Pet Therapy

Psychotherapist Jay Granat believes part of the benefit of pet therapy lies in an animals outlook on life. "Dogs—and other pets—live very much in the here and now. They don't worry about tomorrow. And tomorrow can be very scary for an older person. By having an animal with that sense of now, it tends to rub off on people." By focusing on the positive and pleasant conditions associated with pet therapy, anxiety, depression, and the many negative effects of these conditions are lessened. Even pain seems to fade during pet therapy sessions.

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.

animals help patients to be more alert and to smile more often,” 2 and therapy cats are beneficial

Imagine you were in a hospital and your doctor mentions pet therapy and you decide to try it out. Your doctor arranges for you to meet with someone in the morning to tell you all about it. Soon after that, a dog and its handler visit you in your room and you are invited to pet the dog, play with it, and ask questions to the owner. After the visit you realize you're smiling, less tired, and more optimistic, and you can't wait to tell your friends and family about it, and can't wait for tomorrow to see the dog again. This is called pet therapy. Because pet therapy is popular today people should understand the physical, mental, and social benefits before making a decision.

Pet therapy is a way of comforting a patient. Although dogs are primarily used, they are not the only

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

Scientists have shown that pet ownership can have demonstrably positive effects on human health. "A 10-month prospective study was carried out which examined changes in behaviour and health status in 71 adult subjects following the acquisition of a new pet (either dogs or cats). A group of 26 subjects without pets served as a comparison over the same period. Both pet-owning groups reported a highly significant reduction in minor health problems during the first month following pet acquisition, and this effect was sustained in dog owners through to 10 months" (Serpell 1991). Dog owners in particular benefited from

It would be an admirable concept to incorporate therapy dogs in to the office. Staff has previously mentioned their interest in this topic multiple times, and now we can meet their requests. Therapy dogs are known to make employees not only happier, but healthier. Dogs are known for reducing stress and anxiety in humans; while also temporarily lowing their blood pressure. Some other interesting health benefits are a quicker recovery from heart disease and improvement on people’s psychological well-being and self-esteem.

This helpful form of cognitive therapy has been proven by several researchers from the NIH (News in Health) to reduce stressors and improve cardiovascular function for long term benefits. One particular NIH study researched the effects of animal companionship in 421 adults who had previously suffered from heart attack or stroke. Regardless of the severity of the attack, the study showed that after a one year later the patients who owned a dog lived longer and happier lives than those who did not. Pet owners are shown to live a more active lifestyle and exercise regularly to improve physical health. ‘Several psychologist’s and doctors nationwide are researching the benefits of incorporating animal assisted therapy within medical institutions to promote wellness and positivity. The heart rates and cholesterol levels of patients also reduced substantially due to the stress-relieving benefits of participating in AAT. Animals of all kinds have been shown throughout many credible research experiments to enhance an individual’s mental and physical health over

Abstract Animal Assisted therapy provides an alternative, complementary therapy to improve, recovery, motivation and treatment for patients with health condition. This paper is a quantitative research study on how pets impact the lives of clients with physiological and psychological medical condition. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between human- animal and the beneficial of animal assisted therapy. The result of this study can be used to help occupational therapist determine whether to incorporate pets into therapeutic treatment as an important activity.

Pet therapy has been shown to improve the mood of an individual by reducing stress in a high stress environment such as a hospital, as shown by Creating a Therapeutic and Healing Environment with a Pet Therapy, a study by Dr. Amanda Coakley, program designed around an existing pet therapy program. The study set out to evaluate the effectiveness of pet therapy programs in improving “behavioral, and mood outcomes and experiences of hospitalized patients” and hypothesized that “patients who received… pet therapy visit[s] would have lower vital signs, less pain, more energy, and better mood”. The study measured

One of the most common mental illnesses is anxiety, and it affects over 40 million people around the world. However, simply owning an animal can be life-changing for them. A pet can surprisingly be very powerful, they are capable of greatly reducing anxiousness in many ways. For example, research shows that when you hold or stroke an animal such as a cat or a dog, it significantly lowers stress levels, anxiousness and uneasiness, which helps someone struggling with

Participants in hospitals were placed into an animal therapy program or worked on jigsaw puzzles. 64% of the children who were in the therapy dog setting had decreased pain and anxiety overall. There is more research to be done discussing why and how therapy dogs relieve this stress (Barker, Knisely, Schubert, Green, & Ameringer, 2015). While these reductions of stress and anxiety occur, it is also important to understand the impact therapy dogs have overall.