Ho‘ola Ola Healing Life Center: Equine Assisted Psychotherapy for Trauma

April 23 marked the opening of Ho`ola Ola Healing Life Center in Hāwī, with Kealoha Sugiyama leading the blessing. Our therapy horses – Rawley (Wraliant), a two-year-old Hungarian Warmblood colt, and his buddy Corey (Courage Under Fire), an 8-year-old Holsteiner – were also blessed. The horses stayed curious and engaged during the ceremony and, I hope, realized their kuleana to be part of healing human emotional suffering.

My hālau hula, Na Kūpuna O Kohala led by Kumu Kaui Naka- mura; hālau hula Kalaniumi Aliloa, also led by Kumu Kaui Nakamura; and hālau hula O Mana`olana O Kohala, under Kumu Mona`olana, led the kahiko and chanting.

I am trained in Equine Assisted EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which is called EquiLateral, and IFS (Inter- nal Family Systems), two globally respected evidence-based trauma models that I weave together for a comprehensive approach. Using horses in the EMDR protocol is a profound innovation. Since they are prey animals, they are acutely aware of their surroundings and can attune to the client’s internal experi- ence to reflect and mirror it. Clients attach the qualities they need to the horse and make new meaning of traumatic experiences previously “stuck” in the body and nervous system, clearing them to reestablish emotional regulation. Horses seem to “know” instinctively what to bring to each client for a deeply felt sense of being understood.

IFS brings a compassionate way of working with substance use disorders, a common outcome of trauma. Most treatment models for addiction view it as either a disease or a lack of willpower. Since addiction rates are soaring, these banishment and control efforts clearly backfire. The IFS model flips these approaches around and encourages clients to become curious about the addictive part of themselves. They listen to the part and learn how it has been desperately trying to protect and save them but has become trapped in that extreme role. Addictive parts try hard to distract us from vulnerable emotions such as pain, shame and terror. When clients know that these parts of themselves are finally heard and understood, they can then feel safe to explore their addiction without judgement and can unburden and heal the underlying causes.

My father is the reason I moved to Hawai`i. He was in the army, stationed at Pearl Harbor from 1939-1941 and shipped out just two months before the bombing. He was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and became a POW. He was awarded a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars but suffered severe PTSD for the rest of his life. Near the end of his life, I facilitated his admission into a Veterans Hospital that had an EMDR component. The Vietnam vets there respected and celebrated him for the war hero he was. These meaningful connections along with EMDR were instrumen- tal to his healing. My dad always loved Hawai`i and the Hawaiian people. He brought my mother and me here to share in its beauty and culture. It was my dream to move here someday, and five years ago we made this our permanent home. I like to think my dad would be very pleased that I am here doing this work with a horse named Courage Under Fire.

I am a licensed clinical social worker, MSW, LCSW, a Certified EMDR Consultant, and Level 2 trained in IFS with over 30 years of experience. My special interest is working with veterans. I also do individual, family and group therapy with adults and children involving trauma and addiction.