Animal Assisted Therapy

Miraculous Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy Library Research Everybody has come into contact with an animal at one point or another in their life. Whether it is a family’s dog that wanders curiously around the house or a cat brushing up against the cage begging to be adopted at the pet store. Most people take these encounters for granted. They do not see the potential these animals could have and could one day turn somebody’s life around. Animals play a huge role in many people’s lives through animal-assisted therapy and animal-assisted activities. According to Amy Johnson, an author in the Encyclopedia of Nursing Research, Animal-assisted therapy, also known as AAT, is defined by the Delta Society as “a goal-directed intervention by a health or human service professional that uses animals to achieve specified goals and objectives through measured progress”. AAT and animal-assisted activities, AAA, are sometimes inappropriately said to be the same practice. The difference between the two lies in the absence of predetermined treatment goals and inconsistent practice in animal assisted activities (Johnson).
Many people can become involved with these practices, including children with disabilities, elders in nursing homes, and kids in juvenile detention centers. Tova Navarra, author of The Encyclopedia of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, states that “another use of animal-assisted therapy is the use of animals to cuddle and interact with traumatized or catastrophically ill patients of all ages in order to heighten emotional comfort and to help people reconnect with normal activity after a significant event, such as a natural disaster or war” (7). Sometimes after a traumatizing event, human contact is not the best option for support. Being bombarded with questions and condolences can be overwhelming when you are trying to simply move on from such horrific events. Animals may provide more comfort than any person could provide.
Many animals are involved