Animal Assisted Play Therapy
This is Magnolia, she is retired from her work as a therapy dog. The practice did hire Daisy as a new therapy dog, however, her anxiety gets the best of her, making her not super suited for this work. She sure is adorable though!
I (Amanda) have training in Animal Assisted Play Therapy (AAPT), which I have found is actually much more in depth than solely saying I do "animal assisted therapy". Animal Assisted Play Therapy is inclusive of animal assisted therapy in that the training is more extensive, as far as understanding animal behavior, honoring the animal's needs, and providing support for your needs while also supporting the animal involved in the work.
Some of the benefits of working with a pet in therapy are:
Building rapport in the therapeutic relationship
Facilitating insight
Enhancing social skills
Enhancing relationship skills
Enhancing self-confidence
Modeling specific behaviors
Encouraging sharing of feelings
Providing behavioral reward
Enhancing trust within therapeutic environment
Facilitating feelings of safety in the therapeutic environment
Reference: O'Callaghan's (2008) 10 intentions and 7 techniques used in mental health treatment involving animals.
Some of the goal areas of AAPT include:
Self-Efficacy
Attachment & relationship
Empathy
Self-Regulation
Specific Problem Resolution
If you are a clinician who is interested in implementing animal assisted play therapy, contact me and we can discuss collaborating.
I (Amanda) have training in Animal Assisted Play Therapy (AAPT), which I have found is actually much more in depth than solely saying I do "animal assisted therapy". Animal Assisted Play Therapy is inclusive of animal assisted therapy in that the training is more extensive, as far as understanding animal behavior, honoring the animal's needs, and providing support for your needs while also supporting the animal involved in the work.
Some of the benefits of working with a pet in therapy are:
Building rapport in the therapeutic relationship
Facilitating insight
Enhancing social skills
Enhancing relationship skills
Enhancing self-confidence
Modeling specific behaviors
Encouraging sharing of feelings
Providing behavioral reward
Enhancing trust within therapeutic environment
Facilitating feelings of safety in the therapeutic environment
Reference: O'Callaghan's (2008) 10 intentions and 7 techniques used in mental health treatment involving animals.
Some of the goal areas of AAPT include:
Self-Efficacy
Attachment & relationship
Empathy
Self-Regulation
Specific Problem Resolution
If you are a clinician who is interested in implementing animal assisted play therapy, contact me and we can discuss collaborating.