Assisted Animal Therapy

Animal assisted therapy includes all psychological theories and incorporates animals, such as dogs or horses, into a therapeutic treatment plan. It is used to enhance and complement traditional therapy methods, but it is not done by itself. Animal assisted therapy has been effectively used in individuals with autism, medical conditions, and trauma survivors. It may also be implemented for people with psychological disorders, such as depression, schizophrenia, and addiction. Depending on the type of therapy and the type of animal involved, you may keep the therapy animal at home and with you throughout the day for emotional support, or you might learn to ride and care for a therapy horse that is kept at an equestrian facility. Afterwards, you

II. Victims of sexual abuse can and have experienced psychological and developmental issues. A. Pediatric Emergency Medicine reports that an estimated one in four girls and one in six have experienced some form of sexual abuse by the time they are 18 years old. (Source 3: Statistic)

Why Equine Assisted Therapy? Amy DeLuzio Columbia International University “The horse acts as the teacher and unlocks the client. The animal facilitates emotional breakthroughs, and the effect, therapists report, can be magical” (Hayley Sumner).

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.

Animal-assisted Therapy: The Beginning of a New Approach Florence Nightingale was the first person to recognize the therapeutic potential of animals in the late 1800s. Nightingale is considered the founder of modern nursing which enabled her to make such discoveries by observing the impact animals had on her medical patients. She discovered that the company of a small pet reduced anxiety in children and adults that resided in psychiatric institutions and recorded her findings in her book “Notes on Nursing”. With Nightingale’s involuntary record of these human-animal interactions, animal-assisted therapy approaches began to flourish.

The use of alcohol in adolescents is unfortunately a huge part of young people’s lives all over the world. In their minds, alcohol plays an important role in socializing and is often times associated with determining popularity. It has been found that alcohol use and depressive feelings often occur among adolescents, and the prevalence rate of depressive symptoms increases from early adolescents, especially among women (Kleinjan, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of pet therapy on depressive symptoms among adolescents who use alcohol. From the findings of theses studies it appears that animal assisted interventions may potentially have beneficial effects on reducing anxiety and depression symptoms. All interventions used a variety of dogs in each AAT sessions. The interventions setting were grouped based and took place in mental health hospital, treatment facilities and advocacy centers. The sessions begins in a light animal assisted activity (AAA) and AAT and gradually increases to moderate. Each study session length and time varied from 1 month - 1 year and lasted 8 minutes to 1 hour long. Although our study focuses on adolescents, we

Animal-based therapy provides many benefits for individuals with a disability. When assisting individuals with disabilities it is important to consider all options that will help them achieve the most success in life. Deciding which therapies to use is often difficult and should be decided on by the individual, their doctors, therapist, and family. Any drawbacks will need to be weighed against the advantages to ensure the course of treatment will be effective and appropriate for the individual. Revisions may need to be considered for the patient along the treatment path. Of the many types of therapies available, it is important to look at the benefits of animal assisted therapy. Individuals with disabilities who are routinely engaged in companion animal therapy develop a greater range of social skills than those who are not involved in any form of therapeutic animal-based therapy.

With the Help of an Animal In a recent study conducted by Rebecca Johnson, Ph.D., RN, of the University of Missouri-Columbia Center for the Study of Animal Wellness showed that when humans pet a dog, within minutes there is a huge amount of beneficial hormones known to be associated with health and feelings of well-being.(Becker par. 2) These hormones are called beta endorphin, prolactin, dopamine, oxytocin, and beta phenylethylamine (Becker par. 2). The hormones that are released from the interaction between the animal and the human allow the patients to feel more blissful and trusting. Along with being emotionally benefited from working with animals in assisted therapy; people can benefit physically. For example, people who have physical

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, or depression, amongst many other disabilities deserve to be acknowledged because of the medical advancements in the past several years which support the effectiveness of service animals. These disabilities affect the everyday lives of thousands of people throughout the United States, which is why I believe that service animals can be a beneficial component that may boost a person’s endurance. In the article, Service Dog Training Program for Treatment of PTSD in Service Members, a study written with the United States Army, results concluded that service animals were deemed effective in their practices. The article reports that veterans and service members had an “increase in patience, impulse control, [and] emotional regulation” (Yount, et al.). As a helpful practice for disabled persons, it is a civil injustice to discriminate against a person with a service dog. To neglect a disabled person’s accessibility to basic public services in modern society is a violation of human rights. I think that the lack of accommodations for service animals and their handlers is an overlooked issue in society, which is why I believe that my research is a relevant issue in modern

According to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014), about one in every 68 children is identified as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a developmental disorder that is characterized by difficulties in communication, social interactions, and behaviors. Though many are aware of the

Several people are impacted by Post Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD) every year. There are various types of therapies that are used to aid in the recovery of PTSD. An emerging field of Therapy is Animal Assisted Therapy or Learning (EAT/L). This literature review is going to look at the role of a particular type of Animal Assisted Therapy which involves horses as therapeutic aids. Equine assisted therapy has various conceptual models and factors that can have great positive impacts on Individuals diagnosed with PTSD.

Individual James and Gilliland (2017) noted, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center`s (2005), reported the numbers for sexual abuse in childhood are astounding. One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old (Finklehor, hotaling, Lewis, & Smith, 1990).

Child Sexual Abuse Sexual abuse to a child at times is confusing to the family. Families who are affected by sexual abuse to a child tend to have a difficult time talking about the abuse. About one out of every four girls and one out of every five boys are sexually abused by the time they are 18 years old.

Child Sexual Abuse CONTENT PAGE 1. Introduction Page 1 2. Case Study Page 1 3. How this Affects learners Page 2 4. Policies and Procedures Page 2 5. Raising Awareness Page 3 6. Conclusion Page 3 7. References Page 4 Appendix 1. INTRODUCTION Research indicates that 1 out of every 4 children will be the victim of sexual abuse before reaching age 18

Pattern of organization: Topical Outline: I. Introduction A. Quote--"One in every three girls and one in every six boys will be sexually abused before their eighteenth birthday. In the United States alone there are an estimated sixty million survivors of sexual abuse. Sixty-seven percent were