Animal-Assisted Therapy

[KatrinH]

Hey.

I plan on applying to a clinical PhD program for the fall of 2013 and have been searching for different schools I potentially want to apply to. I am really interested in animal-assisted therapy as well as in general pets and people and someday would like to do more research on it. I know that this is not a well researched or empirically accepted field, so I am aware that there is no PhD program which focuses on it. So I am not sure on what exactly I should go for/look for. I think it would be interesting to look into different interventions/therapy forms and do research on these, as this will help me later with animal-assisted therapy; also I would like to not focus too much on only one topic as my interest range is very broad. Is there a general, overall term for research on different therapies? Or can you recommend another topic I could look into and eventually go for that might help me sort through schools?

Thank you very much!
Katrin

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[PsychBrownBag]

There are zero studies demonstrating that animal assisted therapy is an efficacious and/or effective treatment for any mental illness. The approach is practiced routinely across the US (costing patients a lot of money and steering them away from evidence-based treatment) but not due to any empirical justification. I definitely understand why something like this has appeal, so please don't take this as a critique of you and there are certainly ways in which interactions with animals can be beneficial, particularly for certain populations, but it is not a treatment for mental illness. If the data are one day there, that conclusion will change, but I routinely interact with folks who promote this approach and am frequently met with responses that would make Paul Meehl weep.

 

[KatrinH]

I am aware of that and from what little I know and from what I have seen myself I am not saying that it is a treatment in itself, but from the same view I have also seen how it can be a beneficial addition to empirically based treatments. Also, I am not only interested in it as a therapy form, but also in the way people relate to animals, how animals affect their lives, etc.
I guess what I am looking for is rather whether there is a general research area which looks into different forms of therapy, whether empirical or not, and which researches the effectiveness, etc. of these therapy forms. I am interested in a broad range of mental illnesses which is why I think going for something related to therapy would be a good match for me instead of focusing in on one illness.

 

[Psychadelic2012]

I would think that a simple Google search could turn up some possibilities for you. In fact, I find this an interesting idea, and I did a quick search and found this: http://www.uci.edu/features/2012/02/feature_dogtherapy_120213.php. It is obviously not a empirical paper, but it's a study that is/was actively recruiting at an R1 institution, so there are possibilities. I would think that people must be studying this, although it may not be in 'clinical psychology' departments.

 

[KatrinH]

Thank you! I agree with you with other departments, so far I have found research in departsments of veterinary medicine, nursing, etc. but none in psychology. Do you think clinical psychology would still be the right area to go for in terms of psychology specializations?

 

[KillerDiller]

Hey.
So I am not sure on what exactly I should go for/look for. I think it would be interesting to look into different interventions/therapy forms and do research on these, as this will help me later with animal-assisted therapy; also I would like to not focus too much on only one topic as my interest range is very broad. Is there a general, overall term for research on different therapies?
Katrin

The bolded lines are an extremely broad topic. Quite frankly, it would be very difficult to match at clinical PhD programs if you don't narrow that down to something like "the effects of X treatment on individuals diagnosed with Y." It sounds, though, like your interests are broader and that narrowing them down might not suit your educational goals. I suggest looking into some other fields. I'm not exactly sure where, but Psychadelic had a very good suggestion. Look up some publications on google scholar and see what kinds of programs the authors are affiliated with. That will tell you the best places to start looking.

As for adding animal-assisted therapy into empirically supported treatments, I think it's a thought-provoking idea. However, I'm not sure it's thought-provoking in the way you probably want it to be. That is, I'm not sure it would work with most types of ESTs. These treatments tend to be focused on very specific goals and theories of change. I don't know how pets would fit into that on a broad scale. I could think of individual situations where it may apply, but not as a whole form of treatment unto itself.

 

[erg923]

Is there an explanatory model for "animal assisted therapy" other than benefits we know that come from having an emotional attachment to another living creature?

 

[KatrinH]

As said, I am not necessarily looking into making it an empirical treatment nor do I think that it can be. I guess I should not have titled the topic this way. I am interested in pets and humans in general, not only whether they help and to which extent, but also on questions such as why people own pets, their beliefs and behaviors around animals, etc. it be also interesting to look into what service animals, such as dogs for the blind, do for people.

KillerDiller, you are right, I need to narrow down, I just have a hard time doing so.

 

[Psychadelic2012]

As said, I am not necessarily looking into making it an empirical treatment nor do I think that it can be. I guess I should not have titled the topic this way. I am interested in pets and humans in general, not only whether they help and to which extent, but also on questions such as why people own pets, their beliefs and behaviors around animals, etc. it be also interesting to look into what service animals, such as dogs for the blind, do for people.

KillerDiller, you are right, I need to narrow down, I just have a hard time doing so.

Anecdotal, I know, but I went to a counseling conference recently where a "self-care room" was set up for attendees with several pets from a nearby farm that had so-called therapy animals. It was mostly focused towards children and integrated pet care into their programs. I remember hearing one of the owners/therapists say that she believed certain pets taught the children about boundaries (i.e., when the dog gives signals that it doesn't want to be petted, for example, it teaches children that they have to look for signals like that in people, too). Counseling research may be the way to pursue this line of study for this reason--there are areas of research in counseling that focus on process and outcome. It seems to fit better in that niche than clinical psychology, although I have heard of "therapy dogs" that help patients with anxiety and/or with taking meds, although I don't know where that comes from or if it's bunk. Otherwise, I agree that you'll have to draw a connection between animals and how you think they could be studied in different settings. Getting involved in current research, as an assistant, could help you to network and build your ideas.

 

[AnnoyedByFreud]

I have heard about the use of "therapy cats" in prisons to encourage rehabilitation and good behavior in prison inmates. On NPR they were discussing a research study that was being piloted in which inmates were allowed to care for a pet cat. This was in a low security prison and they were non-violent offenders, I believe. Anyway, I thought it might be of interest for the OP.

 

[FadedC]

Well there's certainly considerable evidence that owning an animal provides mental health benefits for most people, and can significantly reduce stress, depression and blood pressure. But owning a pet is certainly very different from brief exposure to one.

 

[JeyRo]

You have to break it down between the different kinds of uses of animals (and associated intervention research); the basic breakdown is between so-called "ownership therapy," "visitation therapy," and "animal-assisted therapy."

I wouldn't also say there is "zero evidence" supporting the use of pet therapy as a treatment for psychiatric illness, however, it's certainly true there's a deficit of quality research in this area, and certainly there needs to be more work done before animal therapy can be considered "empirically supported" to the level of, say, cognitive therapy for depression.

One area I'm familiar with (opens a PDF): http://tinyurl.com/ceprlgr

Also might want to check out (opens another PDF): http://tinyurl.com/84odp22

Anything by Banks and Banks (husband and wife team, they live in Portland Oregon and have been studying animal assisted therapy for years) also is good stuff.

Focus on long term care, rehabilitation care, primary care psychology and I think you'd get a lot more interesting hits in terms of active research. Another area I think will be taking off over the next few years is robotic pet therapy (e.g. such as with the Paro Robot - see www.parorobots.com and Google "paro robot" or "robotic therapy" or "mental commit robot" and you'll find some interesting stuff).

 

[mewtoo]

Another area I think will be taking off over the next few years is robotic animal assisted therapy (e.g. such as with the Paro Robot - see www.parorobots.com and Google "paro robot" or "robotic therapy" or "mental commit robot" and you'll find some interesting stuff).

That's so cool! I wish I had a Paro, its so cute. And its awesome that people actually respond well to it. I remember I had an electronic bird and an electronic cat when I was a kid and I got bored with it within the first few hours of playing with it.

 

[JeyRo]

That's so cool! I wish I had a Paro, its so cute. And its awesome that people actually respond well to it. I remember I had an electronic bird and an electronic cat when I was a kid and I got bored with it within the first few hours of playing with it.

I think it's cool too, although there's even less data on it than therapy using actual animals. However, the Japanese have poured mad sums of money into developing Paro robots and they're in pretty wide use there and in some parts of Europe, and some of the data is pretty interesting. Also avoids the issues of zoonoses, hygeine, handlers, etc.

 

[PsychBrownBag]

I wouldn't also say there is "zero evidence" supporting the use of pet therapy as a treatment for psychiatric illness, however, it's certainly true there's a deficit of quality research in this area, and certainly there needs to be more work done before animal therapy can be considered "empirically supported" to the level of, say, cognitive therapy for depression.

One area I'm familiar with (opens a PDF): http://tinyurl.com/ceprlgr

Also might want to check out (opens another PDF): http://tinyurl.com/84odp22

Anything by Banks and Banks (husband and wife team, they live in Portland Oregon and have been studying animal assisted therapy for years) also is good stuff.

The dementia studies are certainly interesting. That being said, animal-assisted therapy is practiced across a wide domain of diagnoses and promoted as evidence-based all the time and the basis for those statements (if the person even feels one is necessary) is almost universally anecdotal or based upon horrifically flawed studies that fail to demonstrate any improvement whatsoever in any mental illness.

Equine-assisted therapy is a particularly notorious example. Here are some discussions of that evidence base:

http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.co...llness-is-there-evidence-behind-the-hype.html

http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.co...levant-the-importance-of-reading-and-cri.html

And here is one for dolphin assisted therapy (Scott Lilienfeld led the charge on that):
http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.co...isted-therapy-a-critique-of-the-evidence.html

Again, should RCTs come along demonstrating that animal-assisted therapy is an effective treatment for particular diagnoses (or a useful adjunct for other evidence-based treatments), I'll hope on board the bandwagon. All that matters to me is the evidence, which holds people accountable rather than letting them treat people in need simply by adhering to their own beloved theories. As it stands, all the evidence has shown across these studies is that they can improve state negative affect, which is an effect I can get by repeatedly watching the video of Fabio getting hit in the face by a goose while riding on a roller coaster.

 

[cara susanna]

But what about raven therapy??

 

[JeyRo]

The dementia studies are certainly interesting. That being said, animal-assisted therapy is practiced across a wide domain of diagnoses and promoted as evidence-based all the time and the basis for those statements (if the person even feels one is necessarily) is almost universally anecdotal or based upon horrifically flawed studies that fail to demonstrate any improvement whatsoever in any mental illness.

Equine-assisted therapy is a particularly notorious example. Here are some discussions of that evidence base:

http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.co...llness-is-there-evidence-behind-the-hype.html

http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.co...levant-the-importance-of-reading-and-cri.html

And here is one for dolphin assisted therapy (Scott Lilienfeld led the charge on that):
http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.co...isted-therapy-a-critique-of-the-evidence.html

Again, should RCTs come along demonstrating that animal-assisted therapy is an effective treatment for particular treatments (or a useful adjunct for other evidence-based treatments), I'll hope on board the bandwagon. All that matters to me is the evidence, which holds people accountable rather than letting them treat people in need simply by adhering to their own beloved theories. As it stands, all the evidence has shown across these studies is that they can improve state negative affect, which is an effect I can get by repeatedly watching the video of Fabio getting hit in the face by a goose while riding on a roller coaster.

The research is thin and of inconsistent quality, and there's certainly not enough to talk about AAT / visitation / ownership therapy as "empirically supported" for X, Y or Z psychiatric disorder, sure, but it's not "zero" evidence.

That's kind of overstating things a bit, I think. Mostly we agree more than we disagree, though.

 

[Nog]

The dementia studies are certainly interesting. That being said, animal-assisted therapy is practiced across a wide domain of diagnoses and promoted as evidence-based all the time and the basis for those statements (if the person even feels one is necessary) is almost universally anecdotal or based upon horrifically flawed studies that fail to demonstrate any improvement whatsoever in any mental illness.

Equine-assisted therapy is a particularly notorious example. Here are some discussions of that evidence base:

http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.co...llness-is-there-evidence-behind-the-hype.html

http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.co...levant-the-importance-of-reading-and-cri.html

And here is one for dolphin assisted therapy (Scott Lilienfeld led the charge on that):
http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.co...isted-therapy-a-critique-of-the-evidence.html

Again, should RCTs come along demonstrating that animal-assisted therapy is an effective treatment for particular diagnoses (or a useful adjunct for other evidence-based treatments), I'll hope on board the bandwagon. All that matters to me is the evidence, which holds people accountable rather than letting them treat people in need simply by adhering to their own beloved theories. As it stands, all the evidence has shown across these studies is that they can improve state negative affect, which is an effect I can get by repeatedly watching the video of Fabio getting hit in the face by a goose while riding on a roller coaster.

Well put.

 

[hockey99]

But what about raven therapy??

Nevermore

 

[PsychBrownBag]

The research is thin and of inconsistent quality, and there's certainly not enough to talk about AAT / visitation / ownership therapy as "empirically supported" for X, Y or Z psychiatric disorder, sure, but it's not "zero" evidence.

That's kind of overstating things a bit, I think. Mostly we agree more than we disagree, though.

I don't mean to come across as argumentative, but I don't think the phrase "zero evidence" is overstating things at all. There are zero studies demonstrating that animal assisted therapy is an effective and/or efficacious treatment for any mental illnesses. No studies demonstrate reductions in the primary symptoms of any mental illnesses. Even with the dementia studies, what you see is a reduction in problematic behaviors associated with dementia, not a treatment of dementia itself. That is the very definition of "zero evidence."

 

[futureapppsy2]

But what about raven therapy??

Bah. Who needs therapy when you can have an "affinity"?

Even with the dementia studies, what you see is a reduction in problematic behaviors associated with dementia, not a treatment of dementia itself. That is the very definition of "zero evidence."

Maybe my behaviorist side is showing again, but isn't this still a valid treatment outcome? I mean, ABA and other behaviorally-focused therapies don't "take away" autism spectrum disorders or traits thereof, but the reduction of problematic behaviors is still considered a very meaningful outcome for people with autism and their teachers, family members, etc. Same thing with challenging behavior in people with TBI--you're not curing the TBI, but you are probably improving the quality of life for the clients and their families.

Even with something like depression, behavioral outcomes are often given primary importance--for example, if you have a client who is engaging in suicidal or self-injurious behaviors, dealing with those behaviors probably would be a primary and immediate goal of treatment.

(Not saying this about AAT specifically but about therapy/interventions in general)

 

[PsychBrownBag]

Bah. Who needs therapy when you can have an "affinity"?



Maybe my behaviorist side is showing again, but isn't this still a valid treatment outcome? I mean, ABA and other behaviorally-focused therapies don't "take away" autism spectrum disorders or traits thereof, but the reduction of problematic behaviors is still considered a very meaningful outcome for people with autism and their teachers, family members, etc. Same thing with challenging behavior in people with TBI--you're not curing the TBI, but you are probably improving the quality of life for the clients and their families.

Even with something like depression, behavioral outcomes are often given primary importance--for example, if you have a client who is engaging in suicidal or self-injurious behaviors, dealing with those behaviors probably would be a primary and immediate goal of treatment.

(Not saying this about AAT specifically but about therapy/interventions in general)

Suicidal behaviors are a primary symptom of depression, so yes, I'd agree with that, much as I look at DBT outcomes and see the reduction in NSSI and suicidal behavior as evidence of strong outcomes for BPD relative to other options but still wish for more in terms of evidence for improvement on emotion regulation, distress tolerance, affective lability, etc...

Dementia is not in my wheel house, so it's certainly plausible that the outcomes demonstrated in those studies with respect to that population do represent strong work and I'm discounting that unfairly. That being said, the studies examining animal-assisted therapy with other diagnoses produce no such outcomes, leaving the evidence base still firmly at zero.

 

[Psychadelic2012]

But what about raven therapy??

Seriously made me smirk in a place where it was not cool to do so. Well played, Cara.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Seriously made me smirk in a place where it was not cool to do so. Well played, Cara.

I love how ravens have become kind of an SDN Psychology meme.

 

[PhDToBe]

I don't know anything about it, or if there is research on it, but a psychologist who studies autism and loves animals told me that when a person with autism is on a horse, that person essentially loses the symptoms of autism. Sounds far-fetched to me, but perhaps autism and horses could assist you in your search. Similarly, I know of a psychologist who does therapy with her horses and autistic kids, but she is not directly associated with a university.

 

[erg923]

I don't know anything about it, or if there is research on it, but a psychologist who studies autism and loves animals told me that when a person with autism is on a horse, that person essentially loses the symptoms of autism.

Again, I would be asking for the explantory model he/she is working under...and which would explain such dramatic symptom erradication.

 

[JeyRo]

Again, I would be asking for the explantory model he/she is working under...and which would explain such dramatic symptom erradication.

Extraordinary claims, extraordinary evidence, etc....