Pet Therapy By Niki Ferst
Dec 25, 2015
Pet Therapy
By
Niki Ferst
History
• The importance of animals in people’s lives has been recognized for centuries
• The contribution of animals to enhance quality of human life has been documented, both formally and informally.
History Cont.
• York Retreat in England was the first recorded therapeutic setting where animals were utilized
• Boris Levinson and Jingles
Background
• Early pet therapy programs
• Program design
• Pet visitation
• Physical effects
• Hippotherapy
Background Cont.
• Measurable benefits
• What does Pet Therapy provide?
• Nurturance
• Caring for animals
Pet Therapy
• Pet Therapy popularity
• What do animals provide?
• Animals, counselors, and students
Why Pet Therapy?
• What does the presence of animals offer?
• Styles of therapy
• Pet Therapy sessions
Types of Animals
• There are many different types of therapy animals
• Most common are dogs, cats, & horses
Types of Animals Cont.
• Farm animals can be therapeutic as well as smaller or less common types of animals such as: Rabbits, Birds, Fish, Hamsters, & Llamas
• Each animal has specific skills & abilities to contribute to the therapeutic process.
What Should Educators Know?
• Social skills development & obedience training for the pet
• Therapy or activity skill training for the pet & handler
• Establishing & maintaining a positive relationship with educational & counseling staff
• Assessing the appropriateness of pet therapy with a particular student
What should Educators Know? Cont.
• Basic of zoonoses (transmittable diseases) & risk management
• Establishing & applying counseling or educational goals & interventions
• Assessing educational or therapeutic progress • For the therapy animal obedience training is a
must & should be well behaved & respond to the handler’s commands
Pet Therapy Counseling
• The presence of the animal can facilitate a trust-building bond between the therapist & student.
• When a student talks to the animal while the therapist listens is easier than talking to the therapist for more difficult issues.
• Animals often help students focus on an issue as they interact with the animal.
Pet therapy Counseling Cont.
• The animal may help student get in touch with feelings.
• Sharing these feelings with or about the animal can initiate the emotional sharing process with the therapist.
• For the student the animal is seen as a friend creating a safe atmosphere for sharing.
• The animal offers nurturance through a presentation of unconditional acceptance.
Common Mental Health Treatment Goals
• Improve socialization & communication
• reduce isolation, boredom, & loneliness
• brighten affect & mood, lessen depression, & provide pleasure & affection
• improve memory & recall
• address grieving & loss issues
• improve self-esteem, be presented with opportunities to succeed & feel important & improve feelings of self worth
Common Mental Health Treatment Goals Cont.
• Improve reality• improve cooperation & attention, & increase
engagement• decrease manipulative behaviors• improve expression of feelings• reduce general anxiety• reduce abusive behavior• improve an ability to trust & learn appropriate touch
Interventions that Assist Previous Goals
• Practice teaching the animal something new
• engage in play with the animal & other types of appropriate interactions
• learn about & practice care, grooming, & feeding of the animal
• learn other information about the animal
• reminisce about the animal or past animals
• remember & repeat information about the animal to others
Interventions that Assist Previous Goals Cont.
• Take the animal for supervised walks • receive & give appropriate affection &
acceptance with the animal• discuss how animals may feel in certain
situations• learn gentle ways to handle animals• follow a sequence of instructions with the
animal
Interventions that Assist Previous Goals Cont.
• Observe & discuss the animals response to human behavior
• interpret animal behavior as it happens
• generalize animal behavior to human circumstances
Animals in the Classroom
• Benefits to integrating Pet Therapy into the classroom:
• gaining knowledge about animals
• learning humane animal care
• motor & physical skill development through human-animal interactions
• animal training
• practicing discipline
Animals in the Classroom Cont.
• Incorporating an attitude of kindness & compassion
• learning about nurturance
• practicing loyalty & responsibility
• experiencing human-animal bonding
• learning responsible pet ownership
Other Benefits
• Pet therapy may be used to curb violence in the school
• Pets in the class can enhance humane attitudes towards animals & these more humane attitudes persisted in a one year follow up
Other Benefits Cont.
• A generalization from humane attitudes towards animals to human directed empathy
• Emotional connections made with animals can transfer to more empathic attitudes towards other persons.
Conclusion
• Pet therapy is a useful modality that can be easily incorporated into the school & counseling setting
• Animals in classroom & counseling sessions facilitate an atmosphere of trust, nurturance, & relationship building
• Animals actually help a person to focus on a task because of an interest in interacting with the pet.