Pet Therapy

1
Pet Therapy

• By
• Niki Ferst

2
History

• The importance of animals in peoples lives has
  been recognized for centuries
• The contribution of animals to enhance quality of
  human life has been documented, both formally and
  informally.

3
History Cont.

• York Retreat in England was the first recorded
  therapeutic setting where animals were utilized
• Boris Levinson and Jingles

4
Background

• Early pet therapy programs
• Program design
• Pet visitation
• Physical effects
• Hippotherapy

5
Background Cont.

• Measurable benefits
• What does Pet Therapy provide?
• Nurturance
• Caring for animals

6
Pet Therapy

• Pet Therapy popularity
• What do animals provide?
• Animals, counselors, and students

7
Why Pet Therapy?

• What does the presence of animals offer?
• Styles of therapy
• Pet Therapy sessions

8
Types of Animals

• There are many different types of therapy animals
• Most common are dogs, cats, horses

9
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.

10
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

11
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
  handlers commands

12
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.

13
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.

14
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

15
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

16
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

17
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

18
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

19
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

20
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

21
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

22
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.

23
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.