Just last week my roommate and I stumbled across a peculiar poster hanging in the bottom floor of the ARC. It an advertisement letting students know that there was going to be an dog petting session in Willoughby. This gathering was supposed to be a stress relief for students that are stressing now that the end of the year is quickly approaching. It advertised laughter and relaxation. I thought this was incredibly silly, but apparently it's not all that unusual; "[this kind of] therapy has a long, but undocumented history, and it has only been in the last half of the twentieth century that research and professional response has been conducted on the use of animals in therapy". Talking about the different kinds of therapy last week led me to look up more information on this strange way to let off steam. I found a pretty extensive explanation of what is called "animal-assisted therapy (AAT)" in an article published in 2001. It claims that the first use of AAT was by child psychologist Boris Levinson in 1962. It was kind of a moment of serendipity actually, when Levinson had to bring his dog to the office with him. He noticed that disturbed children and those that are a little more reserved than usual, reacted positively when the dog was around. It gave them a sense of comfort, lowered anxiety and motivated participation. School counselors seem to get the best use out of AAT, for the article says that when animals are used with therapy, the students "often use the dog as an excuse to go see the counselor. These animals enable the counselor to interact with many more students than would normally be the case".
AAT is not a style of therapy like Cognitive-Behavioral or Rational-Emotive therapy, however a therapist can incorporate the animal into whatever professional style of therapy the therapist already enacts. And it doesn't have to be a dog necessarily. Cats, horses and other docile and typically farm animals are the most common used.
AAT doesn't seem all that weird to me anymore. It always made sense, but i never would have thought of actively spending time with an obedient and entertaining animal could relieve any of my stress. Maybe I'll have to try it. You should too.
2 comments:
Pet therapy is very common and very successful. Pets, most commonly dogs, always have a way of cheering people up or making them feel better, probably because all they want is attention from you. They are also always loyal. My family friend has two dogs that were trained to pet therapy dogs. She brings them to nursing homes and the people love it. A friend of mine volunteers at an animal shelter as a way to relieve her stress.
I first heard of therapy dogs when i saw them in the dorm, and thought it was fun, and thought health and counseling just thought it would be a cute way to pick up peoples spirits. I asked around a little more and found out about AAT. People see tremendous results after using animals in therapy. Not only dogs, though those are heard about most commonly. Horses are used in some cases, the ones I've hard about being autistic children cases, the children seem to bond better with the animals and really enjoy taking care of the horses. It is called equine-assisted psychotherapy. Fish are also helpful, it has been said that even watching fish for a few minutes a day can reduce stress and lower blood pressure. I can vouch for the reduced stress part, I have a fish tank and love watching them.
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