Animal Assisted Therapy
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Podcast Host: Happiness Isnât Brain Surgery, The Addiction Counselor Exam Review
Objectives
~ Define Animal Assisted Therapy
~ Explore the research around animal assisted therapy
~ Review some general cautions
Definitions
~ Animal Assisted Activities/Pet-Therapy
~ Integration of animals into activities to facilitate motivation, education and recreation, encouraging casual interaction without following a specific set of criteria or goals
~ Animal Assisted Therapy
~ Intentional and therapeutic, whereby the animalâs role is integral in assisting with mental health, speech, occupational therapy or physical therapy goals, and augments cognitive, physical, social and/or emotional well-being
General Benefits
~ Reduced blood pressure
~ Release of oxytocin
~ Increase in understanding of UPR (3 legged dog, one eyed cat, blind horse)
~ Biofeedback/Mindfulness
~ Stress reduction and laughter
~ Increased physical activity
~ Consistency and clear communication
~ Decrease learned helplessness behaviors and increase a sense of control over self and environment
General Benefits
~ Act as a bridge by which therapists can reach patients who are withdrawn, uncooperative, and uncommunicative
~ Participants interacting with the animals were more inclined to smile and demonstrate pleasure, and were more sociable and relaxed with other participants
~ More sensitive issues can be rendered less incendiary when an animal is involved
~ A multisensory aspect is also available when an animal is involved; increasing the level of attention and interest of the client who is active or struggles with focus or concentration
Which Animals Can Be used
~ Any AnimalsâŚ
~ Fish
~ Guinea Pigs
~ Dogs
~ Cats
~ Rabbits
~ Horses
~ DolphinâŚ
Hippotherapy (Equine)
~ Using horse movement to compliment therapy
~ Self-awareness
~ Developing trust and respect
~ Meeting/Join Up (understanding the prey/predator relationship)
~ Petting
~ Feeding
~ Addressing personalization/exploring dialectics
~ Going into a barn or trailer
~ Bonding/relaxation
~ Confidence
~ Acceptance (despite being different)
~ Choosing animals with differences
~ Highlighting unique animal pairs (donkey and goat)
Farm Animals
~ The diversity of a farm experience offers much stimulation, and provides the basis for creative and varied interventions, such as providing the client with opportunities to practice
~ Nurturing activities
~ Organizational skills
~ Perspective taking
~ Problem solving
Dogs
~ A âdogâs social life is organized around dominance-subordinance relationshipsâ
~ Dogs are expected to obey commands and offer clients what is often referred to as âunconditional acceptanceâ (Brewster vs. Duke)
~ Difference in the childrenâs response during sessions, including more laughing, increased eye contact, communication with the dog, and a desire to connect through feeding the animal dog treats
~ Teaching people positive dog training techniques could help them understand
~ Clear communication
~ Relationship development (trust, respect, nurturance and termination)
~ Empathy
~ Perspective-taking
~ Delayed gratification
~ The connection between behaviors and consequences in a non-threatening manner
Cats
~ âCat socialization toward is based on
~ âGive and takeâ
~ Mutuality/reciprocity
~ Respect for their independent nature
~ In contrast to human-horse or human-dog relationships. Chandler (2005) listed the following attributes for felines in therapy:
~ Quietness and calmness
~ Level of comfort with being touched
~ Motivation to be around people
~ Playful cats offer lighthearted moments which can act as an âicebreakerâ
Techniques
~ Teach the client how to direct the animal, and then collaboratively problem-solve when confronted with an obstacle to promote self-monitoring, mindfulness, and to empower the client and encourage generalization to daily life situations, among other things.
~ Parenting (consistency and clear communication)
~ Communicating with a spouse or boss
~ Giving and receiving affection
~ Being aware of emotions and nonverbal communications
~ Understanding the reciprocal nature of interactions
~ Greeting Brew at the door
Techniques
~ The client and counselor could collaboratively develop behavioral experiments to involve animals.
~ If a client believes she cannot be assertive. A behavioral task may be as simple as calling for the animals to come in, or placing her in charge of directing the animal to accomplish a task.
~ The counselor could question client to encourage mindfulness of her actions and experience to help expose cognitive distortions.
~ Cognitive rehearsal could be facilitated is assertiveness is a problem she has encountered in the past.
~ Have the client try to walk a donkey into a barn, or get a dog into a crate.
~ Discuss her thoughts as the animal resists (gives up, gets angry etc)
~ Discuss reasons why the animal may not be complying.
~ Work through the exercise to increase assertiveness. (win/win)
Techniques
~ Activities designed to draw attention to existing dynamics encourage the family to acknowledge current behaviors and interrelationships, and reflect on healthier interactions.
~ One scenario may be asking that family work together to maneuver a horse or animal from point A to point B without talking to each other or to the animal.
~ Parent and child concretely exploring the metaphor of feeling âreined inâ through horse or dog work. The family can discover the animal is more compliant and responsive with a looser rein or leash.
~ When held tight, the animal may fight to gain control, or will become passive and stubborn, much like a child on a tight rein
Techniques
~ Clients with less-developed verbal skills can experience a sense of success when interacting with an animal.
~ Asking a dog to sit, or offering food to an animal provides positive interaction without the need for language
~ Individuals with lowered self-esteem and confidence can experience acceptance
~ People with social anxiety can walk a dog in a public place
Multisensory Activities
~ Photographing or videotaping the animals
~ âwhat was it thinking?â
~ Scrapbooking
~ Learning about special animals especially at a rescue
~ She was abused, blind, starved and had broken bones in her back. She was also understandably afraid of people. There is no telling what kind of horror she had survived! She immediately received the medical care she needed.
~ Unique friendships
~ Story writing
~ Animals can provide an entity onto which the client may project or identify (Reichert, 1998), i.e. storytelling from the animalâs point of view as a means for the client to raise metaphorical, or even factual, details of a topic otherwise difficult to talk about
Multisensory Activities
~ Journaling
~ Their training progress (consistency and efficacy)
~ The use of metaphors and symbolism can be very effective as well
~ What animal are you most like and why?
Other Activities
~ Memory/Cognitive:
~ Remembering dogâs name, breed or history
~ Remembering handlerâs name
~ Activities with dogâs picture book
~ Giving commands
~ Remembering colors, shapes, directions
~ Problem Solving:
~ Choosing type of toy or treat
~ Deciding where to go during a walk and how to get there
~ Giving dog appropriate commands
~ Choosing direction
~ Choosing type of activity to do with the dog
~ Deciding where to hide treats for the dog to find
Issues to Address
~ Assertiveness and communication skills
~ Perspective taking
~ Consistency
~ Boundaries and establishing trust
~ Motivation
~ Self esteem
~ Dogâs total acceptance of disability and/or appearance
~ Empowerment in giving commands and getting a response
~ Increased social interaction with others because of the dog
Issues to Address
~ Anger and anxiety awareness
~ Can act as a living âalarmâ for distress
~ Health Anxiety
~ Autism
~ Schizotypal personality disorder
~ Schizoid
~ FASD
Issues to Address
~ Emotional Dysregulation/Distress tolerance
~ Helps client tolerate distress and learn that they CAN tolerate distress
~ Can serve as a distraction (Distract donât react)
~ PTSD
~ Calming/reassuring
~ Depression
~ UPR
~ Increased movement
~ Sense of responsibility
~ Grief
Cautions
~ Clientâs physical and emotional response to a particular species of animal as being based on âprevious direct and indirect experiences with as well as their beliefs, desires, and fears about specific speciesâ.
~ The role of animals in the clientâs life outside the therapy session is another cultural consideration (Farmers, hunters, pet owners)
~ sanitation and the potential for disease must be addressed.
~ Animal inoculations and parasite control must be current (Delta Society, 1996)
~ Clients must also be screened for potential allergies or sensitivities
~ Environmental distractions, combined with the predictability of the clientâs behavior, can present challenges to the counselor, particularly in an outdoor setting
~ Elderly and small children often report feeling safer around smaller animals because they were afraid of being knocked over by a larger, more rambunctious dog
Summary
~ There are a variety of techniques that can be used to incorporate animals into counseling practice
~ Animals help develop
~ Self esteem
~ Confidence
~ Assertiveness
~ Empathy
~ Mindfulness
~ Distress Tolerance
~ Effective Communication Skills
~ Animals can also serve to relieve anxiety