11/12/09

Spring Reins of Hope: Getting to the Horse of the Matter

Christianna E. Capra and Maria Karavidas, Psy.D.

Show Description:

“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”
~ Sir Winston Churchill

Spring Reins of Hope (SROH) is an EAGALA certified EAP/EAL model for equine assisted therapies.   This differs from therapeutic riding in that all work is done un-mounted and there is a collaborative treatment team consisting of a licensed mental health professional and also a horse specialist whom both work together to facilitate the session. The additional and most valuable members of the treatment team are the horses.

Spring Reins of Hope (SROH) is a ground-breaking program offering Equine Assisted services designed to generate personal resources and empowerment.  At Spring Reins of Hope we are committed to improving people’s lives both personally and professionally.  The field of Equine Assisted work is growing at a rapid pace with marked results.  Founded in 2009; Spring Reins of Hope offers both Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (personal growth) and Equine Assisted Learning (professional growth).  The horses, which are herd bound prey animals, are a perfect choice to serve as gentle guides in this arena due to their inherent ability to increase self-awareness and generate opportunities for resiliency.  All exercises are un-mounted and no horse experience is necessary to benefit.  Please join us and explore the various services we offer.  Like a Zephyr Wind* the horses await your arrival…

Core Purpose
Spring Reins of Hope strives to provide a safe environment for self-exploration and growth.  We exist to generate experiences that will reveal personal resources for life mastery.  The core of this work is anchored on providing behavioral rehearsal for learning skill sets, grounding emotional triggers, and improving coping strategies.  Ultimately, our goal is to empower individuals to seek their own resiliency and create a personal tool box for enhanced problem resolution.  We are both honored and thankful to have the horses as our complimentary guides in this work.

http://springreinsofhope.com

Guest Bio:

Christianna E. Capra
Co-Founder
Executive Director
EAGALA Certified Equine Specialist
SPRING REINS of HOPE, LLC
Christianna Capra has been passionate about horses since the age of 2.  Her childhood encompassed an active membership in 4H & Pony Clubs where she developed basic horsemanship skills and rallied to ride anything that would let her aboard (or not!).  According to Capra’s Mom - “horses helped to raise her, keeping her grounded and teaching her responsibility”.  But beyond the joyful riding experience, Capra discovered that riding is just one facet of interaction with horses – they can guide, heal and touch our life/soul in profound ways.  Born in Colorado, growing up in Seattle and eventually settling in NYC afforded her the opportunity to become involved in various aspects of the horse world.  As an adult, Capra stayed involved with horses and spent several years studying the nature of the horse, animal communication, understanding what true partnership entails between horse and rider, and becoming a voice for animal rights.  She became an accomplished Dressage and Eventing rider as she continued her studies, always seeking a way to combine her life-long passion for horses into a career path that would introduce others to this life changing connection. 

In 2006 a series of events took place that led Capra to EAGALA where she became a certified Equine Specialist and is currently completing the requirements for Advanced Certification.  From the point of discovering the work of equine assisted therapy, there came a deep knowing that this was her purpose and would become her life’s work.

Capra holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Marymount Manhattan College as well as a Minor in General Psychology.  She has over 15 years of Sales/Marketing and Public Relations experience working in NYC with Krupp Kommunications and with Artist Michael Colavito.  She volunteered her services on a marketing board to launch a partnership between The White House Project and Wolf Means Business, dedicated to grooming young women for roles in political leadership.  Capra is also a co-host for two monthly shows on the Health & Harmony Radio Network (HHRN) Health & Harmony Radio and Animal Matters Radio.   The combination of her personal history and life experience with horses and her professional expertise will help Capra contribute to Spring Reins of Hope’s success and to deliver EAP/EAL services that will benefit clients and horses alike.  She is committed to this process as her legacy and the most profound way that she can be of service to others and the community.  Capra actively competes in Dressage/Eventing, with her Lipizzaner cross gelding, Dane.
 
Maria Karavidas, Psy.D.
Co-Founder
Director, Mental Health Services
EAGALA Certified Mental Health Professional
SPRING REINS of HOPE, LLC

Dr. Karavidas is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in both New Jersey and New York and holds a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology.  She is certified as a Mental Health Professional through the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA).  Dr. Karavidas has earned a Bachelor’s of Art in International Relations and two Masters: a Masters of Arts in General Psychology and a Master’s of Science in Clinical Psychology.  While pursuing her graduate studies she worked as a flight attendant for three years and is married to a commercial pilot.  They met while she was pursuing her private pilot’s license.  She maintains a faculty appointment as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) and a teaching appointment supervising psychology graduate students at the Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSAPP), Rutgers University.  She founded an elective course at RWJMS, collaboratively with Rutgers University Equine Research Center (Carey Williams, Ph.D.) to teach the importance of nonverbal language to help medical students in their interpersonal relationships as healthcare practitioners and improve bedside manners.  Her professional affiliations include being a member of the Animal/Human Interaction: Research and Practice Session, Society of Counseling Psychology (Section 13), Division 17, American Psychological Association.   She was recently elected to participate as a member of the EAGALA Research Advisory Group.  She has numerous publications in the area of psychophysiology and has a focused interest in breathing behavior and its effects on health and performance.   She was recently nominated for the 2009 “Outstanding Teacher” Award by the Psychiatry Residency program at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Dr. Karavidas has had a lifelong passion for improving her horsemanship.  One of her earliest memories is saving her pennies to buy horse training packages.  Her first teacher, at 12 years old, was a 6-year old Quarter Horse mare who taught her to speak softly and carry a big carrot!!  Since then, there were many other notable 4-legged teachers but always her first mare, Shalimar, lingered in her mind.  After 20 years passed, she finally tracked down and re-united with Shalimar who was now 27 and looking fantastic….younger than ever!!! Many of life’s lessons were learned atop or next to a horse and Dr. Karavidas has continued to advocate the value of lessons learned from nature.  She has completed training as a Certified Equine Massage Therapist and is apprenticing with a French Classical Dressage trainer.