Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT)

You might be wondering: Okay, Jess, what is animal-assisted therapy (AAT) if you don’t have a therapy animal in the office? 

That’s a great question. At first, I was thinking of not even listing AAT as an option until I’m able to offer in-person animal interactions. But there are so many other ways that animals can be included in your therapeutic experience, that I decided to go for it.

My interest in getting trained in animal-assisted therapy came, not just from my lifetime of working with animals ranging from mice to sea lions, but also from seeing how helpful it was to include my pets and those of my clients in sessions during lockdown, when we were all stressed and trying to figure out how to do the Zoom thing.

Whether we’re working together in-person or via telehealth, we might include your pet(s) in your therapy, when and where appropriate. That can increase your level of comfort and connection, give us opportunities to work on identifying and regulating emotions (anger, etc.), help you develop strategies to self-soothe as we process trauma and decrease your trauma memories … the options are nearly endless.

We might apply some of the same strategies using a pet proxy (e.g., a stuffed animal, statue, or other symbolic representation).

Another way for us to use AAT without a live animal present is (for example) by sharing and discussing video clips of animals interacting in different ways. This can be a springboard for unpacking family and relationship dynamics, building skills in identifying and processing emotions in yourself and others. 

Overall, if you’re an animal lover like I am, I firmly believe that including animals in some way in the therapeutic process will improve our results.