Welcome to Central Oregon Wellness Ranch!
What We Do
This program is a truly a unique innovative and comprehensive wellness program consisting of equine facilitated mental health and learning life skills, coping skills and practice with mindfulness. This community-based program takes place in a non-traditional and non-clinical setting on a private wellness ranch just 7 miles West of Bend. This cutting-edge combination of equine facilitated mental health and holistic health and wellness approach takes place in an OUTDOOR setting. The program is strength based, evidence based, trauma informed and Military culturally specific.
Military / Veterans
These unique wellness retreats take place on a private, serene and scenic rural ranch which was designed specifically to accommodate Veterans. Treatments are trauma focused, evidence based and include Equine Facilitated Mental Health combined with Yoga and Acupuncture. These retreats are facilitated by clinical mental health therapists and a licensed Naturopath and Acupuncturist. This integrative health care brings conventional and complementary approaches together in a coordinated way. It emphasizes a holistic, patient-focused approach to health care and well being—it includes mental, emotional, functional, spiritual, social, physical health, social and community aspects. The horse and rural ranch aspect of this program is both an enticement for Veterans to engage in the retreat as well as a unique setting to try the integrative treatments. These retreats also increase resiliency, reduce suicidality and address suicide postvention.
Children / Youth / Spouses
On this welcoming ranch, the families will get the opportunity to try experiential and animal assisted therapy and learning. This therapies are effective when traditional talk therapies fail for complex trauma, PTSD, autism, sexual assault, rape survivors, child abuse, teens at risk, children, clients with cognitive disabilities, chronic illness as well as depression and anxiety.
Through this work, the youth and families will be learning and practicing fun and powerful techniques with the horses that will be applied to other relationships and school situations. They will be learning life skills, learning skills to reduce their anxiety symptoms, increase quality of life, decrease substance use and reduce isolation.
Equine Facilitated Mental Health (EFMH) is particularly well suited for children and teens as It engages them and it appeals to their hands-on nature and preference for action and doing (versus talking). It is action-oriented in this way with an emphasis on non-verbal communication. Insights and changes in behavior therefore do not necessarily occur by talking, but rather through horse-human interaction. Often when a youth has issues with connection and relationships, the horses offer a bridge and a start at connection. This successful connection and relationship with the horse can be a steppingstone to better connection and relationship with friends and family and school interactions.
Trauma Fouced Therapy
Through the groundwork with the horses, the participants will also be working weekly on reducing anxiety, increasing coping skills and emotional regulation. They will get opportunities to work on leadership, teamwork and empathy. They will also gain positive social interactions and decreasing impulsivity as well as decreasing isolation that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. And, it gets them off the social media and cell phones which will help them to get grounded and present. These horse activities are ground based, relational and encourage connection with the horses.
Yoga & Acupuncture
In this non-traditional rural setting, it is likely that the Veterans will be more willing to engage in mental health services and be willing to try restorative yoga as well as the battlefield acupuncture. The clients have an opportunity to try experiential Equine facilitated mental health therapy as well as yoga and acupuncture to develop healthy options to deal with PTSD symptoms, reduce anxiety, reduce suicidality, decrease substance use and depression. All of the retreat activities are innovative clinical health interventions. The Equine Facilitated Mental Health Model is effective because it embraces the science that humans learn best by doing.
The acupuncture is the NADA protocol specifically used to treat PTSD symptoms and also takes place in the YOGA Saloon or the grass area in a group setting.
The ranch contracts with a Naturopath and licensed acupuncturist who also has a black belt in martial arts. Dr. Michelle teaches some of the yoga classes and performs the acupuncture. She utilizes trauma informed care and is trained in the battlefield acupuncture modality through the NADA protocol. The ranch also contracts with a Marine Veteran as a Yoga instructor for some of the in-person classes. Our female yoga instructor is the daughter of a Marine Veteran who served in the Vietnam war. Rebecca is certified in yoga, meditation, and Perfect Health by the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, and has specialized training in Trauma-Conscious instruction from Connected Warriors. Rebecca has over seven years of experience teaching and facilitating wellness events and retreats all over the world and trains yoga instructors to teach Veteran yoga classes through Vetitation. Rebecca teaches the ZOOM yoga classes weekly and also facilitates the yoga with the mini’s. The ranch also utilizes Veteran Peer Support Volunteers. Two Army Veterans, a Marine and an Air Force Veteran.
