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History of animal use in therapy and trauma response:
–Animal visitation programs existed in hospitals as early as 1919 (Palley, O’Rourke & Niemi, 2010).
–In the 1940s animals were used to help veterans after World War II
–In 1962, Boris Levinson, a child psychologist noticed that his dog had a significant impact on withdrawn and unresponsive children (Hamama et al.,2011)
Military Companions AAT & children Teens & Horse Therapy
Petting an animal makes people feel better because of the release of endorphins, diminishing feelings of pain, depression, and loneliness
Animal Assisted Crisis Response (AACR)
Helps to normalize the traumatic experience by providing a calming agent, establish rapport and helping develop a therapeutic alliance (Anderson & Scott, n.d.)
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)
A goal-directed intervention in which an that animal meets specific criteria is used as an integral part of a treatment process.
Animals can be used to reduce isolation, brighten mood and affect, address grieving and loss, improve self esteem and socialization, decrease overall anxiety, learn appropriate touch and lessen depression (Hamama et al., 2011)
Animal Assisted Activities (AAA)
provides opportunities for motivational, educational, recreational, and/or therapeutic benefits to enhance quality of life.
–AAA is delivered by a variety of specially trained professionals, paraprofessionals, and/or volunteers in association with animals that meet specific criteria. (Anderson & Scott, n.d.)
Animal-Assisted Prolonged Exposure (AAPE)
incorporates existing PTSD treatment with animal-assisted therapy to encourage survivors to complete the treatment by making the task less daunting (Lefkowitz, Paharia, Prout, Debiak & Bleiberg, 2005).
Develop an understanding of various modalities that utilize trained therapy dogs with traumatized children and adults
•Investigate impact of Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) on trauma response including development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
•Observe research, goals and implications
•Explore innovative techniques available with AAT
Amazingly petting a dog or cat for as little as a minute releases oxytocin (odendaal and Meintjes, 2003). Oxytocin is the hormone that produces trust, cooperation and love between a parent and child.
Center on Violence Against Women and Children Rutgers School of Social Work RW
Rhondda Waddell, PhD, LCSW
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Center on Violence Against Women and Children Rutgers School of Social Work
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Freud: “ From a psychoanalytic perspective, children and animals share a natural kinship, since biological urges rather than human reason hold sway over both of them.”
Play therapy (animal toys and puppets)
Bibliotherapy (topics of death, trauma, bullying, divorce)
Co-therapists use of AAT
Scholars have considered theory and research on the possible role of animals in children’s lives:
A) nurturance and caring for others
B) Coping with stress
C) Emotion regulation, self-control and positive adjustment
D) Reduction of maladaptive outcomes such as a conduct disorder
E) Social Support
F) Physical activity
Impacts include: lowered anxiety and increased trust-building provided by the unconditional,
accepting, and supportive nurturing environment provided by a trained animal (Hamama et al., 2011).
•Pet ownership allows for trauma survivors to establish a loving relationship, regain control and provide
sense of safety (Lefkowitz et al., 2005).
AAT must take into consideration:
•Cultural competency
–Cultural status of animals
–Personal Preferences
Match the animal to the child’s needs
Integrate the animal experience with the therapeutic goals for the child
Understand the complex dynamic of the therapist, child and animal
Explore the role of family animals and other family members
Be sensitive to potential for child aggression or harm toward animals
Consider animal experiences broadly; include animal representations (puppetry, books, stories, toys, stuffed animals, art) as appropriate
Make animal welfare and child welfare paramount at all times
Take cultural attitudes and family history with animals (ex.: dog bites)
Consider which children if any are contra-indicated for AAT and which might particularly benefit
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Center on Violence Against Women and Children Rutgers School of Social Work RW
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Tough Return Home
People often confuse “Therapy Dogs” with “Service Dogs”
But these are two distinct terms
A therapy dog is specially trained to offer comfort, companionship, and affection to those in need or crisis
The therapy dog is only half of the therapy team: The other half is made up of the handler--who is also a specially trained component of the team.
It's no secret that many of our dedicated soldiers are coming home with the wounds of war.
And some of these wounds don't bear visible scars: depression, combat flashbacks,
and PTSD. Often, coming home from battle can mean returning to another, more perilous war at home —
a war inside the mind and one that cannot be won without help from outside sources
With over 6,000 veterans committing suicide each year — the number one cause of death for our veterans today —
we must consider all possible alternatives, including therapy dogs.
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Dietz, Davis, Pennings (2012)
–Children in group therapy with therapy dogs showed significant decrease in trauma symptoms as well as significantly more change than those in groups without therapy dogs.
•Hamama et al. (2011)
–Studied the effects of canine therapy on female adolescents who experienced physical or sexual trauma but were not cooperative with current individual interventions. –Results were a significant decrease in PTSD symptoms and a reduction in risk for developing PTSD. In this qualitative response, the study found that a sense of control and mastery were gained due to the canine assistance in the group.
Theoretical Frameworks:
–Objects Relations Theory – The development of relations in childhood affect adult relationships
–Biophilia Hypothesis, which concludes that humans have a heightened awareness of, and interest in animals and plants because of the evolutionary relationship (Lefkowitz et al., 2005)
–Attachment Theory and Social Role Theory (Anderson & Scott, n.d.) Refers to dynamics of long-term relationships and early bonds.
Center on Violence Against Women and Children Rutger School of Social Work
The ADA defines a service dog as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal
specifically trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability.
Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with the disability cannot perform for him or herself.
Some examples include:
Alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds
Pulling wheelchairs or picking up items for persons with mobility impairments
Assisting those with vision impairments
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AAT Recommended Not Drugs
For many veterans, it can be hard to return to normal life, performing daily activities, connecting with others, or managing stress of what they've been through.
Trained service animals offer a way to manage the symptoms of PTSD without resorting to the antipsychotics often prescribed to these veterans. Millions of animals, meanwhile, sit in shelters and foster homes, waiting for a place to call a home of their own.
Congress has acknowledged this discrepancy with the Dog Training Therapy Act, legislation that directs the Department of Veteran Affairs to carry out a pilot program to train service dogs for veterans in need of therapeutic care for post-deployment mental health. Such a pilot would lay the groundwork for a large-scale program that could benefit the hundreds of thousands of veterans suffering from PTSD.
Rather than prescribing more pills, this legislation provides veterans with alternative care that can be integral to their recovery
Current therapeutic interventions: Long term group or individual therapy for survivors of trauma that incorporate AAT in conjunction with exposure therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, or empowerment therapy have appositive outcome.
•Another potential: Animal-assisted intervention that occurs when sexual assault victims seek health related services (in conjunction with current empowerment driven crisis advocacy) has help reduce anxiety.
– Also there’s a potential to reduce PTSD symptoms by reducing re-traumatization and discomfort as well as vicarious trauma during treatment.
•Sexual Assault Response Team would incorporate the option to have a therapy dog present during process in order to reduce stress during the crisis.
–Research in animal companionship has shown reduction in physiological stress responses such as elevated heart rate and blood pressure (Friedmann, Katcher, Thomas, Lynch & Messent, 1983) in physical and emotional response to AAT.
–One study found patients’ fear of medical treatment reduced 37% after brief session of AAT (Banks & Banks, 2002).
Anderson, D., Scott, K. (n.d.). Introduction to animal assisted crisis response. National Animal Assisted Crisis Response. Retrieved from: www.animalassistedcrisisresponse.org.
•Banks, M., Banks, W. 2002. The effects of animal-assisted therapy on loneliness in an elderly population in long-term care facilities. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 57A:428-432
•Dietz. T.J., Davis, D., Pennings, J. (2012). Evaluating animal-assisted therapy in group treatment for child sexual abuse. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Vol. 21, Iss.6. Doi: 10.1080/10538712.2012.726700
•Friedmann, E., Katcher, A. H., Thomas, S. A., Lynch, J. J., & Messent, P. R. (1983). Animal-assisted prolonged exposure social interaction and blood pressure: Influence of animal companions. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171 (8), 461-465.
•Hamama, L., Hamama-Raz., Dagan, K., Greenfeld, H., Rubinstein, C., Ben-Ezra, M. (2011). A preliminary study of group intervention along with basic canine training among traumatized teenagers: A 3-month longitudinal study. Children and Youth Services Review 33. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.05.021
•Lefkowitz, C., Pharia, I. Prout, M., Debiak, D., Bleiberg, J. (2005). Animal-assisted prolonged exposure: A treatment for survivors of sexual assault suffering posttraumatic stress disorder. Society & Animals 13:4.
•Palley, L., O’Rourke, P., Niemi, S. (2010). Mainstreaming animal-assisted therapy. Oxford Journal Vol. 51, Iss. 3. Retrieved from: http://ilarjournal.oxfordjournals.org/content/51/3/199.full.pdf
•Unites States Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. (2013). A National protocol for sexual assault medical forensic examinations: Adults/adolescents. Retrieved from: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ovw/241903.pdf
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Center on Violence Against Women and Children Rutgers School of Social Work RW