Animal Assisted Therapy

Animal assisted therapy involves animals to become a fundamental part of a person's treatment. AAT is designed to improve all areas of functioning in a group or individual setting. Any type of animal can be used ranging from a lizard to an elephant. The most common animal used for therapy is the dog. In class we met with two therapy dogs. One named Cooper and the other named Gus. They both seemed like nice loving dogs who can share compassion when dealing with individual clients. The class went well because we had something to play with however the tremendous amounts of dog hair we could have lived without. To be a certified dog the dog must sit politely, accept a friendly stranger, walk on a loose leash, walk through a crowd that includes wheelchairs, sit on command and stay in place, react well with other dogs and react well to environmental distractions. Animal therapy can be beneficial to all aspects of a persons life. They can provide a calming presence, pain relief, increase self esteem, reduce loneliness, improves interaction, provides entertainment and improves physical contact. AAT is a great way to provide therapy to clients, it provides a wide range of animals so any client with any interest in animals can enjoy it.