PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF USING HIPPOTHERAPY FOR CHILDREN WITH DISORDERS OF PSYCHOPHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND EMOTIONAL SPHERE IN LIVING CONDITIONS IN THE CONFLICT ZONE IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Purpose. As a result of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the number of people were affected both psychologically and physically has increased significantly. New challenges appear in rehabilitation, social adaptation and psychological recovery. In the process of working with people, there is a need for additional effective work methods for stabilizing emotional and restoring physical states. In these conditions, hippotherapy acts as an auxiliary tool in the work of psychologists, psychotherapists, rehabilitators with the affected population. It provides an opportunity for effective rehabilitation, both physical and psychological, as well as a more sustainable effect of methods of restoring the emotional state after the experienced stress or traumatic event. Moreover, crisis events involving humans significantly affect the loss of trust in a person as a specialist. In this situation, the animal acts as a guide in understanding the client’s pain and suffering, as confidant. The foundations of influence on the psychophysical state of a person are based on the natural characteristics of horses and the characteristics of the intercommunion between the horse and the person. In this situation, the animal acts as a guide in accessing the client’s pain and suffering, a source of trust and interaction, an opportunity to feel emotions in the present tense, “right now”. The foundations of influence on the psychophysical state of a person are based on the natural characteristics of horses, the characteristics of movement, body structure, and the characteristics of the emotional interaction between a horse and a person. This impact of interaction has been little studied due to the fact that most initiatives in Ukraine work in isolation and do not have their own recorded results. Material. The experience of using horses to help the affected population in the Luhansk region in 2016 provides an opportunity to investigate the results and mechanisms of emotional recovery using the example of displaced children who constantly live close to the demarcation line. The results of physical and emotional rehabilitation of children with special educational needs were also recorded. Results. As a result of the work, positive results were obtained for each child, and the mechanisms of the effectiveness of hippotherapy in a situation of strong emotional stress due to experienced traumatic events were analyzed. Moreover, it was noted that the skills for restoring the emotional state, which were developed due to hippotherapy, were used in life and further for a long time. Conclusions. The involvement of horses in helping the affected population as a result of the war in Ukraine has a wide range of applications and helps psychologists, psychotherapists, rehabilitators to get good long-term results in their work.