Allergies

All clients will be screened for allergies, especially those with the desire to work firsthand with animals before they are incorporated into sessions. All allergies shall be reported prior to beginning treatment to ensure the proper precautionary measures can be taken. This includes, but is not limited to, food allergies, as the treats provided can pose a risk for those with certain allergies or sensitivities.

Benefits

AAT offers numerous benefits beyond those available through traditional therapies. Animals help produce neuro chemicals in the brain called dopamine. Dopamine is associated with love, bonding, and pleasure. By being in the presence of an animal, one's capacity to love increases as sadness decreases. Animals offer a sense of safety. They reserve judgment and love unconditionally. As for anxiety, hugging and/or holding an animal can reduce feelings of nervousness. The love and nurture animals provide can dramatically improve one's overall self-esteem, self-worth, self-perception, and mental health. When emotions and feelings become intense during sessions, animals can offer laughter, and provide support to enhance a person’s capacity for vulnerability while increasing distress tolerance skills and building resiliency. These psychosocial benefits help foster our emotional and mental health needs through connection, play and genuine bonding. 

Body Communication

Animals use their bodies to communicate and may brush against or lean into or against clients. Other body communication such as nose nudging, body wiggling or flopping may also occur. Such behaviors can create a risk for loss of balance, falling or light bruising.

Bonding

The possibility of clients and the animals not bonding may occur, sometimes due to a lack of frame of reference or level of curiosity. Should this occur, those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors will be processed out in session. 

Care

AAHIP will be responsible for taking care of the animal’s basic needs (e.g., food, water, shelter), while ensuring that the animals all have a clean bill of health. 

Direct Contact with Animal Droppings

Direct contact with an animal’s urine, stool, and/or blood should be avoided. AAHIP will make every effort to educate and model for the clients the appropriate ways to physically engage with animals within the therapeutic environment.

Distress

If at any time the animals show signs of distress, irritation, fear or presents in a negative manner, then the respective animal will be given a break. Animals, like humans, have their own moods which determine their level of desire to interact with others. It is therefore understood that the animals integrated into services will be allowed to determine when they will participate in therapy or interact with others. While there may be plans to integrate animals in a scheduled therapy session, the animals will never be mandated to engage or interact should either of them indicate signs of distress, irritation, fear, or resistance.

Engagement

Clients have a right to self-determination. Therefore, clients can consent to engage with the animals, and likewise, clients have a right to withdraw their consent at any point in time as well. The choice to not engage in animal assisted interventions will have no impact on their access to care from Ms. Arlene. 

• Clients who do not want to engage with animals or do not want to be in the same shared space with them will have the right to do so. In these instances, AAHIP will ensure an alternative location and/or office space is secured to ensure there is no interruption of therapeutic services. 

• Clients who do want to engage will be responsible for reading, reviewing, and signing AAHIP’s Consent to Treatment Form and the Release of Liability Form. These individuals will also be provided with a Patient Handbook with additional information relevant to working with animals within AAHIP. 

Fear or Phobias

Any fears or phobias shall be reported before treatment commences to ensure the proper precautionary measures can be taken to further enhance goodness of fit among the clients and the animals. 

Grooming

Animals will be well groomed before every session, and although every effort will be made to trim and file nails, injuries, such as being bitten or scratched can happen if animals are not managed with care. 

Implementation

Therapeutic (play) therapy, education and/or interventions with the animals during one-on-one sessions and/or group activities will help address some of the hallmark symptoms of social and emotional well-being that have significant impact on daily functioning. Rabbits are prey animals whereas dogs are predators, but both of them can be naturally skittish (hyper vigilant), which presents an opportunity to recognize and understand the fear response. Both species are naturally sensitive to verbal and nonverbal cues, and thus provide valuable feedback on communication. Both species are social animals who live, bond, and thrive together. They are also forgiving, patient, and nonjudgmental, which allows an opportunity to gain experience with adaptive skills. Thus, when partnering with rabbits and/or dogs, individuals can develop a greater awareness of their own internal emotional cues, become more attuned to others, communicate more effectively, and develop more self-confidence.

Interventions

In partnering with animals, clients will engage in direct interventions such as learning to clicker train while teaching tricks to support the animal in navigating puzzles. Such interventions will mobilize clients to learn how to remain patient while problem-solving. At times, interventions can become frustrating, and clients will be supported in navigating their frustrations via distress tolerance techniques. Additionally, clients will engage in indirect interventions where the animal can be incorporated for comparisons or as a stand in for the client.

Objectives

In partnership with Ms. Arlene, animals will enhance the quality of life through providing an opportunity to enhance social and communication skills. Animals will enhance emotional awareness, increase confidence, self-esteem, and self-acceptance, increase trust in self and others, and offer support in establishing, building, and maintaining positive social relationships. Together we will work to build and support adaptive coping mechanisms by increasing one’s understanding of healthy boundaries and assertiveness by navigating distress tolerance, decreasing stress, anger, frustration, hopelessness, and depression. Thus, incorporating animal assisted interventions will be supportive in reducing an assortment of symptoms and mental health conditions. The presence of animals is a form of self-care and helps to facilitate socialization. At the same time, the presence of a rabbit or dog serves as a metaphor to demonstrate how to communicate one’s needs (e.g., via body language/other signals), including how to interpret and be mindful of needs such as when others need space. 

Predisposition

The animals incorporated into services are trained, vetted, and chosen for their predisposition. The animals integrated into services do not display any concerns regarding aggression towards humans or other species. Animals incorporated are currently under supervision via Dr. Risë VanFleet, PhD, RPT-S, CDBC, CAEBI’s Animal Assisted Play Therapy® certification program. Additionally, INSERT ADDRESS HERE has been vetted as a safe and professional space to render such services. 

Risks

AAT does come with risks; however, such risks are minimized through incorporating animals vetted for their predisposition for therapy.

Safety

The animals will have a safe, designated space amidst the therapeutic practice where they will be free to rest, relax and take a break without interruption and thus, they should not be approached without the clinical team member(s) being present. 

Sanitation

All clients shall either wash their hands, use hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes before and after interacting with animals. LLC will provide sanitation equipment. 

Services

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), Animal Assisted Play Therapy® (AAPT), Animal Assisted Education (AAE), or Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) are stand-alone or adjunct services that offer a supportive recovery environment partnered with animals to enhance the quality of life for people with behavioral health conditions. Partnering with animals provides an opportunity to receive treatment in a less traditional and more palatable format, with the potential of yielding less treatment attrition. AAT is an evidenced-informed intervention that involves goal directed treatment sessions wherein, such goals can be physical, mental, emotional and/or social. The incorporation of these services provides an environment that is encompassed in unconditional and non-judgmental acceptance. Moreover, such services foster opportunities for relief and fun, while encouraging social interaction, trust, self-expression, behavioral control, and improve overall well-being. 

Sickness, Illness or Injury

If the client is sick, ill, or injured, then the animals will not be able to provide services until the sickness, illness or injury subsides. Additionally, veterinary approval may be required if the sickness, illness, or injury could negatively impact or compromise the animal’s health. 

Supervision

A clinical team member will always be present and supervising when any animals are permitted and included in therapy or the therapy room. Clients shall not be left alone with the animals. Clients shall not seek access to restricted areas that are off limits to them but deemed safe for the animals.  

Vaccinations

Although the animals will remain current on respective vaccinations and health screenings, there is always the potential or slight risk of zoonotic disease transmission (i.e., the sharing of diseases between animals and humans) when working in close contact.