Therapy Dogs Are Becoming A New Means For Therapeutic Medicine

Nightingale and Freud’s contributions to psychotherapy methods using animal-assistance did not end where they began. Dr. Boris Levinson made-- what was just a curiosity by some-- a legitimized

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.

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

Dog aided therapy in a combat theater began in that same year. The dogs each had a value of $25,000 invested in them for their training process. The foremost service dogs underwent training for two years valued expensively at $25000 to $50000 per year (Ritchie and Amaker, 2012). The research focuses on investigating the significance and input of service dogs towards benefiting veterans and service members diagnosed with or at risk of PTSD. The impact and input service dogs offer to the service men and women deployed in

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

There has been a long history with animals and their natural bonds with humans for many decades now. Dogs have helped people with a multitude of illnesses for some time now, however Americans were not the first to discover this natural trait in animals. The Germans during World War 1 were the first to discover this. In the book, History of Guide Dog Use by Veterans it states that the German army in particular “relied heavily on the use of German shepherds as ambulance and messenger dogs. The Germans reportedly used more than 25,000 dogs during World War I. ' these dogs were ideally suited for this type of work, with ell-known traits such as trainability, loyalty, intelligence, strength, and endurance” (Ostermeier 587). In today 's society, we have numerous people who are unaware of the services that animals can provide for humans. Specifically humans with mental or physical disabilities. In this paper I will present various types of service animals as well as the many services they provide.

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

I think it was a great idea. It has helped me and my dog Charisma. After Charisma recovered she was not acting normal. After I brought her to your dog therapy she changed. Now she is normal and healthy again. This is also helping others, not just me. That is why I think your dog therapy was the best idea you’ve ever came up with! Thank you.

Another concern for the use of animals in occupational therapy is how the therapist will obtain therapy animals (Cipriani et al., 2013, p. 215). If no suitable animals are immediately available from other sources, the cost of the therapist obtaining, training, and certifying their own therapy animal is not insignificant. However, if an animal is available from another source, whether it be a volunteer or an organization, proper investigation must be done to determine the reliability and legitimacy of the provider and of the therapy animal. Winkle suggests that appropriate therapy animals can be obtained from organizations that train professional assistance animals. Although therapy animals require different skills than assistance animals are trained for, much of the intermediate training and skills are the same (Winkle, 2012, p. 11).

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

Animal assisted therapy, or AAT for short, began with the first documented case at an asylum run by the Society of Friends in England 1792. The first documented case of animal assisted therapy in the United States was not until 1919 at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington D.C. During the 1930s, famous psychoanalysist Sigmund Freud become an advocate for AAT when he used his dog, Jofi, during his therapy sessions. He found that his patients were more comfortable talking to him when Jofi was present. I believe that AAT proves to be beneficial for both mental and physical disorders according to articles I have read prior to the research done for this project.

Some people have been known to have a fake “service dog” or “therapy dog” due to the idea that some people believe “oh my dog would be a perfect therapy dog he loves people” but they never do the training or the testing required to do this work. Many times the people want to do the work and not the dogs. This idea of “oh my dog would be perfect” can lead to a lot of problem from severity of bites to the lowness of stress and anxiety. A true therapy dog has to be a special balance of stability, lovability, tolerance, able to handle stress, and prepared to cope with the feeling that dogs and people can feel in these facilities ("Ethical Considerations in Animal”). While this problem is not an uncommon one it can be a very serious one, and can be remediated by proper education of the facilities and have stronger

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a fairly old practice, but it has just recently drawn a lot of attention and interest. The Delta Society (as cited by Nebbe, n.d.) defines animal-assisted therapy as the use of an animal in a goal oriented intervention. AAT is provided and documented by professionals. Furthermore, it is designed to promote advancements in social, emotional, physical, and/or cognitive operation (Nebbe, n.d.). It is also important to note that animal-assisted therapy should always be an adjunctive intervention and not in isolation of other services (Fitchett, Granger, Helmer, Kogan, & Young, 1999). Almost any animal can be used in AAT as long as it is a pleasant, sociable animal. However, before animal-assisted therapy

The results were positive, and the dogs were successful in reliving the patients of stress, anxiety, and providing them with meaningful activity. There were common themes among patients, such as: being affectionate and caring for the dog, but also distancing oneself from the dog if it was trying to lick their face for example. In the end, they came to the conclusion that therapy dog helped patients with Alzheimer’s by, “minimizing agitation and anxiety-induced behaviors such as apathy and aggression, while improving their quality of life and their social interaction with others” (Swall 7). The time spent with these dogs gave the patients feelings of joy and tenderness, and also momentary empowerment and a sense of being important and needed, despite having to deal with the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Therapy dogs could be used in different parts of the world, under controlled conditions, to help people effectively deal with

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.