Before getting approval for therapy use, both the animal and the handler will have to go through various certifications with these groups and organizations. The process of animal therapy itself typically involves the animal’s handler, who is often the owner, bringing the animal to each session. The handler will work under a doctor’s guidance to help the person achieve the goals of their therapy.

Mental Health Newsletter

Therapists may also partner with an animal-therapy program, such as Pet Partners, to provide individuals or groups with trained therapy animals. The prevalent use of dogs is explained by the easier training for therapy; however, also other species can be potentially beneficial. Interestingly, the papers retrieved highlighted how “pet therapy” programs can be effectively implemented in a wide range of settings including Emergency Departments [34], long-term care facilities [6] and hospital wards [35]. Although all the interventions retrieved took place in hospitals or in long-term care facilities, the specific location of the interventions differed. Indeed, some interventions took place in the hospital garden [19] or in activity rooms specifically equipped [11], while others occurred directly in the ward [33], [34], or at bedside [25], [27].

A Child’s First Experience with Animal-Assisted Therapy

Four studies evaluated the satisfaction after the intervention and the effects on psychosocial behaviors [8], [22], [24], [25], instead four considered also physiological phenomena [23], [26], [27], [28]. Two studies were conducted through a survey among parents and caregivers [22], [24], while in two these data were integrated with children self-reports [8], [25]. Many different physiological parameters like pain [23], [26] or cardiovascular response [27], [28] were evaluated. After removing the duplicates and irrelevant results, 64 articles for full text review were obtained. The Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a health intervention, meant to improve physical, social, emotional or cognitive functioning, with animals as integral part of the treatment [1]. The therapeutic use of animals was argued for decades and many associations employ this intervention in order to improve care.

Conditions Treated

Tracie is advanced certified through the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) and abides by their code of ethics and standards. Sessions might include stroking, touching, is it possible to get sober without aa watching, grooming, washing or feeding the animal. Your therapist acts as a facilitator to help you explore and understand the feelings coming out of your interaction with the animals.

Enhance wellbeing with these free, science-based exercises that draw on the latest insights from positive psychology. The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship is a well-established international certifying agency for equine therapy. The International Institute of Animal-Assisted Play Therapy also has a very strong equine therapy certification program. Philosopher John Locke first wrote about the therapeutic effects of spending time with animals in the 1600s, but it is still a burgeoning field (Fine, 2019a). Unfortunately, when it comes to animal-assisted therapy studies, two problems loom large. Your insurance may not cover animal-assisted therapy, but it’s worth looking into.

Coughlan et al. focused on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) colonization among residents animals (one dog and eleven cats) in a long-term care facility [44]. The authors considered a large long-term care facility with over 100 beds, characterized by the presence of resident animals. The researchers collected nasal swabs from the animals for overall eight weeks.

Barker et al., in a RCT on generic pediatric inpatients, showed the consistency of these results in different diseases [23]. A significant difference was found for anxiety, with the AAI-group experiencing lower anxiety score [23]. However, no significant differences within- or between-groups or pre-post intervention were assessed in nor pain or anxiety [23]. For the implementation of this protocol, all the hospital policies were followed, including those regarding safeguard for the dogs. Characteristics of the retrieved studies regarding animal interventions for inpatient children. Characteristics of the retrieved studies regarding animal interventions for psychiatric inpatients.

As more and more medical providers recognize the animal assisted therapy benefits listed above, more facilities are implementing programs. The American Heart Association has found that working with therapy animals improves the health of heart failure patients in the hospital. If you have ever spent time petting a cuddly dog or cat and felt an immediate emotional boost, then you have experienced one of the mental health benefits of animal therapy.

Three investigators (EC, GP and GV) independently conducted a first literature search, sorting sources by title and abstract. During the first screening, the irrelevant or duplicated papers were excluded. Finally, the researchers independently assessed the articles 6 strategies to safely detox for pregnancy considering the criteria enunciated above. Join 550,000+ helping professionals who get free, science-based tools sent directly to their inbox. The certification course involves an understanding of both human and animal body language and best practices in AAT.

For most people, the presence of an animal prompts the body to release serotonin, prolactin and oxytocin. These hormones generate a relaxation and stress-reducing alcoholism: can people with alcohol use disorder recover response, according to UCLA Health. This hormone release can lower symptoms of depression and sadness, helping support good mental health.

1. Vicodin or Morphine are opioid pain medication that also bind and activate opioid receptors.
2. Animal therapy has many favorable outcomes, including relaxation, talk therapy breakthroughs, relief of symptoms, and overall improved well-being.
3. However, these types of risks are minimized when working with trained service animals.

Of course, when thinking of animal welfare, we must remember how we speak about our therapy animals (Compitus, 2020). Animal-assisted therapists will never say that they “use” an animal in therapy because the therapy animal is always considered a co-facilitator that works alongside the human. These agencies generally provide training in AAT and understanding animal body language, as well as best practices in therapy animal welfare. They also often provide special liability insurance and may help you connect with programs that are looking to work with therapy animals.

Data was heterogeneous in terms of age of patient, health issue, animals used and the length of interactions, which made comparison problematic. The animal-intervention programs suggested various benefits such as reducing stress, pain and anxiety. Other outcomes considered were changes in vital signs, and nutritional intake. The major risks outlined were allergies, infections and animal-related accidents. Zoonosis was a possible risk, as well as common infections as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. The implementation of simple hygiene protocols was effective at minimizing risk.

Moreover, some papers lacked details of randomization [26], [33] or considered only parents or patients opinions [7], [8], [36]. Hospitals are particularly at risk settings, thus introducing animals has to be carefully considered. Various studies explored these risks outlining infections, allergies and animal accidents as major issues [16], [37], [38], [39], [40]. The potential risk of infections was outlined investigating the prevalence of infective agents in animals used for pet-visitation [17], [44].