Presented by: Eva Usadi and Alejandra Lara
May 4-5, 2019 Warwick, NY
What you will learn in this workshop is how working with a herd of horses, at liberty can help you to engage Military Veterans who are struggling with the challenges of service. Our emphasis is on Moral Injury, as distinct from PTSD, and we do this in groups, helping them to reclaim their herd.
Specifically you will learn:
1. How to define and identify Moral Injury;
2. The Rules of (therapeutic) Engagement with a Military population;
3. What Military cultural competence is and why it is a necessary skill;
4. How to use the herd’s behavior to guide the therapeutic process;
5. And, a groundbreaking tool, based on data, that you will be able to use in your practice.
What is Moral Injury and why are we focused on it?
When asked what he understood about Moral Injury, one of our program participants said, “Oh, that’s when you are ordered to do what you were raised not to do, but you have to do it because it is an order and because lives are at stake.”
This is exactly right.
We define Moral Injury as an existential and or spiritual crisis that can be the consequence of having been trained to overcome the intrinsic aversion to the taking of human life. It can also be the consequence of having engaged in combat operations, however necessary at the time, that violate one’s moral code or ethical beliefs about how we treat our fellow humans.
We can train our warriors, mostly very young men and women, to kill for society, but we, as a society, are failing in our attempts to help them return from that experience. They come home in body, but not with heart and soul intact.
We have been working with Military Veterans in the arena in the context of a week-long residential program for combat Veterans, TRR’s Warrior Camp®, that includes other modalities: EMDR therapy, yoga, narrative writing and Native American sweat lodge.
DETAILS:
Required prior to attendance (either or both):
- A license in mental health (psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors);
- Certification as an Equine Professional through EAGALA or PATH, Intl. or another professional organization that certifies people in equine therapy.
- Listen to Eva Usadi’s Horse Symposium tele-summit (will be released late March 2019;
- Read Tyler Boudreau’s article, “The Morally Injured”;
- Read Eva Usadi’s articles, “Why We Don’t Ride: Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, Military Veterans and Moral Injury”and “Working with Horses On the Ground: Case Studies” both on TRR’s website: www.trrhelp.org
The workshop will include classroom time and arena time.
EAGALA: This workshop qualifies for 8 hours for workshops through the EAGALA Independent Study Program for certification renewal, and the entire workshop qualifies as clinical or cultural training hours towards earning the individual Eagala Military Services designation.
PATH, Intl.: This workshop is approved for 6 DE and 6 ESMHL Core or 6 CE.
We will lodge at the Warwick Conference Center where a block of 30 rooms have been reserved. The arena work will occur at Winslow Therapeutic Riding Center which is a few miles away.
For more information please call Eva Usadi at 855-877-4968
About the Presenters:
Eva Usadi, Equine Assisted Psychotherapist
Eva J. Usadi, MA, BCD is the Founder and Executive Director of Trauma and Resiliency Resources, and the Clinical Director of its award-winning Warrior Camp® program.
TRR’s Warrior Camp® is specifically designed to heal trauma and prevent suicide in a military veteran population by focusing on the Moral Injuries that are a natural consequence of combat operations.
Ms. Usadi is EAGALA-Certified as an Equine Assisted Psychotherapist since 2007, and is a Military Service Provider. She is Certified through EMDRIA as an EMDR Therapist, and is Registered as a 200-hour Yoga Teacher through the Yoga Alliance. She has advanced training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and holds a Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies from the Trauma Center in Boston, MA.
In 2007-2008 Ms. Usadi spent 7 months treating traumatized soldiers and their families at Ft. Drum, home of the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, and in 2010 provided weekly equine assisted psychotherapy sessions for warriors enrolled in a DoD-funded Military Wellness Program, located at an inpatient psychiatric facility in New York City. She is an approved provider for Military OneSource and Tricare, a Military Family Life Consultant, a POPPA clinician (Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance) for members of NYPD, a contract therapist with the FDNY and a preferred provider for Doctors Without Borders.
In private practice in NYC, Ms. Usadi specializes in the assessment and treatment of PTSD, Complex PTSD and Moral Injury. She has presented at EAGALA, PATH, Intl., EMDRIA and many other national and international conferences as well as to Veteran Service Organizations in NYC and elsewhere. She is the daughter of a World War II Veteran.
Alejandra Lara, Equine Specialist Professional
Alejandra Lara is a native from the mountains of Chile who moved to the United States in 1998. She now lives in the mountains of Park City, Utah. Alejandra offers eight years of experience in the equine-based learning field. She is the founder, facilitator, and coordinator of the Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) program at the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah, primarily offering Wounded Warrior Programs. She is EAGALA Certified since 2008 as an Equine Specialist Professional.
Ms. Lara is also Certified by PATH, Intl. as an Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning (ESMHL) and EFLC Level 1 and 2 through the Academy for Coaching with Horses. Alejandra has presented at the No Barriers Summit, PATH Regional Conferences, Adapt to Achieve Conferences, the Healing with Horse Tele- summits and Symposiums, and at the University of Utah College of Social Work. Ms. Lara is a life-long horsewoman and the mother of a Navy veteran.