Therapy Dogs

The potential for animals to be used in therapy can be traced back to the late 1800's when Florence Nightingale (who is considered the founder of modern nursing) observed that small pets helped reduce anxiety in children and adults living in psychiatric institutions. She wrote in her book Notes on Nursing that being with small animals helped patients recover (Ernst, 2014). In the 1930's, Sigmund Freud discovered that having his dog at psychotherapy sessions gave him insight into the patient's level of tension and that some preferred to use the dog as a conduct for communication (Ernst, 2014). 

 

As a result, animal assisted therapy (AAT) grew into a treatment option also known as companion animal visits or pet visitation therapy. It is a scheduled encounter with a certified therapy team consisting of an animal and its handler for the purpose of supporting or improving a patients’ social, emotional, physical, or cognitive functioning.