{"id":42010,"date":"2022-08-18T17:07:35","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T21:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=42010"},"modified":"2022-08-19T12:01:45","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T16:01:45","slug":"the-power-of-pets-in-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/the-power-of-pets-in-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Pets in Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The bond between humans and pets began roughly 40,000 years ago when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-40638584\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dogs became domesticated<\/a> and has continued ever since. You likely already know the benefits of pet companionship either because you had one as a kid, have one as an adult, or know someone who shares<\/p>\n<p>their pet with you. Those benefits can include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/dear-gt\/how-do-i-deal-with-loneliness\">reduced loneliness<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li>mood boost,<\/li>\n<li>increased feelings of social support, and<\/li>\n<li>improved health<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>but did you there is the power of pets in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/find-therapist.html\">therapy consulting<\/a> as well?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-40235\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/relaxing-with-music-and-cat.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/relaxing-with-music-and-cat.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/relaxing-with-music-and-cat-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Pets Help With Your Physical Health<\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s an entire branch of therapy devoted to working with animals called animal-assisted therapy. A popular one is an equine-assisted psychotherapy, also called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/equine-therapy-mental-health-treatment-4177932\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">equestrian therapy<\/a> or horse therapy. The therapy is well-documented in its ability to treat issues such as grief, addiction, and trauma as people relearn how to recognize and re-cover their feelings, regulate emotions, and better communicate through working with horses. Riders also learn how to build trust with the horse and come to trust themselves again.<\/p>\n<p>That said, equine-assisted therapy is wonderful if you have access to it, but what if you don\u2019t? What if you can\u2019t afford it or you live in a big city without any equestrian centers? You can still reap the power of pets by working with animals without becoming a full-time pet parent yourself. Whether you interact with a cat or dog in your therapist\u2019s office, at an animal shelter, or via a cat caf\u00e9, animals can do the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lower your blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health<\/li>\n<li>Slow your breathing<\/li>\n<li>Release the neurotransmitter dopamine, aka, the pleasure hormone, and other feel-good hormones like serotonin, prolactin, and oxytocin<\/li>\n<li>Diminish overall physical pain<\/li>\n<li>Provide comfort<\/li>\n<li>And more<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Pets Provide Mental and Emotional Benefits<\/h2>\n<p>Those are the physical benefits. There are also mental and emotional benefits like lowering anxiety and decreasing depression. However, something people don\u2019t often think about is interacting with animals teaches relational skills. For instance, animals provide endless opportunities for boundary setting. Training pets requires saying \u201cno\u201d to things like jumping on certain furniture or eating items they shouldn\u2019t. Pets also teach <em>you <\/em>about boundaries because you may want to pet the cat but they have no interest in being touched so they saunter away or hiss at you if you try to touch them. With pets, you learn to honor another being\u2019s \u201cno\u201d because otherwise you may get scratched or bitten.<\/p>\n<p>Working with animals can also create a feeling of empathy or attunement skills as you identify with their feelings: a certain meow means hunger whereas another meow means pain. The more you engage with an animal, the potentially deeper the bond you create. The deeper the bond, the\u00a0 more you work to understand what they\u2019re feeling or needing (even though you may not know for sure).<\/p>\n<h2>Pets Allow You to Give and Receive<\/h2>\n<p>Pets also offer an opportunity to give and receive attention and care. When you\u2019re upset, a dog may nudge your leg or put their head on your lap. Animals show they care about you and that can be incredibly healing if you\u2019re a person who hasn\u2019t or doesn\u2019t experience that on a regular basis.<\/p>\n<p>Having a therapy animal in a session can be an embodied way to gain a deeper understanding of your own projections. In Robert Johnson\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XEd0x0DIFSE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Owning Your Own Shadow<\/em><\/a>, he talks about how oftentimes people project the feelings they may not be able to hold themselves onto their pets. It\u2019s a way to make some sort of sense of your feelings before you may be able to feel them yourself. For example, someone may frequently say an animal is lonely or scared. There may be some truth to that, \u00a0but, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/four-unexpected-benefits-of-therapy-0924137\">therapy<\/a>, the person talking about the animal\u2019s supposed loneliness or fear is more of the focus of the session.<\/p>\n<p>The power of pets is tangible and I hope you\u2019re able to interact with some furry friends. Why not give it a try, if you\u2019re able?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Journal Prompts: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What have you learned from your interactions and bonds with animals in your lifetime?<\/li>\n<li>Can you imagine having an animal present when you go to therapy?<\/li>\n<li>What has it been like to have your animal(s) more present since Zoom therapy became more prevalent in the last few years?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">The GoodTherapy Registry might be helpful to you.<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">We have thousands of Therapists listed with us who would love to walk with you on your journey.<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/find-therapist.html\">Find the support you need today<\/a>.<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reading suggestions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>Robert Johnson. <em>Owning Your Own Shadow<\/em>. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Briggs, Helen. \u201cHow did dogs become our best friends? New evidence.\u201d <em>BBC News<\/em>. July 19, 2017. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-40638584\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-40638584<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Unknown. \u201cAnimal-Assisted Therapy Research.\u201d UCLA Health. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uclahealth.org\/pac\/animal-assisted-therapy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.uclahealth.org\/pac\/animal-assisted-therapy<\/a>. Accessed June 29, 2022.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The bond between humans and pets began roughly 40,000 years ago when dogs became domesticated and has continued ever since. You likely already know the benefits of pet companionship either because you had one as a kid, have one as an adult, or know someone who shares their pet with you. Those benefits can include: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3189,"featured_media":41552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[624],"tags":[2089,2090],"class_list":["post-42010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modes-of-therapy","tag-pets-in-therapy","tag-power-of-pets-in-therapy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}