What is animal therapy?
For many of us, animals are more than just pets; they can become like family and, in some cases, help us with our daily lives. Animals can have a relaxing effect; they release endorphins as a natural pain suppressor. Particularly for animal lovers, animal therapy can prove highly beneficial.
Animal therapy involves using animals to help people with physical or mental health problems. Dogs are generally the most common animal used in animal therapy because of their friendly nature, loyalty, intelligence, and ability to provide emotional support. However, animal therapy is not limited to just dogs. Other commonly used animals include cats, horses, birds, guinea pigs, rats and even fish.
In this article, we’ll discuss how animal therapy works, the types of animal therapy, and the benefits and outcomes of animal therapy.
How animal therapy works
In a nutshell, animal therapy is an interaction, guided by an animal handler, between people and animals. The animal handler ensures the animal behaves while also talking with and supporting the participant/s.
What animal therapy looks like can vary greatly depending on the person’s circumstances, the type of animal, and the type of therapy the animal can provide. Animal therapy is a complementary or alternative therapy, not meant to replace other treatments but to enhance them.
Animal therapy can sometimes be referred to as animal-assisted therapy (AAT) or animal-assisted activities (AAA). While these may both fall under this umbrella term, there are some differences between them, according to recent literature. AAT is a more ‘formal’ approach to animal therapy, in which the animal is specifically trained to assist a person or participants in reaching set goals. AAA is much more casual, where the animal may not be specifically trained, and participants spend time and play with them for comfort.
At Happy Paws Happy Hearts, our programs vary depending on the abilities and goals of our participants. In our ‘In-Shelter Basics’ program, participants explore aspects of the animal care industry but won’t handle the animals. On the other hand, our ‘In-Shelter Intensive’ program participants learn how to train rescue dogs, meaning they will generally always handle dogs in their sessions.
Types of animal therapy
Animal therapy can be facilitated in an individual or group setting. The type of animal therapy depends greatly on the individual, including their mental or physical challenge, their support needs, and their goals. Some people may attend animal therapy for the following reasons:
To learn and develop social or behavioural skills
To feel safe and comfortable during therapy
To receive unconditional, nonjudgmental affection, only animals can provide
Animal therapy can help people with mental or physical health problems, including but not limited to:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Anxiety
Depression
Schizophrenia
Substance use
Trauma
Benefits and outcomes of animal therapy
Animal therapy has proved to have many benefits, both physical and psychological. At Happy Paws Happy Hearts, our participants have experienced improvements in their many aspects of their lives, including but not limited to:
Social interactions and skills
Communication and language development
Everyday life skills
Responsibility and community
Fine and gross motor skills
Task modelling and completion
Psychological wellbeing - reduced risk of mental health issues and anxiety around other people
Higher levels of physical/emotional wellbeing
Greater confidence to learn new things
Better employment and return to life prospects
These life improvements are not only beneficial for our participants, but also affect their friends, families, support workers and more. When someone is thriving, those in their lives can thrive too.
Paw-fect Points
Animal therapy is an interaction, guided by an animal handler, between people and animals.
Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a formal approach to animal therapy with trained animals and set goals, while animal-assisted activities (AAA) is a more casual form of animal therapy.
What animal therapy looks like varies greatly depending on the individual. It can help people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and more.
Benefits of animal therapy include but are not limited to improved social interactions and skills, everyday life skills, higher levels of physical/emotional wellbeing, greater confidence, better employment and return to life pathways.