Animal-Assisted Therapy
Animal-assisted therapy is a goal-directed intervention conducted by trained and licensed medical and allied health professionals in therapeutic settings.
Therapy dogs within psychotherapy promote emotional regulation and reduce anxiety. Evidence suggests they enhance the therapeutic relationship (Arnskötter et al., 2024). They can also aid in improving social skills, communication, and empathy, while motivating and encouraging clients to participate in therapy (Guzmán et al., 2022).
Psychotherapy
In clinical settings, animals decrease anxiety, act as social mediators, and improve patient openness toward practitioners (Cameron et al., 2022). They help children with disabilities cope with anxiety, set goals and plan to achieve them (Elmacı & Cevizci, 2015).
Physical Therapy
Animals are non-judgmental conversation partners. Direct effects reported include improvement on correct word initiation, confrontation naming, developmental vocalisations, and conversational social skills (Antonucci, 2023).
Speech & Language Therapy
In psychomotor therapy, task-trained dogs play a multifaceted role. They facilitate the therapeutic relationship, aid in stimulating exercises for fine motor skills, praxis, and cognitive skills through interaction, and assist in stimulating memory (Giron, 2011).
Psychomotor Therapy
The importance of a properly trained working therapy dog team
Proper training for working Therapy Dog teams is essential to provide dogs with skills to safely enjoy their work and for Therapists to effectively and ethically integrate their dogs into their practice while accounting for their dog's wellbeing and needs.
Therapists with Working Dogs should be able to:
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Identify signs of stress in their dog.
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Identify when their dog needs to rest and stop working.
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Not put their dog in a situation for which they are not trained.
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Ensure that their dog is healthy, vaccinated, parasite-treated, and well-groomed.
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Regularly maintain and update their dog’s training.
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Manage their dog’s schedule to ethically and responsibility accommodate their needs.
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Preserve and enhance their relationship with their dog as a therapeutic partner.
Working Therapy Dogs are trained to:
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Actively engage in the therapeutic interaction
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Remain calm and not distract therapists or patients
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'Settle' and rest at intervals during the workday
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Respond appropriately and recover from unexpected stimuli
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Patiently wait while the the therapist is busy
Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations are paramount in animal-assisted therapy (AAT), encompassing [1] animal welfare and [2] responsibilities to clients. Animal welfare in AAT involves the careful selection, training, and monitoring of Therapy Dog candidates, as well as addressing stress in animals. This includes ensuring dogs are healthy, willing participants in therapy, and have a trusting relationship with their handler.
The second ethical facet in AAT is the responsibility to the client. Therapists must ensure that integrating a dog into therapy enhances its effectiveness without causing distractions. Most importantly, this inclusion should never compromise the safety of the dog or the patient.
Lack of standardization for AAT jeopardizes animal welfare and client outcomes.
Examining the moral basis for animal-assisted therapy. Is it a form of exploitation?
Ethics in AAT, complex but critical for the client, therapist, and co-therapist (dog)
Competencies for AAT
Animal-Assisted Therapy in Mental Health Interest Network of the American Counseling Association