Personal Project Is Much More Than A Project

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.

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.

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

My registered Therapy Dog, Lucky, has been a member of Therapy Dog International since 2011. Under my training, Lucky has also passed his Canine Good Citizenship test. Lucky and I visit multiple facilities including assisted living establishments and elementary schools. Lucky has also been called upon for home visits with a local suffering form ALS. During our visit, our goal is to progress the humans physical, social, emotional, and cognitive function. The ability to communicate and find common interest with a variety of individuals has helped me to form lasting friendships while working with

For centuries people have known that animal companionship has brought many benefits to people’s lives. According to Kathryn Heimlich, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the first known time a companion animal was used to aid in a therapy program was “York Retreat in England, an establishment founded by the Quakers for persons with mental illness” (Heimlich, 2001, p. 48). As stated by Heimlich, the first published reports of the benefits of animal-assisted therapy come from Psychologist Boris Levinson. Levinson “discovered that he could reach a disturbed child during therapy

In depth discussion and details of the research conducted that elaborates on the effectiveness of service animals- how do they help?

Questions arise concerning the treatment of therapy dogs when visiting patients and whether animal-assisted therapy really works at all; however, those who disagree aren’t looking at the big picture. Animal-assisted therapy is both an ethical and effective therapy method due to its success in treating those with chronic diseases, disorders, and managing stress and anxiety. The varieties of cases regarding the success of therapy dog treatments far surmount the amount of cases saying otherwise. Animal-assisted therapy stems from the human-animal connection, one of the most unique and powerful bonds man has ever experienced. It is that connection that allows animal assisted therapy to be a critical part of everyone’s daily

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

“A Healthy Dose of Puppy Love” by Kathryn Satterfield describes a new study that shows that dogs can improve an individual’s health by lowering anxiety levels and by improving cardiac function. Specially trained therapy dogs visited a hospital in November in Dallas, Texas to help conduct a study that animals can improve an individual’s health, to do this people split the seventy six patients into a total of three groups: visitors with dogs, visitors, and an “at rest group.” For accurate results researches preformed anxiety tests on the patients before, during, and after the visit, and the results concluded that patients who received visits from people had encountered a ten percent drop in anxiety, while patients who received visits from dogs

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.

Animal assisted therapy is a type of therapy that is becoming more and more successful. Alicia MIller, co-founder of Operation Wolfhound, says, “Medication works 50% of the time, talk therapy alone, works 30% of the time, and dogs work 84.5% of the time” (qtd. in Caprioli). With overwhelming statistics like that, more hospitals or rehabilitation centers should utilize this practice. Many different ages can work with the animals, however it is mainly directed toward the youth (Pugh). Therapy animals are extremely beneficial and have helped many people cope with disorders and therefore this program should be expanded.

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

The practice of using animals as therapy tools is becoming ever more popular and common place in the mental health field. Animal assisted therapy (AAT) was formally defined by the Delta Society as “a goal-directed intervention in which an animal that meets specific criteria is an integral part of the treatment process” (Kruger, Trachtenberg, & Serpell, 2004). The hope is that the specially trained animal will help facilitate conversation, and subsequently healing, between the therapist and the client. AAT is focused on improving the humans physical, mental, emotional, and social functioning. Animal assisted therapy is not to be confused with service animals: service animals fall under the category of animal-assisted activities

Animal Assisted Therapy dates back to the early 18th century. It was used to help the mentally ill patients at the York Retreat in England. They would allow animals to wander the grounds with the patients and it was believed that is was helpful in increasing the socialization of the patients. The first documented use of an animal therapy was when Dr. Boris Levinson accidentally left his dog and a difficult child alone and when he came back the child was calm and talking with the dog. Today animals are being used in many different environments to help assist patients with their daily activities. Over the years, studies have shown that some animal assisted therapy has been more affective on people than the use of a medication.