Animal Assisted Therapy: A Case Study

Animal Assisted Therapy also known as animal-assisted therapy has been formally introduced to the world in the last ten years or so. Although animals have always been a place of comfort for a lot of people, scientists just began to realize the impact animals have on society. The world has begun to experiment with what animals can do to benefit human health. The most common type of animal-assisted therapy is equine-assisted therapy. Equines are horses. Equine-assisted therapy 's impact on minors who have mental health issues have led to a successful new type of therapy that includes multiple benefits. Equine-assisted therapy has worked well in is treating adolescents and children how to communicate and connect with others. Two big issues that animal-assisted therapy has been known to help is Autism and kids with attachment and social problems.

In the field of therapy, there are numerous of therapy available out there for different type of individuals and situations as well. There is one type of therapy that usually contains people and animal, it is animal-assisted therapy is a therapeutic approach that brings animals and individuals with physical and/or emotional needs together to perform the therapy. Animal-assisted therapy tend to be focused on individuals either children or elderly for them to be able to connect with the animal thus feeling comfortable talking with the therapist. Pet therapy works for all ages, whether sick or not (Lanchnit, 2011). Although, this paper, most of the focus is on animal-assisted therapy towards children using dogs.

Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sometimes considered to be a relatively new diagnosis, as the name first appeared in 1980, the concept of the disorder has a very long history. That history has often been linked to the history of war, but the disorder has also been frequently described in civilian settings involving natural disasters, mass catastrophes, and serious accidental injuries. The diagnosis first appeared in the official nomenclature when Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-I was published in 1952 under the name gross stress reaction. It was omitted, however, in the next edition in 1968, after a long

This article summarizes how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) effects soldiers returning from combat zones and how service dogs help relieve PTSD symptoms. After the success of an award-winning program created for at risk teens, Rick Yount, a social worker and certified service dog trainer, created the first Warrior dog-training program. The Warrior dog-training program was designed to be a safe and effective

War and combat experiences have a way of changing lives in dramatic ways. Deployments can range in length but experiences during those times can forever change a soldier. For veterans, the consequences of combat can be long lasting. According to a study done by the RAND corporation, “post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression, are specific disorders that have been shown to be extremely prevalent among soldiers returning from combat” (“RAND Assesses Post-Deployment Health-Related Needs Of Iraq Veterans.”). Effective treatments for PTSD exist however, no one method or therapeutic technique is appropriate for every client. For this reason new approaches for treatment are being tested. Positive results are being seen with the new treatment of PTSD called canine assisted therapy. Every veteran should get the opportunity to find a treatment that works best for his/her condition. That is why we need a bill that will help this problem. Therefore, a bill to establish canine therapy programs for veterans in the medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs

Nepps, & Bruckno, (2014) and Souter & Miller,(2007) results were determined by pre/ post questionnaires and scales that viewed each participant mood before and after each session to see the outcome and effectiveness. It showed a dramatic increase in mood. It was also shown that that therapeutic alliance is enhanced with the addition of a therapy dog within a group setting with adult clients in a residential drug abuse treatment setting. Animal assisted therapy has also been shown to reduce feelings of anger and symptoms of PTSD, which can contribute to an overall improvement of mood and reduce depressive

Although medication and psychotherapy help PTSD patients reduce their symptoms, it remains a difficult disorder to treat. Many veterans suffering from PTSD see the disorder as a weakness and either fail to report their symptoms, go undiagnosed, or they drop out of their therapy (Glintborg). So, it remains necessary to find alternative therapies, and integrating support animals remains a viable option.

Post-traumatic stress were documented as early as the Civil War., yet only did it during World War I and II become known, it was known as “shell shock” or “battle fatigue”. Although they didn’t quite understand it yet, it was thought that shrapnel entered the brain during battle explosions and caused small brain hemorrhages. When symptoms occurred in war veterans who had not been exposed to explosions, it was then often viewed as a character flaw. In the 1970s, during and after the Vietnam War, post-traumatic stress received more serious research and documentation. In 1989, the National Center for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder was established in the U.S. About 5 percent of men and 10 percent of women in the United States have PTSD. In women, the

The term posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) first emerged in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) as published by the American Psychiatric Association. As stated in Antai-Otong in Nursing2006 magazine, PTSD “is a response to the memory of physical or emotional trauma.” (Anxiety Disorders, p. 48) It is classified as an anxiety disorder along with such things as panic, obsessive-compulsive

But there were documenting the disorder as early as 1761.One physican says there are 3 stages to the disorder. First stage, hallucination. Second, period of fever and prominent gastrointestinal symptoms. Third, anger and depression. Another physician noted that soldiers had nostalgia of war. Before the disorder was an actual disorder they called it “shell shock” in 1919. It received the name “shell shock” regarding the effects of artillery shells reaction of the explosion. A doctor observed civil war veterans describe it as overstimulation of the heart's nervous system. For the war veterans to managed this so called syndrome the took drugs. After World War 1 post traumatic stress was known as Combat Stress Reaction. It was sometimes misdiagnosed as multiple disorders such as acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, Brief psychotic disorder, depression and panic

With limited empirical research supporting the use and effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy, it is reasonable to suggest that the costs of implementing AAT into occupational therapy are not worth the benefits. Occupational therapy modalities are already effective at treating patients with many different disabilities and/or disorders—integrating a new type of therapy into occupational therapy is less convenient and more expensive than leaving an already effective therapy as is.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder dates back to the war days. Although having this disorder was never documented it was seen in many soldiers during and after the war. The disorder didn’t have an official title. It was known as “shell shock”, “exhaustion” and “battle fatigue.” The disorder affected many soldiers during wars, not only physically but also their reputation. Many soldiers would have emotional breakdowns due to the disorder and some would flee the front lines. These actions would be the reason for the labels such as cowards, or too weak to handle the front lines. Among the first to identify and group behaviors of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder were the Swiss military in 1678. Military physicians in the American Civil War were unable to treat soldiers with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms so many of them were discharged with the reason being cowardice and lack of discipline. The disorder wasn’t identified and accepted until 1905 by the Russian army who made the first connection of mental illness with the stress war has on a person. In WWI Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms were continuously viewed as weakness and those who had the symptoms were cowards. Due to the ignorance of the mental illness some of these soldiers were executed for their actions. The Vietnam War had the largest number of veterans affected. For decades the disorder wasn’t acknowledge for the effects it has on an individual. After studying and

The helpful capability of animals was initially perceived in the late 1800s, when Florence Nightingale, the founder of advanced nursing, made generous disclosures in regards to animal-assisted therapy. The thought that animal-assisted therapy can assume a critical part in enhancing human prosperity struck as a genuine practice in 1980(Berek 1). E. Friedman discovered a phenomenal experiment that showed those who own pets tend to live longer than those who do not own any pets(1). Studies show that petting an animal releases hormones that produce a calming effect to humans which can lead to lower blood pressure and stress levels(1). The calming effect also works on

After conducting a web search to find pay data relevant to the claims in Ms. Kate’s letter, I was very surprised at norm salaries. This case study is very interesting to me. I currently serve as an animal assisted therapist for a growing psych-social therapy organization. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, The median annual wage for mental health counselors with a Master’s degree was $40,080 in May 2012 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). Whereas, the median annual wage for mental health counselors with a Doctorate’s degree was $72,673 in 2015 (PayScale Human Capital, 2015). Thus, there is a $32,593 difference between the two positions in relation to education. This would justify the difference in Ms. Kate’s salary verses the

Animals and humans have long shared a strong bond (Bakerjian, 2014). Companion animals are animals that live with humans and are part of the family system. They offer benefits such as lowering blood pressure, helping owners maintain an exercise schedule, improving psychological wellbeing and lowering risk of diabetes and heart attacks (Anger & Akins, 2014). This simple relationship humans have with animals has lead to future predictors and research directions into investigating the impact of pet therapy across a range of contexts (Evans & Gray, 2012). Pet therapy, or Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) helps in the physical, social, emotional and cognitive functioning of the participant (Anger & Akins, 2014). Studies have investigated the relationship and benefits AAT brings to mental health, seniors, autism spectrum disorder and hospitalized patients. These studies have shown that AAT decreases blood pressure, reduces anxiety and improve overall human mental and physical health and wellbeing (Bell, 2013; Chur-Hansen, McArthur, Winfield, Haniech & Hazel, 2014). There is a common perception that children, more specifically hospitalized children, benefit from animal visits. However, there is little literature evidence on the benefits of AAT on hospitalized children (Chur-Hansen et al., 2014). By analyzing the importance and relevance of animal assisted therapy in hospitals and with a variety of populations, this research aims to gain a better understanding of the benefits of AAT in