Talk therapy builds insight, but recovery sticks when you practice skills in real time. At JourneyPure At The River in Murfreesboro, equine and experiential therapies help you translate coping skills into daily habits on a 127-acre campus just outside Nashville. Here is how these therapies work and how they fit into a coordinated plan with medical and clinical care.
Why Experiential Therapies Help in Addiction Treatment
Stress, avoidance, and emotional reactivity often drive substance use. Experiential therapies create safe, structured challenges that surface those patterns quickly. When you face a problem to solve with a horse or a team on the ropes, you see your reactions clearly and get immediate feedback while a clinician coaches new responses. That loop turns abstract skills like grounding, boundary setting, and communication into muscle memory. Read our overview of experiential therapy in Tennessee.
How Equine Therapy Works Here
Equine therapy connects you with horses under the guidance of trained staff. Horses respond to nonverbal cues and emotional tone, which gives honest, in-the-moment feedback. Sessions focus on trust, boundaries, and regulated presence rather than riding. As you learn to approach, lead, or complete tasks with a horse, you practice calm focus and clear requests that carry into conversations with family and peers. See the program on our equine therapy page and related articles on the power of equine therapy.
What Experiential Therapy Looks Like Day to Day
On campus, experiential work may include low ropes elements, guided outdoor challenges, and activities that build teamwork and confidence. Clinicians integrate these sessions with groups and individual therapy so insights show up in daily routines. Learn how these sessions complement counseling on the experiential therapy page.
How We Turn Skills Into Habits
Recovery depends on repetition. The team teaches a skill, practices it in an experiential session, and then reinforces it in groups and evening routines. For example, grounding and paced breathing start in therapy, get tested during a ropes element, and show up again when cravings or frustration rise later in the day. This reinforcement across settings makes the skill easier to access when stress hits.
Why the Campus Matters
Setting shapes focus. JourneyPure At The River sits on 127 acres along the Stones River about a half-hour from Nashville. The space allows quiet reflection between sessions and creates room for equine and outdoor activities without leaving campus. Visit the tour page for a closer look.
How Equine and Experiential Fit With the Rest of Care
Experiential therapy works best when it sits inside a complete plan. If you start in medical detox, the clinical team prepares you for experiential work as symptoms improve. In residential treatment, therapists align equine and outdoor sessions with your goals for anxiety, mood, and relapse prevention, then track progress toward discharge. See our residential setting and approach in Why Us and related program pages.
Who Benefits Most
People who get stuck in their heads often unlock progress when therapy becomes hands-on. Equine and experiential therapies help if you feel flooded in groups, shut down during conflict, or struggle to apply coping skills under pressure. Partners and families also notice changes because the work improves boundaries, follow-through, and communication outside therapy.
What To Expect When You Arrive
Staff members will review your plan and introduce you to the experiential schedule after you settle in. You will meet the team, tour the grounds, and learn what to wear for outdoor work. You do not need prior experience with horses. Sessions stay non-riding, structured, and focused on safety and self-regulation. For campus details and daily rhythm, explore a typical day and the facility tour.
Next Steps Near Nashville
If you want equine or experiential therapy near Nashville, JourneyPure At The River can help you build skills that last. Start by reading about equine therapy and experiential therapy, then review our approach. When you are ready to see the campus, schedule a visit on the tour page or contact admissions to plan your arrival.
