Animal Assisted Therapy

It has been highly known that the bond between animals and human-kind is one of kind. Different types of animals have been introduced into health care institutions, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes,correctional centers, and many other healthcare facility in order to help children, young adults, and elderly through their mental and developmental disorders. Animal therapy, also known as Animal-Assisted therapy and pet therapy, involves animals as the form of treatment for a patient’s disorder. improves a patient’s emotional, social, and cognitive function with the interaction with a variety of animals. Animal therapy should be the main use of therapy when dealing with patients with developmental disorders and mental disorders

Studies have proven that animal-assisted therapy is an effective way to help these children overcome their challenges and become more engage. In 2010, a study was done where the behaviors of children with autism towards the therapist was tested. Children were given three different situations to see the interaction between them and the therapist. The three different occasions were a therapist with a dog, a therapist with a nonsocial toy, and a therapist with a stuffed dog. It was founded that the presence of the dog during one-to-one activities between the therapist and the child “was not only associated with a higher engagement of the participant with the therapist but also with a lower level of negative behaviors, namely, aggressive and obsessive manifestation” (Silva, etc, 2010, pg. 658). This indicates that having dogs during therapeutic interactions will encourage the child to participate more frequently and be more engaged in the activities. Children will respond more effectively to the demands of therapy (Silva, etc, 2010). Animal-assisted therapy has not only shown to be effective on children with Autism, but also effective to their parents. Wright (2015)