Animal-Assisted Therapy and Counseling Support for Women With Breast Cancer: An Exploration of Patient’s Perceptions
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BACKGROUND: Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) interventions have been shown to assist in coping and improve patient responses to symptoms. Specifically, the presence of an animal has been found to lower anxiety and motivate participation in therapy. We aimed to explore the acceptability of and experience of AAT during individual breast cancer counseling sessions. METHODS: Patients undertaking counseling with a therapy dog present were invited to participate in the study. Patients were individually interviewed and asked to reflect on their experiences of AAT. Data generation and analysis were concurrent. Transcripts were analyzed thematically using a process of constant comparison. RESULTS: Our sample included 8 female participants, 39 to 61 years old, at an average of 3 years post-breast cancer diagnosis. The majority of patients reported a positive experience with AAT. Themes that emerged around their counseling experience included benefits in the process of initiating counseling and benefits for greater engagement and personal disclosure. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating AAT into the delivery of counseling for breast cancer patients appears to be feasible and acceptable at a patient level. From a clinical perspective, AAT promoted increased communication with health professionals. This is of clinical importance as a means to improve participation and engagement in therapy-important elements in therapeutic outcomes. However, further evaluation of the impact of AAT on specific patient outcomes and psychological morbidity is required.
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Significant improvements have been seen with therapeutic alliance, engagement, interpersonal socialisation or trust, acute anxious arousal (distress), and functioning.
“Significant improvements have been seen with therapeutic alliance [37] engagement [39], interpersonal socialisation or trust [38], acute anxious arousal (distress) [34, 39], and functioning [31].”
From Incorporating animal-assisted therapy in mental health treatments for adolescents: A systematic review of canine assisted psychotherapy (2019) · cites this paper as [39]
Women with breast cancer attending counselling reported positive anticipation towards sessions, and therapeutic benefits such as reduced distress, and the promotion of feelings of peace and calm.
“Women with breast cancer attending counselling reported positive anticipation towards sessions, and therapeutic benefits such as reduced distress, and the promotion of feelings of peace and calm [39].”
From Incorporating animal-assisted therapy in mental health treatments for adolescents: A systematic review of canine assisted psychotherapy (2019) · cites this paper as [39]
Positive, pro-social engagements such as talking and showing affection were reported by a number of the authors [56, 71, 72, 75, 76] and are consistent with the existing literature [38, 39].
“Positive, pro-social engagements such as talking and showing affection were reported by a number of the authors [56, 71, 72, 75, 76] and are consistent with the existing literature [38, 39].”
From Incorporating animal-assisted therapy in mental health treatments for adolescents: A systematic review of canine assisted psychotherapy (2019) · cites this paper as [39]
The canine's ability to increase calm, self-soothing and feelings of attachment may explain the findings on engagement and socialisation [38, 39, 56, 75, 76, 87].
“These findings may be a product of the canine’s ability to increase calm, self-soothing and feelings of attachment [38, 39, 56, 75, 76, 87]”
From Incorporating animal-assisted therapy in mental health treatments for adolescents: A systematic review of canine assisted psychotherapy (2019) · cites this paper as [39]
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- Authors
- White, J. H., Quinn, M., Garland, S., Dirkse, D., Wiebe, P., Hermann, M., & Carlson, L. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Calgary (CA)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of Regina (CA)
- Venue
- Integrative Cancer Therapies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-04-20
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 460-467
- ISSN
- 1534-7354 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-695X
- OpenAlex
- W2055361357
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 1.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Integrative Cancer Therapies (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Calgary
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Conservation › Art Therapy and Mental Health
- Keywords
- animal-assisted therapy, therapy dogs, breast cancer, cancer counseling, patient experience, acceptability, patient engagement, disclosure, anxiety, coping, patient-professional communication
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Animals, Breast Neoplasms, Combined Modality Therapy, Counseling, Dogs, Feasibility Studies, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Animal Assisted Therapy
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