A horse is a unique animal for many reasons. Not only are they precious, but they also play a very crucial role for humanity and culture.

On Tuesday, November 10, 2015, students in the masters of social work program participated in Horses for Healers, a program developed and used by medical learners to learn about bedside manner and self-awareness. The program is designed for future healthcare professionals, like doctors, dentists, nurses and anyone with direct patient care responsibility.

Students were given the opportunity to engage in animal-assisted learning as they interacted with the horses, practiced client engagement skills and collaborated on effective treatment plans. Horses are particularly sensitive to the nuances of emotions. Their feedback enables the mental health professional to become aware of how they are perceived by patients. “Horses are used as a vehicle for engagement in therapeutic interventions in animal-assisted therapy,” said Josephine Jarolmen, who is a professor in social work education and Chief Organizer of the program.

The event took place at Spring Reins of Hope and Growth in Hillsborough, New Jersey. “The program helps mental health professionals encode and decode non-verbal communication to make them more astute in understanding and forming a therapeutic alliance with those with whom they serve,” said Jarolmen.

By communicating with a horse, medical students learn to increase their sensitivity to non-verbal awareness and communication, while they explore their ability to monitor and read the body language of their human patients become more refined. Horses for Healers is included as part of the curriculum for medical students at Rutgers University. As mental health professionals continue to look for effective ways to assist their clients, students interested in social work education now have another method of therapy to consider.

Jarolmen works with students to help them develop skills that will help them become professional practitioners. “Social work for me is not only a profession, but it is a way of life. A social worker is dedicated to promoting social justice and dedicating themselves to helping vulnerable populations,” Jarolmen said.