ABSTRACT
All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers, is contained in the dog.
Franz Kafka
A counselor who does not comprehend the multiple ways animal assisted therapy (AAT) can increase and enhance therapeutic opportunities will not be able to take advantage of this potential. And a failure to understand the value of AAT can actually jeopardize acceptance of AAT practice. For instance, at the beginning of one of my AAT training courses a graduate student, having had some experience at counseling that did not involve AAT, expressed her concern that the presence of a therapy animal in the therapy room would be a negative distraction for a client that would interfere with therapeutic progress, a concern she was repeating from a former professor who had no knowledge or experience in AAT. I began my lecture on applications of AAT in mental health and explained how AAT actually had the opposite effect of the student’s expressed concern. Instead of interfering with a client’s progress, human-animal interactions enhance a client’s therapeutic experience in such ways that significant progress occurs. For instance, AAT has been shown to be effective at motivating clients to attend sessions and promoting a safe and nurturing environment. Holcomb and Meacham (1989) reported that the nondirective presence of a therapy dog increased motivation of psychiatric patients to attend rehabilitation sessions. Lange, Cox, Bernert, and Jenkins (2007) reported that the nondirective presence of a therapy dog in a counseling group of adolescents was reported to increase motivation to attend sessions, had a calming effect on clients, and increased clients’ sense of safety. According to Reichert (1994, 1998), the nondirective presence of a therapy dog in a sexual abuse recovery group of female children was reported to increase a sense of safety and calm in participants. The clients would often pet and hold the dog while talking about their distress and often found it easier to talk directly to the dog, with the counselor listening. VanFleet (2008) described how canines added to the emotional safety of a therapeutic environment in a play therapy setting because of the dogs’ seemingly accepting and nonjudgmental nature with people. Fick (1993) reported that opportunity to interact socially with a therapy dog increased positive social behaviors in a group of nursing home patients. Richeson (2003) demonstrated how the nondirective presence of a therapy dog decreased agitation and increased positive social behaviors in older patients with dementia. And Heindl (1996) described how having a therapy dog available for play and petting was effective in decreasing behavior problems and increasing positive social behaviors in children at a community-based children’s day treatment program. Friedmann, Katcher, Thomas, Lynch, and Messent (1983) found that people tend to exhibit lower blood pressure and verbally express feelings of relaxation in the presence of a dog. Thus, including a therapy animal in a counseling session is far from a hindrance to client progress, as some may unknowingly fear; rather, AAT serves to assist clients’ progress by enhancing their therapeutic experience.
