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Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)
According to American Psychological Association (APA, 2023) animal assisted therapy is defined as the therapeutic use of animals to enhance individuals’ physical, social, emotional, or cognitive functioning. Animal assisted therapy may be used, for example, to help people receive and give affection, especially in developing communication and social skills.
AAT is a goal directed intervention in which an animal meeting specific criteria is an integral part of a treatment process. The treatment process can be as simple as offering companionship and playfulness to adults and children, to offering the encouragement of ambulation to spinal cord injury patients. Animal-assisted therapy can delivered and/or directed by animal handlers, and/or health or human service providers working within the scope of their profession. AAT is provided in a variety of settings, and may be group or individual in nature. Across all setting, AAT is designed to promote improvement in human physical, social, emotional, or cognitive function.
The benefits of working with animals has been proven to be calming, therapeutic and can reduce stress.
Research has shown that interacting, playing with or petting animals can increase levels of the stress-reducing hormone oxytocin and decrease levels of the stress-inducing hormone cortisol.
Benefits of Animal Assisted Therapy
People who engage in animal assisted interactions can experience an opportunity to transform their anxieties, fears, anger and frustration into a positive, caring and productive activity. All therapeutic work with animals is dependent on some level of structure within a calm atmosphere. Animals for their part, participate non judgmentally, behave and respond in the moment. This therapeutic relationship provides a magnitude of benefits and new adaptive abilities for those who partake in the interactions. Animal assisted therapies have proven to offer, but not limited to, the following:
- Interaction: Allows for verbal and socially gatherings, participants enjoy themselves more, and are more aware of their surroundings when interacting with animals.
- Empathy: Bonding with animal encourages empathy towards other people and animals.
- Positive Mood: Interaction with an animal tends to improve mood and promote positive emotions.
- Stress Reduction : A link exists between being in an animal presence and anxiety reduction. The presence of an animal can reduce the amounts of cortisol, a stress-response hormone.
- Learning: The presence of an an animal has been proven to improve motivation and speed when completing tasks, and increases listening skills and concentration.
- Pressure and Heart Rate Reduction: Animal Assisted therapy has been proven to reduce blood pressure and heart rates when interacting with and petting an animal, implying that the activity is relaxing.
Terms related to the Industry of Animal Assisted Therapies
These definitions of animal assisted related therapies can we widely search on the internet with variable meanings. The following list includes definitions (Pet Partners, 2023) that can help people interested in participating or learning more about animal-based therapy.
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)
Animal-assisted therapy is a goal-oriented, structured therapeutic intervention directed by health and human service providers as part of their profession. A wide variety of disciplines may incorporate AAT. Possible practitioners could include physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, certified therapeutic recreation specialists, nurses, social workers, speech therapists, or mental health professionals.
Animal-Assisted Education (AAE)
Animal-assisted education is a goal-oriented, planned, and structured intervention directed by a general education or special education professional. The focus of the activities is on academic goals, prosocial skills, and cognitive functioning with student progress being both measured and documented.
Animal Assisted Activities (AAA)
Animal-assisted activities provide opportunities for motivational, educational, and/or recreational benefits to enhance quality of life. While more informal in nature, these activities are delivered by a specially trained professional, paraprofessional, and/or volunteer, in partnership with an animal that meets specific criteria for suitability.
Animal Assisted Crisis Response (AACR)
Animal-assisted crisis response is a form of animal-assisted activities which provides comfort to those who have been affected by natural, human-caused, or technological disasters. AACR is effective because the safety, familiarity, novelty, and interest in the animal have been found to be impactful when building rapport with a person affected by crisis.
Service Animal
Service animals are defined as dogs and in some cases miniature horses that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples include guide dogs for people who are blind, hearing dogs for people who are deaf, or dogs trained to provide mobility assistance or communicate medical alerts.
Assistance dogs are considered working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Guide, hearing, and service dogs are permitted, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), to accompany a person with a disability almost anywhere the general public is allowed. This includes restaurants, businesses, and on airplanes.
Therapy Animal
Therapy animals can provide physical, psychological, and emotional benefits to those they interact with, typically in facility settings such as healthcare, assisted living, and schools. While most frequently dogs, therapy animals can include other domesticated species such as cats, equines, and rabbits, to name a few. These pets are evaluated on their ability to safely interact with a wide range of populations, and their handlers are trained in best practices to ensure effective interactions that support animal welfare. Therapy animal handlers may volunteer their time to visit with their animals in the community, or they may be practitioners who utilize the power of the human-animal bond in professional settings.
A therapy animal has no special rights of access, except in those facilities where they are welcomed. They may not enter businesses with “no pets” policies or accompany their handler in the cabin of an airplane regardless of their therapy animal designation.
Emotional Support Animal
An emotional support animal, sometimes also referred to as a comfort animal, is a pet that provides therapeutic support to a person with a mental illness. To be designated as an emotional support animal, the pet must be prescribed by a licensed mental health professional for a person with a mental illness. The prescription must state that the individual has an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, and that the presence of the animal is necessary for the individual’s mental health.
Per the ADA, individuals with emotional support animals do not have the same rights to public access as individuals with a service dog. Emotional support animals may only accompany their owners in public areas with the express permission of each individual venue and/or facility management. Emotional support animals may live with their owners in locations covered by the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) regardless of a “no pets” policy. Although most frequently dogs, other species may be prescribed as emotional support animals.
Comfort Animal
An emotional support animal, sometimes also referred to as a comfort animal, is a pet that provides therapeutic support to a person with a mental illness. To be designated as an emotional support animal, the pet must be prescribed by a licensed mental health professional for a person with a mental illness. The prescription must state that the individual has an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, and that the presence of the animal is necessary for the individual’s mental health.
Facility Animal
A facility animal is an animal who is regularly present in a residential or clinical setting. These animals may be a variety of species from dogs and cats to birds or fish. They might live with a handler who is an employee of the facility and come to work each day, or they might live at the facility full-time under the care of a primary staff person. Facility animals should be specially trained for extended interactions with clients or residents of the facility, which may include AAA, AAE, or AAT. These animals do not have special rights of access in public unless they are accompanying and directly supporting a client with a disability.
Risks of Animal Assisted Therapy
Like most activities, risks can occur during AAT. Although risks are low, such occurrences are necessary for the well-being of our animals and the people who interact with them. Risks involve the uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that is valued (such as health, well-being) often focusing on negative, undesirable consequences.
It is essential all people who participant in animal assisted therapy understand these risks and other unforeseeable risks.
- Variables, such as, the relaxation/tension the animal senses from a human, the natural behavior of the animal, and other circumstances related to just how the animal is feeling on the given day all play a role in the effectiveness of the interaction.
- Some days animals are not feeling like their "usual self" and participants must respect their desire to be left alone. Bearing this mind, all participants who work with animals must exercise a relative amount of caution when being in their company.
- All animals with a mouth has the potential to bite, if they have nails or claws - they can scratch, causing a degree of harm.
- Transmission of zoologic pathogens from different levels of animal exposure (i.e. petting and licking) or exposure within the animal's environment.
- Spread of microorganisms can occur on surfaces, bedding, and housing environments.
- Allergies to certain animals, such as dander, and saliva.
- Potential risks can come from animals who eat raw meat-based diets or treats, which are at high risk of being contaminated with such as Campylobacter, Salmonella and Cryptosporidiumhis.
- Safety for the animal involved if handled inappropriately, such as falls or rough touching. Animals can become overly stressed or fatigued, if not offered proper hydration, nutrition, rest and handling equipment.
- Possibility of attachment problems, fear, and grief reactions to animal interactions and encounters.
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