusting their medical providers.

Because health science education stresses intellectual excellence, much less attention (if any) is placed on proficient communication, both verbal and non-verbal.  Skilled non-verbal communication can dramatically increase patient satisfaction, therapeutic outcomes, and even malpractice prevention.

Horses for Healers is not here to improve your medical expertise, it is expected that you have already earned that. The horses are here to give you the skills to be a medical expert with impeccably authentic body language to align with verbal communication.

Horses for Healers participants will gain the following in as little as one day:

• Nonverbal communication skills

• Establishing trust & safety (rapport)

• Time & caseload management

• Enlisting & nurturing colleague/team support

• Handling a difficult/uncooperative patients (and/or family members)

• Enlisting collegial support with regard to treatment plans

• Staying focused in face of obstacles

• Recognizing and avoiding burnout

• Creative thinking and problem solving skills

• And more… (which we refer to as the Horse side effects)

Horses are prey (flight) animals and natural PhD’s in the art of body language, because their survival depends upon accuracy and truth in this department.In a full day workshop for medical professionals, residents or students – Horses for Healers will provide a solid base in understanding and implementing social skills which will enhance natural trust, colleague support and impeccable bedside manner.

In 2017 in partnership with Rutgers Continuing Education we established an accredited full day CME/CEU workshop for medical professionals. We are the first course in the United States to offer this format with horses as a way to master non-verbal communication and how important this is toward providing authentic patient centered care. Rutgers CE honors licenses in all 50 states. The motivation to obtain accreditation in this area arose from the outstanding feedback from M3 and M4 students at UMDNJ, RWJMS and Rutgers Medical School. As of 2016 we could calculate that 78% of the medical students who have completed our class evaluation forms (available upon request) that Horses for Healers should be a requirement to graduate medical school and/or that they learned more from the horses about patient trust, rapport and relationships than any book or lecture could provide.

This concept of Horses teaching impeccable bedside manner is not new!  Pioneered by Dr. Allan Hamilton (University of Tucson in 2001) with Barnside to Bedside. Leading to Medicine & Horsemanship by Dr. Beverley Kane (Stanford University in 2004). Leading to SRoH and Dr. Maria Katsamanis bringing Horses for Healers to the Northeast through UMDNJ, RWJMS, and Rutgers MS since 2012.  For more information (materials and videos) please inquire with us.

THANK YOU for your time and interest to explore how HORSES can help to dramatically improve patient centered care! We will meet you at the gate where the horses are waiting to greet and teach you. It is our pleasure to share this workshop.

Spring Reins of Hope LLC is an EAGALA Model certified program since 2009. www.springreinsofhope.com

What We've Achieved