Our Reviews!
What our young people say..
What others say..
‘J is a 15 year old male whom the Team has been involved with since July 2020. J is a Looked After Child. J becoming Looked After followed several incidents where J perpetrated significant assaults on his mother who concluded she could not safely care for him. J was referred to the EAL program for support in relation to his emotional well-being and emotional regulation. '
‘We supported a sibling group (age-related data has been omitted for animality purposes). … Concern was held by LA because the boys had developed negative, disproportionate, and extreme views of their mother and were reluctant to spend time with her. An added issue was that the boys believed that all professionals were not to be trusted, and they feared talking to them. By professionals, I mean Police Officers, Social Workers, and Teachers… At the time of the referral, the hope was that this intervention would assist in rebuilding the boy's relationship with their mother, build their trust in professionals and ultimately return to a shared care arrangement.'
‘Thank you to you (Debbie) and Laura for everything you have done, you’ve changed my whole life and I don’t suffer with panic attacks anymore. I’m enjoying my life now with the horses.’
‘The bond formed between the child and the horses provided a unique and judgment-free space for him to navigate his emotions. The horses, allowed the child to express himself without fear of criticism. Through these interactions, he discovered alternative ways to cope with and manage his anger, gaining valuable skills that extended beyond the equine sessions into his daily life.’
‘As a locality Team Manager, we commissioned Debbie and Laura to work with one of our most vulnerable teenagers, who had previously suffered appalling sexual abuse. The young person was quite ‘shut down’ and ‘lost’ in many ways and as a service, we were finding it hard to connect with them to support them to have that safe base to progress on to therapy. Their home life was incredibly difficult due to the emotional and relational consequences of the abuse and relationships at home were breaking down…
The Equine Assisted Talking intervention with Whispers Equine was instrumental in preparing our young person for therapy. The work that Laura and Debbie did not only gave them a safe person to freely talk about their current life with, it taught them that it can be safe to build trusting relationships with adults who aren’t their mum, and that they wouldn’t be abused by any adult who tried to get close.’
‘‘Our young people often have very complex needs and may have experienced significant trauma in their lives. Whispers has been instrumental in supporting the young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health, in providing them with the skills to take back some control. They ensure that the program is bespoke, to the needs of the individual child and that all effort is made to make them feel safe and comfortable to open-up. The use of horses provides an excellent tool to allow young people a safe space to speak and has brought forward some important safeguarding issues that may not have come to light through conversations alone.’
‘The boys were able to open up and develop a relationship with the horses, demonstrating to them what a healthy relationship looks like and enabling them to experience the feeling associated with this.’
‘J thoroughly enjoyed the program. He reported that he felt it had helped him gain a better understanding of his emotions and how to handle them when they escalate. He also reported that the course had given him the confidence to speak with professionals about the things that worry him.‘
‘In my view, the experience we had as a case holding team for this young person with Whispers Equine has been nothing short of transformative, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking a therapeutic intervention where the young person perhaps ‘isn’t quite ready’ for therapy (or maybe they are deep down). The relationships that Debbie and Laura built with them, and the impact that the horses had on this young person, I know will stay with them for a long time. Therapy couldn’t have been considered for this young person without this intervention and I am firm of the view that this intervention, in many ways, saved this young person from a sadly rapidly worsening situation. They were able to engage in education, their relationship with their mum vastly improved and they began to adhere to safety planning in placement which was a significant improvement and made life safer for them.’
​‘There is no doubt in my mind that the course can have life changing positive impacts for young people – that is not, to my mind, an overstatement. It inevitably follows that I would recommend the programme to anybody who feels that a young person or young people that they are working with would benefit from it.’
‘The young people I have referred into the program have made significant progress in their ability to regulate their emotions which has then enabled them to function more positively within their families and educational settings. This may not seem like much to a layperson but is hugely significant to these young people, particularly where their relationships are at breaking point or they have not accessed school for long periods. I am yet to find a young person who does not want to continue attending following the completion of their sessions and they often ask me if they can go back! Which speaks volumes!’
​‘From a professional standpoint, the service has provided excellent reports and communication throughout their input. This aids me in my ongoing support of families and highlights any issues that may need to be addressed swiftly. I believe that the work that Whispers does is hugely important to us as a Local Authority and more specifically to our young people, and I fully support the potential progress of Whispers as a service.’