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The remainder of this article is organized around three main points: (1) the purposes of counseling for young children and how early childhood educators can help, (2) the rationale for including various animal species in planned mental health interventions, and (3) considerations and caveats about integrating animals into counseling interventions with the very young.
Aug 30, 2021 · Animal-assisted psychotherapy (AAP) is a growing mental health specialty. AAP involves the structured, intentional inclusion of an animal in the psychotherapy process. AAP leverages the human ...
Oct 14, 2016 · Animals are often integrated into the play therapy setting (VanFleet & Faa-Thompson, 2014), based on the view that children tend to identify with animals (Bellak, 1975) and that the animals’ presence expands the potential space (Parish-Plass, 2013b) needed for self-expression of the child’s inner world that is so critical for play therapy, thus facilitating healing processes.
- Keren Bachi, Nancy Parish-Plass
- 2017
- Therapy Dog Benefits
- How The Program Works
- Expanding Reach
- The Importance of Philanthropic Support
Because there wasn’t a great deal of research on animal-assisted therapy, and even less that was specific to children, Phoenix Children’s conducted its own research on the topic. Researchers foundthat patients had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol after visiting with a therapy dog. And that translated into improved blood cir...
Phoenix Children’s Animal-Assisted Therapy Program currently has 36 volunteer therapy animals—34 dogs and two cats. All are registered with Pet Partnersor similar professional organizations. When hospital staff recognize an opportunity for a patient to benefit from animal-assisted therapy, they enter a request just as they would request an X-ray or...
In 2021, the program added two full-time facility dogs to its roster. Each facility dog works 40 hours a week alongside a specially trained staff member. One team is dedicated exclusively to Child Life, the other to Rehabilitation Services. Being available every day provides patients with much-needed consistency. “Our full-time facility dog teams a...
Phoenix Children’s Animal-Assisted Therapy Program is funded entirely by donations. In addition to the cost of the two full-time, specially trained facility dogs, the program is financially responsible for their care and feeding, pet insurance, vet visits and shots, grooming and other expenses related to materials and training. “Without our donors,...
Mar 8, 2023 · Specifically within the psychotherapy environment, companion animals can help to build rapport and connection between the therapist and patient, enhance patient’s social skills and self-confidence, and encourage sharing of feelings. Some of the specific techniques that may be used to incorporate animals in psychotherapy include 2.
Apr 28, 2021 · Studies into animals and mental health have mostly focused on general wellbeing (e.g., Barcelos et al., Citation 2020), therapy animals rather than companion animals, and have focused on clinical populations and specific disorders (e.g., Rothschild et al., Citation 2019) rather than examining mental health in the wider general population.
Feb 5, 2018 · Background There is increasing recognition of the therapeutic function pets can play in relation to mental health. However, there has been no systematic review of the evidence related to the comprehensive role of companion animals and how pets might contribute to the work associated with managing a long-term mental health condition. The aim of this study was to explore the extent, nature and ...
