Animals helping people through
Animal Assisted Therapy
Animal Assisted Therapy: The Basics
Frequently Asked Questions:
1) What is Animal Assisted Therapy?
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a goal-directed intervention in which an animal is an integral part of the treatment process. A therapist who utilizes AAT operates from their professional foundation and facilitates change in a client through the client’s interactions with an animal.
2) What distinguishes Animal Assisted Therapy from other types of therapy with animals?Pet Therapy describes all types of therapeutic and mutually beneficial interactions between companion animals and people. Pet Therapy includes:
- Pet Visitation
- Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)
Pet Visitation is a scheduled program providing the opportunity for people-animal interaction in an informal, safe environment. No specific outcomes are expected, but it is regarded as therapeutic and very important to people living in many facilities in our communities.
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is the most clinical interaction and is defined by:
- goal-directed intervention;
- specific objectives for each session;
- animal meets a specific criteria;
- the animal is an integral part of the structured treatment;
- direction and delivery by a health service provider working within the scope of his/her profession;
- a design to promote improvements in physical, social, emotional, or cognitive functioning;
- its ability to be used one-on-one or in group sessions;
- the requirement for documentation and evaluation.
While both of these types of pet therapy are uniquely important in their own way, The Chimo Project's goal is to implement Animal Assisted Therapy programs.
3) Who can use Animal Assisted Therapy?
A) Psychologists
These professionals are concerned with the psychological functioning of a client. They help clients address and moderate psychological and behavioral symptoms. Their focus is to increase adaptive psychological functioning.
One of the main benefits of using AAT is that it helps the client bond to the therapist. Without this trusting bond, the therapy process is almost impossible.
Psychologists can use AAT to help clients with FASD achieve treatment goals such as:
- increase ability to bond
- develop rapport
- foster relationships
- address emotions
- promote empathy
- build self-esteem
- provide a sense of control
- decrease stress
- deal with grief and loss
- provide emotional safety
- reduce abusive thoughts and behaviors
- address issues surrounding anxiety, depression and ADHD
B) Psychiatrists
These professionals specialize in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illnesses. They order tests, prescribe and monitor medications, and practice psychotherapy. Psychiatrists can use AAT in the same way as psychologists in the achievement of a client’s treatment goals.
Animal assisted therapy has also been indicated as beneficial in providing effective diagnostic clues when assessing patients (Brickle, 1980).
C) Mental Health Nurses
Mental Health Nurses work closely with other professionals to enable, educate and encourage clients through their therapeutic process. They help therapists monitor treatment plans, encourage clients to work on their treatment goals away from therapy sessions, and monitor medications, including their effectiveness and side effects.
Mental health nurses can use AAT to help clients achieve their treatment goals by:
- providing encouragement and routine for adhering to medication timetable
- decreasing stress
- transferring AAT work in therapy sessions to a practical setting
D) Physiotherapists
Animal Assisted Therapy can help increase client motivation, participation and satisfaction with their physiotherapy. Clients that would simply refuse to cooperate with shoulder-strengthening exercises due to pain associate with rehabilitation are often thrilled to have a chance to 'play fetch' with a dog.
E) Occupational Therapists and Recreational Therapists
Occupational Therapists are concerned with helping clients participate in the activities of daily living. They help clients with social-emotional, physical, cognitive, communication, and adaptive behavior challenges. The focus is on learning new skills and overall functioning performance.
Recreational Therapists seek to promote the health and wellness of the client in the areas of leisure, lifestyle, and community reintegration. The focus is on learning new skills and overall functioning related to recreation and community.
Occupational and recreational therapy can provide key improvements in functioning.
These therapists can use AAT in three main areas: cognitive function, physical function and psychosocial function.
Cognitive goals using AAT for clients include:
- increase attention span
- encourage adaptive behaviors
- increase problem solving
- improve sensory integration
- encourage communication/verbalization
- improve memory
Physical goals using AAT for clients include:
- improve motor skills
- improve refined skill acquisition
- increase motivation for treatment
- improve daily living skills
Psychosocial goals that use AAT for clients include:
- improve interpersonal skills
- increase self-expression
- address emotions of self and others
- increase socialization
- stress management
F) Child and Youth Care Workers
These professionals often work in residential facilities, and attend to the clients for ‘the other 23 hours a day’ when they are not in formal therapy. They help encourage and reinforce the daily routine at the facility, support clients in achieving their treatment goals outside therapy sessions, and provide counseling when a situation warrants it.
These professionals can use AAT to:
- provide encouragement/reward/enforcement for daily routine
- encourage proper behavior management
- provide additional interest in activities program
- encourage attendance at optional therapy groups
- transfer AAT work in therapy sessions to a practical setting
- increase communication
- increase self-esteem
- decrease stress
- enhance group cohesion in the residential facility
G) Teachers and Teacher’s Aides
Teachers and teacher’s aides encourage learning and optimum functioning in a learning environment. These professionals can use AAT in the classroom to:
- decrease stress
- encourage focus
- improve information retention
- reduce worries/thoughts of failure
- provide incentive for correct behaviors
- encourage persistence in the face of setbacks
- improve self-esteem
- spark an interest in learning
H) Just about any other professional or semi-professional health care or education service provider who has a client and a goal!!
For more information about activities and interventions that can be used by a variety of practitioners, either contact The Chimo Project or see:
Gommonley, Howie, Kirwin, Zapf, Frye, Freeman and Stuart-Russell (1997). Animal Assisted Therapy - Therapeutic Interventions. The Delta Society.WA:
"A teenaged boy came to therapy that really didn’t have a family. His language was very hard to understand. He mumbled, spoke quickly, and couldn’t regulate his tone, which was always flat. He didn’t understand the need for enunciation and tone of voice in communication. I used the dog to work on his communication as a social skill. The boy taught the dog some new tricks, working on using appropriate tone and language to encourage the dog to respond. He used fewer words, spoke slowly, and did not mumble. There was great improvement in his speech skills and how to use words and appropriate tone. Once he was able to get the dog to complete the task, I had him demonstrate the tricks to the other kids in his class. This boy was often ostracized by his classmates. He had low self-esteem, no friends, and wasn’t really good at anything. This demonstration proved to the boy that he was important. He had a special relationship with the dog, and the kids in his class were impressed by that. It really helped this boy’s self-esteem and social skills, as well as his communication skills." ~ An Occupational Therapist working with The Chimo Project
"One boy came to me presenting with symptoms of depression and anxiety and had poor peer relationships. He was feeling displaced and abandoned. This kid was also bullied by the kids at school. This boy had social phobia and the therapy cat became a safe way to initiate conversation. The cat was a safe companion because when the cat was in the cat shelter, he was bullied by the other cats too. So the cat understood, and the boy liked the cat very much. The cat also provided unconditional positive regard. The boy remarked that he felt safe with the cat because he won’t say, “Shut up you fatso.” Like the kids at school. So in the therapy sessions, while the boy talked, he petted the cat, snuggled with him, and focused on the cat instead of on the therapist. He could keep talking about difficult issues when he was petting the cat." - A Psychologist working with the Chimo Project
