Mental Health And Stress Reduction

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.

Medical professionals have recently seen the positive effects animals are able to provide to their patients with mental disabilities. The emotional support dog MA recognizes

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

Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), which can be provided in a group or individual settings, is designed to promote improvement in a human’s physical, social, emotional, or cognitive function. An article by Chitic,

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a form of therapy which promotes social interaction, as well as improvements in human social, emotional, physical and/or cognitive functioning, creates an environment where the client can disclose and experience empathy, trust, sensitivity, and comfort (Coetzee, Beukes, & Lynch, 2013; Pet Partners, 2012). Pet/animal assisted therapy has been traced back to the 18th century, with records indicating that in 1919 pets accompanied psychiatric patients in a Washington D.C hospital (Chu, Liu, Sun, & Lin, 2009). When therapy sessions are accompanied by the presence of an animal, the client enters a non-threatening, safe and trusting environment where self-disclosure of personal emotions and experiences becomes easier for the client (Reviewed by Coetzee, Beukes, & Lynch, 2013).

To begin with, dogs can be used as therapy or emotional support animals. A therapy dog will go to hospitals, sit with patients, and go to physical therapy with them. In the article “Dr. Dog” the author says “The canine interactions help support rehabilitation.” These dogs give patients the motivation and means to continue treatment. The dogs can be used as a brace during physical therapy. Playing with dogs improves cognitive ability with games such as fetch, chase,

Research shows in human patients that treating the whole person; mind, body and spirit, the patient has a much better chance of maintaining a healthy body. For scores of years the unacceptable behavior in animals, specifically in dogs was blamed on the back yard breeders and lack of affordable spay/neuter for an ever increasing pet population, all the while neglecting to confront the behavior issues. The Veterinary Visit was so scary, cold and unappealing to animals that many pet parents chose to stay way. Pet parents would have rather risked the suffering of their pets. In any event by doing so they would miss the intervention that could have eliminated these consequences. Therefore, by incorporating behavior as part of their daily practice protocol, a Veterinary Hospital visit would be a more enticing place to come to and pet parents would routinely bring their pet without question. Many Practices are concerned that such a program would be costly. This could not be any farther from the truth, in fact most of tips that are used to make a practice “fear free” are at minimal cost or no cost at

Rather than opening a bottle and downing a pill or two with a swig of water, a somewhat recent form of treatment for depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses as of the early 2000s is the use of emotional support animals. Unlike service animals, emotional support animals (ESAs for short) are not trained for a given task other than providing comfort. They are generally a person’s pet before they are registered. This comfort, however, has shown unique benefits in the treatment of individuals with mental and psychiatric disorders (The Delta Society, n.d.) compared to those not suffering from a mental illness. With the intensification of mentally ill students, many campuses are receiving requests from students to allow them permission to

Pet therapy (Animal-Assisted Therapy) is one of the modern methods, which attracted attention of many people all over the world these days. Some creatures, such as dogs, cats, fish, birds, rabbits, and horses may assist human beings in different fields such as physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual rehabilitation [Collins & Varmus, 2015]. In 1954, Florence Nightingale reported the beneficial effects of pets on patients with chronic diseases [Nightingale, 1954]. It was the first efforts for the extensive research of physicians to find out treatment mechanisms [Stanley-Hermanns & Miller, 2002]. It is shown in a study that communication with dogs makes a significant improvement in alleviating pain, mood, anxiety, and distress of the patients

Dogs make great pets- just ask the millions of dog owners all over the world. But dogs can be more than just a pet- they can be therapists too. The bond between humans and dogs goes back to the stone age, with their wolf-like ancestors. Over time, dogs have evolved to be less aggressive and more cute and cuddly to better befriend us humans. With this strong bond, dogs can be helpful for humans therapeutically. Dogs have been used in court to help victims open up about trauma, in schools to help kids gain confidence in reading aloud, in prisons to bring positivity, in aiding and comforting the disabled, and more.

In his therapy session he used his dog to determine if his patients were more or less anxious when the dog was present. After many sessions he concluded that the mere presence of his dog in those sessions put to ease some of his patients.

The findings of Allen’s first trial are supported by a similar study by Dr. Robert Matchock to determine “if the presence of a dog… could attenuate the [heart rate] and cortisol response during a social stressor”. During Dr. Matchock’s study, The presence of a dog attenuates cortisol and heart rate in the Trier Social Test compared to human friends, the participants filled out the most recent revision of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to measure state anxiety as well as trait anxiety. All participants were tasked with preparing for, and subsequently participating in a mock interview for an

James Madison University explored the pros and cons of owning a pet in college. The stressors of college are all a part of transitioning to the adult life, and “one fairly common method [of coping] is through pets. Pets provide an unconditional love, giving students something they can always rely on.” (JMU). A study published by Dr. Kathleen Adamle in the Journal of American College Health, 90.3% of students agreed that they find relief by spending time with pets during difficult times. (Adamle, Riley, Carlson) .

The purpose of our study is to obtain enough information to support our hypothesis. We are looking at the benefits of animal therapy and the effects it has on the human body, particularly of those currently suffering from PTSD. The research will observe if animal therapists have a significant role in reducing anxiety, depression, rage and other symptoms commonly associated with this disorder. In our research we hope to find cases where animal therapy, particularly dog, has reduced the need for medication or has gone as far as replacing drug therapy. Ultimately, we hope to find sufficient data to support our hypothesis.

This study is designed to evaluate the effects of dogs in a classroom over one semester. Through interviews and observations, I will be looking at the effects the dog has on the students and the general classroom atmosphere. In the end, I will be looking at any changes in behavior and atmosphere of the classroom. I believe that the dogs will have a positive effect on the classroom and the students that are impacted.