Who let the dogs out? Therapy dogs in clinical practice
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a growing field in Australia, and therapy dogs are becoming increasingly common in clinical settings. This paper aims to highlight the current issues facing AAT in Australia and to make recommendations on how to progress the field. We acknowledge that there are several ways that therapy dogs may enhance treatment outcomes for clients, such as reductions in stress and acute anxious arousal, and improvements in engagement and rapport. These psychological and physiological advantages, however, may not be sustained once interaction with the dog ceases. Clinicians require adequate training and support to develop and implement interventions that are based on sound theoretical foundations, and take advantage of the adjunctive benefits of animal presence. CONCLUSIONS: A series of recommendations are made for the professionalisation of AAT, including the development of consensus definitions, clinical governance, accreditation, research and evaluation.
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Without clear distinctions between animal-presence and therapeutic mental health treatments that incorporate animals, it is virtually impossible to establish an evidence-base for the different types of AAI's.
“Without these clear distinctions, it is virtually impossible to establish an evidence-base for the different types of AAI’s [6, 29].”
From Incorporating animal-assisted therapy in mental health treatments for adolescents: A systematic review of canine assisted psychotherapy (2019) · cites this paper as [6]
There is a general perception in the media and the community that visitation with a canine can improve the symptoms of mental illness without the inclusion of targeted therapy [6].
“There is a general perception in the media and the community that visitation with a canine can improve the symptoms of mental illness without the inclusion of targeted therapy [6].”
From Incorporating animal-assisted therapy in mental health treatments for adolescents: A systematic review of canine assisted psychotherapy (2019) · cites this paper as [6]
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- Authors
- Jones, M., Rice, S., & Cotton, S.
- Affiliations
- Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, and; Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, and; Lead the Way, Animal-Assisted Interventions Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, and; Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Venue
- Australasian Psychiatry
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2018-02-05
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 196-199
- ISSN
- 1039-8562 (ISSN-L)
- 1440-1665
- OpenAlex
- W2787335183
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 0.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Australasian Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Music Therapy and Health
- Keywords
- animal-assisted therapy, therapy dogs, clinical governance, accreditation, clinician training, stress reduction, anxiety, customer engagement, adjunctive intervention, Australia
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Mental Disorders, Dogs, Humans, Animal Assisted Therapy
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