Roca’s cognitive behavioral therapy program teaches a fundamental principle: shifting how you perceive and process the world requires engaging in novel experiences. The high-risk young men and women participating in Roca’s Chelsea initiative recently encountered an unusual opportunity to put this lesson into practice—through an animal rarely encountered in the city.
A partnership forged between Roca and the local high school led to a collaboration with Ironstone, a therapeutic horse farm situated in Andover, Massachusetts. Recognizing the potential for meaningful learning, the farm welcomed Roca participants to develop skills in animal care and horsemanship, ultimately progressing to riding.
Twelve young men from Roca Chelsea participated in a four-week pilot program integrated into their regular Wednesday schedule, offering them an alternative to traditional classroom settings. The curriculum unfolded progressively: initial instruction covered fundamental horse care, followed by deeper exploration of training and grooming techniques, with the concluding session devoted to actual riding experience.
“Because this is a therapeutic horse farm, the staff there works with people who have disabilities or have dealt with traumatic life events, so they understand the population we work with more and wanted to create an experience where you can related to the horses,” noted April Spataro, a Roca program manager. “We also try to incorporate CBT into this experience, talking about how they felt working with the horses—one of the big surprises is that these young men thought caring for horses was easy, but it’s not.”
Despite being structured as formal class time, the experience transcended typical educational settings. Across all four sessions, each of the 12 young men demonstrated genuine enthusiasm and commitment to mastering these skills. Spataro indicated that the program’s positive outcomes have motivated her to establish this as an ongoing offering for future cohorts.
Roca, Inc. is an organization based in Chelsea dedicated to helping the highest risk young men and women break the cycle of poverty and incarceration through relationships, relentless outreach, and programming. In Roca’s monthly column, we highlight some of the highlights happening from their headquarters.