Chris Goodall, LISW-S
Chris has 20 years of experience as a social worker, 15 years of which have included providing Equine Assisted Services to clients with a range of needs including addiction and serious mental illness. She has trained in a number of evidence-based psychotherapies that can be applied in the office or the arena and is a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator. She is currently a member of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl) and part of the Human Equine Relational Development (HERD) Institute.
Looking back, one of my best work experiences was on an interprofessional team. An interprofessional team is a space where folks from various backgrounds come together to work on a shared goal. In the mental health field, these teams often include Psychiatrists and/or Nurses, Counselors, Social Workers, Psychologists, and Peer Support Specialists. Each member of the team is looking at the same issue from a different lens, and the wealth of perspectives often leads to innovative and creative solutions to various problems.
We have an interprofessional team at In Step With Horses. Our team combines the knowledge and perspectives of equine professionals, therapeutic riding instructors, and a mix of mental health professionals. Each member of our team has a unique perspectives viewpoint on various issues that can create greater depth in the services we offer as well as the care we provide our horses and staff. This year, we are partnering with the Case Western Reserve University Interprofessional Education Program. We have graduate students from the schools of nursing, medicine, dentistry, and social work collaborating on a project that will help In Step With Horses improve our commitment to providing trauma-informed care. In essence, trauma-informed care is about approaching situations in a way that assumes everyone involved in our organization has likely experienced some form of trauma, and asking “what happened?” rather than “what is wrong with you?” This creates a space where people feel safe to share their story and experience support.
In the next few weeks, our student team will be completing an anonymous survey of our staff and clients to determine where we are meeting their needs and where we can improve. This survey will lead to the creation of a blueprint for trauma-informed care in an equine assisted services setting as well as provide us with feedback leading to concrete steps for improving how we implement trauma-informed care. The survey can be utilized in the future to gather repeat data and measure improvement. I am looking forward to seeing the finished product but more so looking forward to listening to staff and client stories and insights so that we can continue to grow as a team and an organization.
1. Leading and communicating about the transformation process
2. Engaging patients in organizational planning
3. Training clinical as well as non-clinical staff members
4. Creating a safe environment
5. Preventing secondary traumatic stress in staff
From SAMHSA: Key Ingredients for Successful Trauma-Informed Care Implementation April 2016 | By
Christopher Menschner and Alexandra Maul, Center for Health Care Strategies
