ArticleSubstance abuse : research and treatment2016
More Than Just a Break from Treatment: How Substance Use Disorder Patients Experience the Stable Environment in Horse-Assisted Therapy.
Article in Substance abuse : research and treatment, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Drop-out rates in animal-assisted psychotherapy - Results of a quantitative meta-analysis.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Complementary horse-assisted therapy for substance use disorders: a randomized controlled trial.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2020Trial
- Therapists' reasons for including horses into psychotherapy, a qualitative study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- Cognitive and physiological impacts of psychotherapy incorporating human-equine interactions during substance withdrawal: A scoping review.Journal of equine rehabilitation · 2025Article
- The impact on physical performance, pain and psychological wellbeing of chronic low back pain patients during 12-weeks of equine- facilitated therapy intervention.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
- An evaluation of the effect of equine-facilitated psychotherapy on patients with substance use disorders.PloS one · 2023Article
- Equine-assisted services for individuals with substance use disorders: a scoping review.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2022Article
- Relatives' experiences of an equine-assisted intervention for people with psychotic disorders.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2022Article
- Equine-assisted therapies using horses as healers: A concept analysis.Nursing open · 2020Article
- The Efficacy of Dog Assisted Therapy in Detained Drug Users: A Pilot Study in an Italian Attenuated Custody Institute.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Inclusion of horse-assisted therapy (HAT) in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment is rarely reported. Our previous studies show improved treatment retention and the importance of the patient-horse relationship. This qualitative study used thematic analysis, within a social constructionist framework, to explore how eight patients experienced contextual aspects of HAT's contribution to their SUD treatment. Participants described HAT as a "break from usual treatment". However, four interrelated aspects of this experience, namely "change of focus", "activity", "identity", and "motivation," suggest HAT is more than just a break from usual SUD treatment. The stable environment is portrayed as a context where participants could construct a positive self: one which is useful, responsible, and accepted; more fundamentally, a different self from the "patient/self" receiving treatment for a problem. The implications extend well beyond animal-assisted or other adjunct therapies. Their relevance to broader SUD policy and treatment practices warrants further study.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.