Nicole Raftis, OT (Reg): OT in Equine Movement & Animal Assisted Therapy

In this episode, we will learn about an occupational therapist who utilizes equine movement & animal-assisted therapy in her OT practice. Nicole Raftis, Registered Occupational Therapist, Manager for the Pathways Ponies Occupational Therapy program, ( graduated from Queen’s University’s School of Rehabilitation Science’s Occupational Therapy Program and is a Registered OT in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. For the first 3 years of practice Nicole traveled and worked as an OT in 7 locations throughout the U.S.A and provided volunteer OT services in Guyana, Nepal, Thailand and India, taking in knowledge about the wide variety of roles OT’s play in various settings as well as culturally sensitive and environmentally appropriate ways to support clients. Upon her return to Canada, Nicole has spent the majority of her 27 years of practice in pediatrics, initially working at Vancouver’s Sunny Hill Health Center for Childern, on their Brain injury program, Autism Assessment Team and their Substance exposure team. Family brought Nicole to Ottawa where she provided school care services for a few years before taking her dream job at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, on the child and adolescent mental health units, gaining experience with psychotherapy and mental health practice. It was during her time in Ottawa that she got to experience the magic of pet therapy for the first time, helping to facilitate the sessions for kids experiencing significant emotional, sensory and behavior dysregulation. Aging parents inspired another move to Guelph, ON where Nicole has been working in private practice for the last 12 years. She continues to support children and teens to reach their full potential at home and school. The pandemic presented a unique opportunity for Nicole to become involved with a physical therapist who uses Equine movement and pet therapy to assist clients to reach their goals. Nicole was invited to develop an Occupational Therapy program at the barn and she has been thrilled to be a part of this initiative, integrating her mental health, sensory, motor and pet therapy experience to create a very holistic therapy program in a beautiful outdoor setting. Nicole has recently completed her American Hippotherapy Association Level 1 course and feels this latest adventure is a testament to the excitement and versatility that has been available over a 27-year career in Occupational Therapy. Nicole also mentors a number of younger OTs and supervises students from McMaster University. Her desire to share information and resources has led her to partner with other OTs in Guelph to create TREEO Occupational Therapy, an online library of courses and resources meant to support parents, teachers and OT’s looking for pediatric resources. Their online platform launched in 2021 with their first course titled “Pandemic Parenting: Meaningful Tools for Health & Hope”. Their courses can be found at https://treeo-ot.thinkific.com

My sincere apologies to my Canadian friends for my poor pronunciation of your provinces!

Q & A with Nicole:

Please tell us a little about yourself and a few favorite occupations.

I grew up and live in Ontario, Canada. I come from a large extended family who I remain close to. I have 3 children ages 13, 16 and 19 and a Jack Russell furry baby named Bruce Wayne. My husband and I like to hike and kayak and we love to travel. I love photography and enjoy making digital scrapbooks of our travels. I also love tending my ever expanding gardens from April to October every year.

What motivated you to contribute to this podcast series?

I heard Patricia's story and could relate to her professional experience of enjoying a wide variety of opportunities in the occupational therapy field. After 26 years in this profession, I feel I have been lucky to experience some very unique and meaningful roles and I would like to encourage other Therapists to explore the every expanding possibilities for OT's in North America and globally.

Please describe the Uncommon OT work that you do and the setting in which you work, the population you serve and the needs that you address.

1. Equine-Assisted OT - A silver lining of the CoVid pandemic was that I was fortunate to get invited to join the Pathways Therapy Physiotherapy team in their Equine-Assisted therapy program in Kitchener, Ontario. Our director, Stephanie Boyd, is one of the most holistic therapists I have worked with and she saw the potential to expand the program to include occupational therapy clients. The majority of my referrals are for children experiencing mental health or executive function challenges. I use a variety of psychotherapy, sensory, motor and cognitive strategies to help children work on their OT goals. Our horses, dogs and cat at the barn provide significant therapeutic relationships that make this work so magical. 2. TREEO Occupational Therapy online courses - A second silver lining of the CoVid Pandemic was an opportunity to get started on an idea I have been sitting on for quite some time. In partnership with two other OTs here in Guelph, Elizabeth Bell and Shannon Rolph, we created TREEO online courses with the hope of providing affordable resources for parents, teachers and health care providers (including OTs) who are seeking strategies to support children in their development. Our first course, Pandemic Parenting Burnout: Meaningful Tools for Health and Hope, launched in May of 2020.

What inspired you or drew you to this type of OT work?

Equine-Assisted OT - I have always been drawn to animals and first saw the power of animal-assisted therapy when working at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in 2007. I had some opportunities to partner with pets in our private clinic at Pathways Therapy and saw the wonderful results that occurred with children with significant depression, anxiety, and emotional regulation challenges. When pandemic related restrictions made in clinic sessions challenging, I was inspired to explore options for outdoor therapy opportunities. The Equine=Assisted OT program combines the power of Animal-Assisted therapy with the many benefits of engagement in nature. It is a wonderful program, and I am now pursuing hippotherapy certifications and plan to remain in this line of work long-term. TREEO - I am at a stage in my career where I would like to share the many resources and strategies that I have collected over the last 26 years. I have increasingly become involved in student preceptorship and mentorship for younger OTs and a significant amount of my clinical work involved consultation and coaching for parents and teachers. The online courses we are developing with TREEO allow me to create a library of resources that will hopefully benefit many families and younger professionals.

How did you get there? Can you describe your path?

Building relationships with other therapists and being open to opportunities and partnerships that presented themselves. Being willing to try new things, flex and continue learning throughout my career.

Please describe a typical day or OT session in your uncommon setting. What OT skills do you utilize?

At the barn, our OT sessions are 1 hour in length. Our children are greeted at the fence by our therapy dog, Tucker. The kids get to engage with Tucker, helping with his training, which involves many social, emotional, cognitive and even motor skills. We then engage in an OT idea/activity of the week (often a worksheet, art activity or game) customized to that child's individual goals. Then the child gets to ride for 30 minutes. Many of our clients deal with anxiety or other mental health challenges and lagging social skills. The 30 minute ride involves routines that promote positive emotional and social engagement, physical activation which often translates to increased engagement and positive effects on confidence and self-esteem related to physical accomplishments (we ride bare back, so it is quite challenging!). Activities and games are chosen for a child's specific goals, but often include mindfulness, sensory experiences, cognitive challenges or social emotional tasks. TREEO - I love having 1 day/week dedicated to creating handouts and course material to share with parents, teachers and other health professionals. I am able to be very flexible in finding the time to commit to this new project and have learned a lot in the last year about tools and resources to create appropriate and effective content that will be helpful and practical.

Can you talk about some recent highs (successes) and lows (challenges) of your current role?

Highs - seeing kids with significant history or trauma or depression smile, engage, say things like "you're my best friend" to their horse or to Tucker the dog Lows - I'm still getting comfortable with some of the safety realities involved with working with 1500 lb animals! We had a scary incident where a horse spooked and a child was thrown. Luckily everyone was ok. I have been mentored by people with significant experience in the therapeutic riding and hippotherapy field, and plan to continue to focus on more training for the next few years so that I can provide a safe experience for my clients.

How do you continue to learn in order to stay on top of things within your role?

Lots of continuing education. I engage in courses regularly. I am part of a psychotherapy mentorship group and have joined an interest group facilitated by the American Hippotherapy Association. I regularly review other online courses, taking notes and feedback about how to improve our online material for TREEO.

Can you share a little bit about salary and compensation in this setting?  How do OT or the services you provide get funded?

Equine-Assisted OT - Our program at Pathways Therapy is funded by the client (private pay), at times with coverage from an insurance provider, and some children have funding provided through Family and Child Services. Our TREEO online courses are private pay.

Any career advice for our followers and listeners on how to get started on this path?

I would search for OTs in your community, providing services in the area of interest and ask to speak to them, shadow or volunteer, or offer trade of resources/services. Take a continuing education course in the area of interest and engage in reading online or by doing a lit search to understand more about the assessment and treatment skills involved in the area of interest.

What’s a common myth or misconception about your job/role you’d like to call out or demystify?

After 26 years I still believe many people think that OTs help people get a job, or pediatric OTs help children learn to print. I frequently experience surprised reactions when parents, teachers or other health professionals learn that I spend much of my time supporting children with mental health challenges, and use interesting modalities such as Animal-Assisted therapy or art activities to help them build skills. I want people to understand that OTs are well trained to address the whole person, assessing and promoting development of any skills that help people live their best life. Our library of online courses, while currently in it's infancy, will someday reflect the wide range of skills OTs need to possess to help clients with their unique goals.

How do we find you , follow you, be in touch with you, and promote your unique work?

email nicoleraftis@gmail.com

IG @nicoleraftis.ot

check out my website www.nicoleraftis.ca

Please list any resources you would like me to include with your Show Notes (courses, articles, assessments, tools, etc.)*

https://treeo-ot.thinkific.com/courses/pandemic-parenting-burnout-meaningful-tools-for-health-hope

Mims,D. & Waddell, R. (2016) Animal Assisted Therapy and Trauma Survivors. Evid Inf Soc Work. Sept-Oct 2016 13 (5). Young, C. & Horton, J. (2019). Canine and Equine Therapy for Mental Health: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness. Ottawa (ON): Canadian Agency for Drug & Technologies in Health 2019 August.

As always, I welcome any feedback & ideas from all of you or if you are interested in being a guest on future episodes, please do not hesitate to contact Patricia Motus at transitionsot@gmail.com or DM via Instagram @transitionsot

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