Faculty of Psychology, Open University, Valkenburgerweg 177, 6419 AT Heerlen, The Netherlands.
SPEL Psychologen Putten, Garderenseweg 158, 3881 NE Putten, The Netherlands.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Aug 5;17(16):5661. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17165661.
The growing field of equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP), a subfield of animal-assisted psychotherapy (AAP), needs theoretically-based clinical studies. This systematic review examines the existing clinical studies in adult populations on psychodynamic psychotherapy combined with equine-assisted psychotherapy. An electronic database search was divided in two studies to identify publications on 1) EAP combined with psychodynamic psychotherapy and 2) EAP combined to personality problems and traumatization in order to compile studies by population, intervention, outcome and therapeutic assets. Study 1 revealed no relevant clinical studies on EAP with a psychodynamic background with an adult population. Study 2 revealed 12 publications to review predominantly addressing veterans with PTSD. The methodological limitations of most of the studies restrain the overall findings on outcome. However, overall positive effects for EAP, specifically on its experiential features and on finding interpersonal trust for patients, can be discerned. There is an apparent need for clinical studies meeting methodological standards on psychodynamic underpinned EAP methodologies in adults with intertwined personality problems and traumatization.
动物辅助心理疗法（AAP）的一个分支——马辅助心理疗法（EAP）领域不断发展壮大，该领域需要基于理论的临床研究。本系统评价旨在研究针对成年人的动力心理疗法与马辅助心理疗法相结合的现有临床研究。通过电子数据库搜索，将出版物分为两部分进行研究，以确定 1）动力心理疗法与马辅助心理疗法相结合的 EAP 和 2）EAP 与人格问题和创伤相结合的研究，从而按人群、干预措施、结果和治疗资产对研究进行分类。研究 1 未发现有关成人人群的动力心理背景下的 EAP 的相关临床研究。研究 2 共发现 12 篇出版物，主要针对 PTSD 退伍军人。大多数研究的方法学局限性限制了对结果的整体评估。然而，总体而言，EAP 具有积极的效果，特别是在其体验特征以及为患者建立人际信任方面。显然需要满足方法学标准的临床研究，以解决成年人中交织的人格问题和创伤的动力基础 EAP 方法。
