April ePrayer Alert

As Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries (BFA) enters into the spring season of 2013, we are very grateful that it was 11 years ago our Founder, Julie Shematz, began doing strip club outREACHes, at which time there were less than 5 faith based organizations doing this unique type of outREACH world wide.  As of April 2013, there are over 165 faith based organizations world wide doing strip club outreaches!  We truly believe this is due to the prayers that undergird this ministry and now so many others.  Thank you for your continued support.  Your prayers are making a huge impact!  Please join us in prayer during the month of April for the following:

CLIENTS:  Pray that clients will commit to the healing journey, embracing God's grace and power as they work to become overcomers.  Agree with us that they have a hunger and thirst for God's word and revelation of His love for them.  Pray they desire to change and are willing to do what it takes to achieve transformation in their lives. 

PROGRAMS & SERVICES:  Pray for the development of our Equine and Art Programs as we   seek to specialize our therapeutic interventions and expand our client base to anyone in need of healing.  Pray for our new Equine Escape for Ministry Workers and Art and Horse Camp.  Agree with us for wisdom as we evaluate all of our developed programs and services and make critical decisions regarding which ones to maintain and which to possibly eliminate. 

CURRENT NEEDS: Pray for our monthly budget needs to be met, in addition to the monetary needs of the organization. For a complete list of needs, CLICK HERE.

EQUINE & ART FACILITY:  Please pray for wisdom in all things related to the equine facility, and that it continues to be a way that wounded individuals see the beauty of the Lord's creation while also providing experiential therapeutic treatments to the emotional, mental, and physical challenges so many individuals face.    Find out more about our Equine and Art Programs.

HORSES:  Please pray for the health of our four therapy horses.  Agree with us for their protection and well being.

TRAINING:  Pray for our best practices, faith based operations model in prevention, intervention, restoration, and advocacy of victims of s*xual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking, as we continue to provide national training and consulting.  Pray for wisdom in expanding the trainings to more than twice a year.

EVENTS:  Pray for Julie Shematz, as God opens the doors to unique venues to BFA like the Ocala Prison for her to speak.  Agree with us for speaking engagements that are of God's perfect will and nothing less.  Pray that hearts be prepared to receive the life saving message of the Gospel while learning about human trafficking and Julie's personal testimony of how she was able to break from all forms of bondage. Find our more about ourpresentations and trainings.

MEDIA:  Pray for the recent media interviews Mrs. Shematz has had with radio stations and magazines, secular and non-secular.  Agree with us that every word written and spoken would be of God's perfect will and glorifying to Him.

VOLUNTEERS:  Praise God for raising up competent volunteers who can assist us in the day to day operations!  Pray that they and their families would be blessed and protected.  May God continue to send mature workers with hearts to serve.

STAFF:  Pray that Mrs. Shematz would sustain balance as she finishes her final year of graduate school as a clinical mental health counselor at Florida Gulf Coast University.  Pray for her as she leads the organization and fulfills her responsibilities as a wife.  Please pray for our new Event Coordinator, Rachel Swope, as she trains and assumes the roles and responsibilities of event coordination for BFA.

DIRECTORS & ADVISORS:  Thank God for active directors and advisors that help guide and shape the ministries of Beauty From Ashes™!  Agree with us that their health, family, and resources be protected. May they work in unity and one accord with our Father's vision for BFA.

FUNDING:  Praise God for the matching grant of $10,000 we have!  Pray partners will take advantage of their giving being doubled this month and that all our financial needs will be met according to His riches in glory.   Agree with us that the generous matching grant donor will be abundantly blessed!

PARTNERSHIPS:  Please pray for our current and new partnerships; that we serve each other with integrity and honor.  Please pray for wisdom when we seek out new partnerships and discernment to know which partnerships to pursue.

BODY OF CHRIST:  Agree with us for churches to respond to the need to support national faith based, agencies reaching, rescuing, and restoring domestic victims of s*x trafficking, exploitation, and abuse.  Stir in the hearts of pastors a boldness to address the slavery occurring in our backyards and a conviction to actively lead congregations in abolishing slavery in the United States. 

OTHER LIKE MINISTRIES/AGENCIES:  Please pray for the over 165, faith based, organizations throughout the world taking the Lord's love and hope to the lost and broken, specifically those affected by s*xual abuse, exploitation and/or trafficking.  Pray that the ministry they provide will be professional, ethical, and that they engage in community collaboration in order to provide seamless, comprehensive, services to individuals transitioning out of the sex for sale business.  

WEEKLY GLOBAL PRAYER:  Please join us each Friday from 8-9am EST to intercede for victims of sexual exploitation, sex slavery, & sex trafficking, as well as the agencies servicing them.  CLICK HERE for Prayer Guide.  Locally, we meet in North Fort Myers at the Equine Facility.  Contact us for directions.

PRAYER REQUESTS:  Send us your prayer requests by CLICKING HERE

MONTHLY ePRAYER SIGN UP:  CLICK HERE

BFA eNEWSLETTER:  CLICK HERE to view our latest eNews and sign up to receive them in the future.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound." Isaiah 61:1 AMP

Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries  

Where Victims Become Over-Comers

"Survivors must be leaders in the development of services, shelter, and response protocols to s*x trafficking.” 
- National Report on Domestic Minor S*x Trafficking

AWARENESS & PREVENTION • REACH & RESCUE • TEACH & DEMONSTRATE • TRAIN & SEND

(239) 939-9218 | TOLL FREE LINE (877) 423-2767 13300 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 56-623 | Fort Myers | 33907 www.BeautyFromAshes.org

Competency Using Horses in Therapy Programs

If a "therapist", licensed or not, approaches you with the idea of using horses for equine facilitated learning or psychotherapy, make sure they are competent in working with your horses in order to implement therapeutic techniques using them.  Legally and ethically, mental health and social work clinicians/therapists, as well as psychologists, must operate within their scope of competency.  What does that mean?  If they haven't been trained, had proper supervision, and experience, then they have no business trying to "diversify" into a specialized area until they acquire proper training, experience, and supervision.  And be careful, there are individuals out there that will try to justify their involvement with horses because they are qualified to work with pets, such as dogs.  

Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is generally viewed as an umbrella term that includes both "Animal-Assisted Activities" (AAAs) and "Animal-Assisted Therapy".  AAT is directed &/or delivered by a health/human service professional with specialized expertise, and within the scope of practice of his/her profession....therapuetic work with horses is recognized as a discipline separate from AAT with other animals; it has an independent status and its own terminology ... Professional Association of Therapuetic Horsemanship  (PATH) sets standards for working with horses both in general activities (equine-assisted activities) & therapeutically (equine-assisted therapy, equine facilitated psychotherapy & hippotherapy). Working with animals in a therapuetic milieu, particularly work with equines, requires specialized training (Brooks, 2010).

I just completed a 3 day workshop by PATH for certification as an Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning in Ocala, FL.  It's not as simple as taking a 3 day workshop and you have your certification to be "competent".  Most people know that anyone can "certify".  I did my homework to find out what was the premier organization, world wide, that does this specialized training and sets the standards and guidelines.  In addition to attending the 3 day workshop (which was not cheap), PATH requires that individuals pass an Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning (ESMHL) Horsemanship Skills Test.  You need to prove you know how to handle and lead a horse.  (Which I passed :).  It doesn't stop there.  Additionally, you're required to pass the ESMHL exam, as well as PATH's Standards and Guidelines exam, which comes from a 300+ page manual.  Furthermore, candidates must participate in at least 60 hours of an equine assisted learning and/or equine psychotherapy sessions with a credentialed mental health professional, or you are required to spend at least 30 hours with a PATH Therapuetic Riding Instructor (TRI) and 40 hours volunteering inside a mental health facility.  On top of that, candidates must have a letter of recommendation from a psychologist or licensed mental health professional who is competent in equine facilitated learning and equine psychotherapy.  And the candidate is required to participate in at least 30 hours of equine behavior and management training, in addition to providing a letter of recommendation from an equine specialist/horse trainer, etc. Furthermore, the candidate must complete both basic First Aid and CPR classes.  It's not a simple process, nor should it be. Interacting with 600-2500 lb animals in any, especially a therapeutic, environment should not be taken lightly or done unprofessionally.   

I applaud PATH for setting guidelines and standards for this specialized field of learning and therapy.  I also congratulate them that in 2013 their guidelines require that only credentialed mental health specialists can become Equine Learning Facilitators practicing both Equine Assisted Learning and Equine Psychotherapy.  While this announcement was devastating to many of the TRI's attending the workshop in which I participated, I understand and support that decision.  Why?  Because credentialed mental health professionals have invested a lot of time, education, experience, and finances into their training to be professional helpers.  Trying to teach horse people to develop and implement equine facilitated learning programs, while attempting to draw lines between it and equine psychotherapy is very muddy and potentially dangerous.  It's as unsafe as mental health professionals trying to use horses in therapy that have no experience or training with equines.  The risk, is doing harm to a client and that simply can't be an accepted practice under any circumstances.  Above all, we professional helpers are taught to "do no harm".  Precautions to prevent this must be implemented by both professional helpers and equine owners wanting to "diversify" by offering equine facilitated learning and equine psychotherapy.  Collaboratively, mental health professionals and equine specialists in mental health and learning, can deliver an evidence based treatment that is like no other treatment.  While there is a need for research in this area, anyone who has practiced it or experienced can attest to its effectiveness.   Winston Churchill was right in saying, "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of man".  

As for me, I plan on submitting my portfolio to PATH to become officially certified as an Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning as soon as I complete the rest of the requirements.  From what I understand, PATH will "grandfather" me in as an Equine Facilitated Instructor, since I will have the mental health credentials.  I will also continue doing a mental health counselor internship, through the end of April, with Dr. Sandra Wise of Eye of Horse Equine Education Center through Florida Gulf Coast University.  Dr. Wise is one of the leading psychologists in the world doing this type of therapy.  Additionally, I plan on doing research on the effectiveness of equine facilitated learning and equine psychotherapy this coming fall with Dr. Russ Sabella of FGCU, while I study to complete my exit exam in the Mental Health Counseling program at  FGCU.  

Competency should not be taken lightly or cut short for the sake of "diversification", profit, or the desire to jump on the "band wagon" of creative therapies.  Our client's well being is at stake and their safety and welfare should be a priority in our practice under all circumstances, whether it be in an office or in a barn, arena, or pasture.

For more on Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries Equine Programs, CLICK HERE. 

Julie Shematz is the Executive Director, President, and Founder of Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries.  She is also a full time graduate student at Florida Gulf Coast University, set to graduate in 2013, with a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.  Mrs. Shematz maintains a 4.0 overall GPA and is a member of the PATH International, Parelli Natural Horsemanship, and the Appaloosa Horse Club.  

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Dr. Sandra Wise is leading a session with a woman facing a difficult life situation finds herself outside her "comfort zone," avoiding decision making, and feeling that she is "not on track." In this short excerpt, viewers can see how this therapeutic model employs the horse both as a metaphor and as a catalyst to facilitate therapeutic issues coming to the surface.