I’m excited to share my latest BBC report with you and introduce a remarkable woman who changed the way I see the world. When I heard my report on the BBC World Service last week, I was moved to tears. A lot has happened since I filed it in early August…
Animals help us reconnect to a wise and ancient part of ourselves that naturally knows how to find balance and alignment. A good deal of our resilience to stress and change comes from our self care practices.
Animals show us how powerfully soothing it can be to just sit and breathe together. Sit close to your pet and focus on your breath and his or hers for a few breaths. Give your dog or cat a light pet. Put your other hand on your heart and soothe your inner human animal. Now, think about what human relationships of yours might benefit from such a gentle and wordless check in. Beth Killough, Psychotherapist
In July, it seemed that things could hardly be worse here in Northern California. Covid rates started to tick up and with that came another round of tighter lock downs and restrictions. And then a freak lightning storm sparked dozens of fires. Overnight we had friends who faced evacuation, and others unable to go outside, as air quality spiked far beyond Beijing levels. Overnight, my 95 year-old friend had to evacuate and find refuge with her little dog, Buddy. Overnight, we all became experts at analyzing Purple Air, the air quality app where anything over 400 is classed as an “emergency condition” for public health. One morning, I woke to see one Bay Area monitor at 666 on the scale of 0 to 500.
The things that had become the “new normal” were suddenly out of reach: simple things like taking a walk in the nearby park to relieve cabin fever, doing yoga class on the lawn of the local fairgrounds, and eating outside at our favorite dog-friendly restaurant. Now we all have to dig even deeper to find silver linings and nurture some optimism for a better day.
Did you know that one in three Americans are showing symptoms of depression? It’s likely even higher than that. A close friend who’s a therapist tells me she’s never been busier. We’re all taking one day, one hour at a time. That’s why we could all do with a Beth Killough in our lives. She’s a deeply insightful person who suggests we need a toolbox of choices to help us deal with stress and anxiety. Here’s her story:
Seven years ago, Beth bought a ranch and let go of her traditional office-based talk therapy practice. Now she uses her psychology insights and her barn full of horses to teach resilience, radical self care and leadership skills. She helps her clients tune into their own instincts and pivot to new projects and passions. Thinking her wisdom could hardly be more timely, I talked to my BBC editor in London about making her the focus of my latest report.
You might think that equine therapy –– working with horses to improve your resilience and well being –– is a niche thing, something for the affluent or the physically impaired. But Beth explains that some of the techniques are easy to practice at home and timely for this time of high anxiety and Covid related stress. They might even help you navigate this challenging time more easily and pivot to more joyful relationships and a sustainable career path.
Listen to the BBC Health Check Podcast (report starts at 15:45)
Here’s the Fresh Dialogues Podcast:
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Here’s a transcript of my report for BBC Health Check, including some bonus material that didn’t make the final cut:
Alison: Beth Killough works on her Northern California ranch and has seen a spike in clients looking for help for anxiety, trauma and loneliness since the pandemic began. Today her client is a 50 year-old woman named Michelle and they’re in the barn with Riva, a brown mare with a black mane and tail.
Beth: Notice as you brush her, she gives you feedback. She’s telling you…
Michelle: I can’t tell. I’m not sure what her feedback is…
Beth: If I stop talking and you start observing, it’ll help you tune in…
Michelle: Yes…with my dog it’s so incredibly obvious. If you stop, he’ll buck my hand to keep going.
Beth: Right as I stopped talking, she started licking and chewing which is her nervous system going into a relaxed state. She also took some steps forward. What is she showing you?
Michelle: I’m going to adjust so you’re doing (brushing) where I want you to be.
Alison: Beth Killough has been working with horses for four decades. She pivoted her traditional talk therapy practice to equine therapy when she bought the ranch 7 years ago. She examined equine research that showed physiological healing in people with PTSD and decided that you don’t have to be in trauma to benefit from working with horses.
Beth: If you look at where you are. Just pause. You got yourself in a little tight spot there! Did you feel it?
Michelle: Umm no.
Beth: The more focused you are picking up on her, the less focused you’ll be on your own pressure. This is a safe horse… However, you’re in between a thousand pound animal and a wall! So where are the places in your life you get in a tight spot without even realizing how you got there?
Michelle: Ummm..
Alison: The healing power of horses dates back to the ancient Greeks who used them for therapeutic purposes. In modern times, equine therapy still has its skeptics but anecdotal evidence is now being supported by growing clinical research.
Ellen Kaye Gehrke runs an integrative health program at National University in San Diego. She has been researching the human-animal bond for 15 years and her latest peer reviewed research examined the treatment of PTSD in nine war veterans. It showed remarkable results.
Ellen: We were at a conference a couple of years ago and a bunch of public health people came up to us and said: What pill are giving those people? The effect is like a drug.
Alison: Kaye Gehrke works with small groups of war veterans, some of whom have lost hope and are suicidal. Her eight week programs help them build connection with the horses through grooming, and interactive activities. More recently she has them saddle up and ride.
Ellen: We wanted to get the veterans up on the horses, not to go galloping away but just to have some movement.
We did notice there was quite a bit of difference…Their spirit, their physical carriage, the way they stood, the openness around their faces. The main point of my program is the heart connection.
Alison: What does Kaye Gehrke mean by “the heart connection”?
It relates to heart rate variability (HRV), the variation in the time between consecutive heartbeats. A normal, healthy heart does not tick evenly like a metronome, but instead, there is constant variation. In general, the higher the variation at rest, the fitter you are and the greater your ability to handle stress.
Professor Michael Myers, chair of health sciences and a research physiologist at National University has found that being with horses improves your HRV.
Mike: Horses are prey animals so they’re constantly alerted to their surroundings and that seems to trigger some response in humans: The response we see is documentable…
We use a technique…It’s basically reflection based bio-optical imaging. Photoplethysmogram or PPG for short. We’re able to measure the heartbeats of the subject. Something around horses changes the heartbeat variation. When the heart is beating the same, that’s stress. It’s fight or flight response, when you’re running from the tiger.
What’s really good is this: a couple of short beats then a long beat. Horses seem to have that effect….
Alison: Myers was surprised to measure an almost immediate physiological effect in the war veterans.
Myers: Within the first visit, within three hours, their heart rate variability has changed in a positive way.
Ellen: Their heart rate variability improved the first day but their self report took four weeks for them to have confidence…We could see they were getting better, but they were still in these messages of self destruct…By the fourth week, they started changing their self report about how they were feeling: less agitated, less irritable, more joyful. Their psychology was lagged, compared to their physiology.
Alison: Beth Killough has found that the practices used for PTSD treatment can benefit her clients. In sessions of two to four hours, they are introduced to the horses in the pasture, choose a horse and spend time interacting and grooming it. Killough helps them reflect on every interaction, allowing them to become aware of patterns in their own behavior and tune into their own thoughts and actions, both at home and at work.
Back in the barn, Killough explains how horses deal with new challenges…
Beth: When something new enters, the horses experience and respond by circling up and moving their bodies until the pressure releases. Then they’ll circle back and examine…
They’re taking care of themselves 100% of the time, it’s radical self care and it’s safety in numbers.
If we go into a freeze state or try to think our way through it, it makes it worse.
Beth: If you get scared and reactive, you have to ask yourself: what do I need right now? You’re not going to go galloping off, letting the cortisol and adrenaline release…
That’s why you can’t sleep. It’s coursing through you and hasn’t anywhere to get out. So when we don’t know what to do to take care of ourselves. We get into habits where we do something relational…
Alison: … like fighting with a family member
Beth: What we need to do first is take care of ourselves.
We need to build a bucket, a toolbox of choices: Things you can do when you feel that way. You can’t think of these things when you’re in the panic.
Alison: Killough recommends we move our bodies: go on a walk in nature, get a punching bag, find outlets to physically express yourself.
Beth: A lot of our anxiety symptoms are caused by not giving ourselves little moments. We deprive ourselves of it, so we’re thirsty for it.
It’s first pressure, then tension, then stress, then pain, then anxiety. There’s a sequence.
There’s some unlayering that will happen… The smells, the textures you noticed: That’s the vibrant part of our humanity we miss out on when we’re focused on our thoughts, our worries, other people, and either the past or the future.
Those are the things most distracting…Did that make sense?
Michelle: Yeah…
Alison: Of course, we don’t all have access to horses. Can our pets improve our mental health, and our adaptability to change? Killough recommends learning self care from our pets. For example: shifting our mindset about walking our dogs. Instead of a chore, consider it from your dog’s perspective. Could it be an exhilarating adventure that sparks curiosity, playfulness, and joy? Switch off autopilot, and consider it your resilience practice. You and your dog are two mammals venturing into the world together….
Here’s Beth Killough with one last thought:
Beth: Animals help us reconnect to a wise and ancient part of ourselves that naturally knows how to find balance and alignment. A good deal of our resilience to stress and change comes from our self care practices.
Animals show us how powerfully soothing it can be to just sit and breathe together. Sit close to your pet and focus on your breath and his or hers for a few breaths. Give your dog or cat a light pet. Put your other hand on your heart and soothe your inner human animal. Now, think about what human relationships of yours might benefit from such a gentle and wordless check in.
Photo credits: Cassie Green Photography
