Innovative Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy Intervention for Adolescent Addiction Treatment: A Pilot Study

Background: Adolescent substance use continues to rise in the United States, and innovative interventions are needed to increase treatment outcomes. The need for innovative, complementary approaches to adolescent addiction treatment is felt. Equine facilitated psychotherapy (EFP) has demonstrated to be an innovative intervention. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the impact of an innovative EFP intervention on psychosocial and behavioral outcomes of adolescents with addiction. Patients and Methods: Ten adolescents diagnosed with substance use disorder referred from local providers participated in a six-session EFP group intervention. The study utilized a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design. The study used the Adolescent Behavior survey, Patient Health questionnaire 9, and generalized anxiety disorder 7 scales that were completed by the participants at baseline and upon completion of the six sessions. Paired t-tests were conducted to compare the pretest and posttest scores. Results: The results demonstrated a significant increase in adolescent behaviors associated with Glasser’s connecting habits, including listening, trusting, supporting, encouraging, respecting and accepting, and negotiating differences. The results also demonstrated a significant reduction in depressive and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated the potential efficacy of the innovative EFP intervention integrated into a choice theory-driven treatment strategy for improving psychosocial and behavioral concerns related to adolescent addiction. Future studies should consider research design alterations to increase the generalizability and interpretation of results. Further, future studies should include a qualitative or mixed-method design to elucidate the participants’ perception of the role of the equine as part of the intervention process.