Bettina Shultz-Jobe ditched her office several years ago.
You can now find the licensed therapist on a ranch sporting a pair of cowboy boots.
She wanted to try her hand at helping children who have survived trauma in a different way.
"Often in therapy what we do as counselors is we create this
wonderful peaceful, serene environment, blue walls, nice music playing,
aromatherapy to prevent any meltdown at all," she says.
She and her husband work for Spirit Reins, a nonprofit organization that helps kids through involvement with horses.
Each child gets to choose a horse they want to work with.
"When they're out there with that horse, that's a real relationship
they're trying to deal with. And the same problems are going to come up
that come up in all the relationships, and we get to help them figure
out how to deal with those problems while they're in them," says Tim
Jobe.
"Our kids are learning frustration tolerance and stress tolerance,"
adds Bettina. "'How do I control when I get really mad or angry or sad?
What do I do so I manage those feelings instead of those feelings
managing me.'"
The children bring a range of emotional, behavioral and learning issues that can lead to problems at home and school.
The majority of kids that come to Spirit Reins have spent time in the foster care system.
The therapy is in high demand.
Spirit Reins serves about 200 children and their families per year
at its Liberty Hill, Texas location, and there is a waiting list to get
in.
Studies have shown children left untreated have a higher risk of
entering the juvenile justice system, and can face a lifetime of
academic failure and poverty.
