While Tamara Yuill suffered occupational burnout due to her work as a 911 dispatch supervisor in Alberta, her horse Monty has provided therapy.
Yuill, who quit her job and moved to the Island in July 2016, wasn’t formally diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but felt stress with workplace politics, 12-hour shifts and feeling tied to her phone, never knowing what she would get when she picked up.
“Some of the stresses were working all the time and being basically on-call all the time,” said Yuill. “Whenever somebody needed something, as a supervisor you worked when nobody else could. You picked those calls when the crises happened after your shift was done and that starts to wear on a person over time.”
Monty helped her deal with stress and aids in her work as vice-president of War Horse Awareness Foundation, a non-profit providing front-line service providers the chance to learn about services and strategies available to manage stress-related injuries, such as PTSD. They also have the opportunity to experience the benefits of working with horses.
“I found Monty four years ago, when he was a three-year-old, and that’s really when I was starting on my path, kind of recovery I call it, because for me it’s a journey and it’s a never-ending journey. You’re always evolving, you’re always learning new things and I was already starting to discover that I gravitated towards my passion for horses.”
It took two years for the two to figure one another out, but Yuill said it was worth it.
“Every time I work with him, I work with him almost daily … I’m learning stuff from him,” said Yuill. “So I think for me, he was not only life changing, but he was life saving for me too.”
The foundation held the War Horse Symposium in Cedar last week for people with stress-related injuries to show that support is available through its website, Yuill and foundation president Deanna Lennox.
“We put them in touch with organizations or resources that are already existing,” said Yuill. “We don’t try and do it all ourselves … all I want to do is put people in touch with those organizations already doing that.”
Yuill is a certified equine assistance personal development coach and people can work with both her and Monty.
For more, please go to www.warhorseawareness.com.
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com