Animal-Assisted Therapy

Animal Assisted Play Therapy® is a unique, theoretically integrative approach developed by coauthors Dr. Risë VanFleet and Tracie Faa-Thompson. It refers to the involvement of animals in professional mental health, allied health, and educational work. This volume presents a comprehensive approach to the inclusion of animals in psychotherapy in general, and play therapy in particular. The book goes beyond describing the inclusion of animals in sessions to describe the nature of the relationship between the animal, the therapist and the client. Extensive attention is paid to the competencies the therapist must have in order to engage in AAPT as well as guidance in selecting and training animals. One of the most unique aspects of the book is the degree to which it focuses on the welfare of the animal as essential to both ethical practice and to the success of any AAPT intervention. It is a useful resource for those new to the field as well as seasoned practitioners. This posting provides a description of this book, which has received high acclaim from practitioners and academics alike. It won a Maxwell Award for "best book in the human-animal bond category."

Confusion abounds in the world of animal-assisted interventions (AAI) due to lack of clarity surrounding their definitions. This problem in terminology leads to a blurring of boundaries between different interventions, disagreement concerning type of actions, goals and degree of training and certification needed for humans and accompanying animals involved in interventions associated with any given field, and negative implications for practice, research and policy decisions. This editorial article takes a critical look at current attempts at defining these interventions through definitions, descriptions of training, and credentials for acceptance into AAI-related organizations. A call is made for a typology which sets clear expectations for each AAI and clear limits between them, taking into account the richness of each animal-assisted field. Once the expectations, definitions and limits are clear and widely accepted, those involved in the interventions will have a clearer view of and respect for their own work and for that of others. Dialogue may then develop between various AAI fields about issues concerning all, such as ethics and possibilities for cooperation, leading to improvements in practice, research and policy decisions.

The increasing prevalence of dementia and lack of cure or effective pharmacological treatment highlights the importance of investigating alternative treatments as they could offer a non-invasive, person-centred alternative. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of music therapy, animal assisted therapy and aromatherapy in treating the
symptoms of dementia and investigating the possible explanations for why these treatments may be effective. Music therapy and animal assisted therapy were both found to be effective in treating the behavioural symptoms of dementia but there was a lack of consensus as to whether they were effective in addressing the cognitive symptoms. There seemed to be general disagreement as to whether aromatherapy was effective in treating any of the symptoms of dementia. Whether alternative treatments can provide an effective alternative to the use of multiple medications for dementia is still under debate. Future research should focus on tackling the cognitive symptoms of dementia rather than the behavioural symptoms as it may be more beneficial to slow the cognitive decline to allow people to cope independently for longer.

Purpose: Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) suffer from poor oral hygiene and periodontal disease that may predispose them to systemic diseases. In order to receive dental care, the assistance of a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) is often needed. The role of the CRNA is to provide sedation to reduce the high level of anxiety demonstrated by many individuals with intellectual disabilities in the dental suite. However, this can become a challenge with patients that are anxious when they arrive. The purpose of this paper is to describe an interprofessional dental team that added a certified therapy dog and handler to reduce anxiety of individuals with IDD when they arrive in the dental suite. Methods: A convenience sample of 30 individuals with intellectual disability seen for dental care in an outpatient setting met with a therapy dog prior to receiving preventative dental care. Comparisons were made between observed anxiety levels and behaviors measured by the ADAMS (anxiety scale) and a researcher-developed behavior tool prior to and after the interaction with the therapy dog. Results: This program suggested that the addition of the therapy dog to the interprofessional team prior to sedation decreased anxiety levels and improved the behavioral outcomes of the individual with intellectual disabilities. Conclusions: The incorporation of a certified therapy dog and handler as part of an interprofessional healthcare team in the dental suite may pay great dividends in improving the compliance and comfort of the individual with intellectual and developmental disabilities during dental care visits.

There has been a growing interest in the field that has come to be known as the Interpersonal Neurobiology of Trauma. People who have experienced chronic maltreatment in early childhood are likely to suffer from developmental trauma disorder (DTD), characterized by deleterious psychological, physical and neurobiological consequences. Although psychotherapy has been shown to have healing effects both psychologically and neurobiologically, the symptoms of DTD form barriers to some of the very principles of psychotherapy that are meant to treat those suffering from the disorder. These barriers include difficulty in the establishment of the therapeutic alliance, the collapse of potential space, a deficit in the ability to symbolize, a feeling of shame, tendency to present false self to others, loss of touch with real self, and lack of ability to self-regulate. It is the experience of experts in interpersonal trauma that therapy for those with DTD must take place in the context of relationships.

Animal-assisted psychotherapy (AAP) is a therapy approach that integrates animals into the process of psychotherapy, resulting in the existence of many relationships in the therapy setting. Based upon fields such as Attachment Theory, Polyvagal Theory, the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics and other research in the area of neurobiology, this chapter presents both theory and research that point to AAP as a psychotherapy approach that may lower the barriers to the psychotherapy process that were formed due to chronic interpersonal trauma and have positive impact on neurological processes that will further facilitate healing from the neurological effects of trauma. The authors would like to thank Stephen Porges, Louis Cozolino, Bruce Perry and Dan Siegel for their support and comments during the development of this chapter.

Transitioning from high school to university can prove to be a formidable challenge for many first-year students, with many experiencing homesickness.  Given that students who experience homesickness are more likely than their non-homesick cohorts to drop out of university (Burt, 1993), universities have a vested interest in supporting students during their first-year transition.  Programs that provide opportunities for human-animal interactions on campus are gaining popularity as one way of increasing students' well-being.  The current study examined the effects of an eight-week animal-assisted therapy (AAT) program on first-year university students’ well-being.  An initial feasibility study (N = 86) was conducted that provided opportunities for students to interact, in small groups, with trained therapy dogs and their volunteer handlers.  Results indicated that this program reduced participants' levels of homesickness and increased their satisfaction with life.  An experimental study was then conducted utilizing a similar eight-week group AAT program.  Participants (N = 42) were randomly assigned to either the AAT treatment condition or to a control condition.  At the end of the eight weeks, participants in the AAT program reported greater reductions in homesickness and greater increases in satisfaction with life than did those in the control condition.  From beginning to end of the program, participants in the treatment group evidenced reductions in homesickness, and increases in satisfaction with life and connectedness to campus over the course of the program; while participants in the control evidenced an increase in homesickness and no changes in satisfaction with life and connectedness to campus.  Results of both the feasibility study and the experimental study support the use of AAT programs to increase the well-being of first-year university students experiencing homesickness.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2016.1181364

Rastući broj zavisnika od opojnih droga i razorne posledice ovog zdravstvenog, socijalnog i kriminalnog fenomena nameće potrebu za iznalaženjem najefikasnijih načina za njihovo lečenje i socijalnu rein-tegraciju. U slučajevima kada je zavisniku izrečena kazna zatvora i/ili medicinska mera bezbednosti javljaju se dodatni izazovi i problemi. Do-sadašnja praksa terapije uz pomoć životinja (konja i pasa) kao dodatka lečenju bolesti, psihičkih poremećaja i poremećaja ponašanja ukazu-je da taj inovativni metod može biti delotvoran i u procesu lečenja pre-stupnika zavisnih od opojnih droga. Imajući to u vidu, autor analizira postojeće izazove lečenja zavisnika, sa fokusom na one koji spadaju u zatvorsku populaciju, modalitete državne reakcije na ovaj fenomen, kao i mogućnosti i perspektive uključivanja životinja u njihovu terapiju. Po-sebnu pažnju autor posvećuje italijanskom rešenju koje razmatra kao primer dobre prakse uključivanja životinja u tretman prestupnika zavi-snih od opojnih droga i mogući uzor za domaće zakonodavstvo i praksu.
Ključne reči: droga, zavisnost, tretman, terapija, zatvor, životinje