Provision of Animal-Assisted Therapy with Disabled - Dissertation Example

? Awareness and Provision of Animal-Assisted Therapy within the Disability Sector Literature Review Introduction Therapy can simply be understood as a process by which a person is subjected to treatment which may be physical, behavioral or mental. Therapy as a health mechanism applies techniques in developing better effective and reliable habits and life styles. Therapy takes several approaches which may be psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, physchodyamic with all these types aiming at helping people to work through their problems. Therapy as a process starts with a person contacting the therapist to resolve feelings, beliefs, bad behaviors or body sensations. Therapy in itself can address many specific issues, concerns and symptoms that are possible to treat through therapy. Additionally therapy is always treated as a collaborative based since it is based on the relationship between the therapist and therapy (Carmel, 2012). One of the main goals of therapy is to promote self actualization as it’s normally an effective method of achieving self growth. Additionally, it helps in overcoming barriers that exist between specific people and the society in general, helps people to release extreme feelings and beliefs, assist many individuals to increase many positive qualities such as joy, self esteem, compassion and love. Cognitive behavioral therapy for example is a type of therapy that focuses on specific problems. This type of therapy is therefore founded on a proposition that irrational thinking and faulty perceptions are grounds that are likely to result to lifestyle dysfunctions. This type of therapy mainly focuses on persons suffering from anxiety and depression and works towards changing patterns of thinking (Paul, 2007). Physical therapy on the other hand is type of therapy that aims at treatment of a physical dysfunction or injury through the use of therapeutic exercises or the application of certain modalities that are intended to restore and facilitate normal function and development of the affected individual. Physical therapy is therefore a look at an affected individual endurance, strength, flexibility, posture alignment, spine stability and in some cases injury prevention. Physical therapy should be looked at in terms of passive and active treatment. Passive therapy involves stimulation of specific areas as a way of reaching the affected area and may include orthopedic manipulation which is aimed at restoring mobility of particular joints with specific control, quick movement and in the process it becomes possible to restore a joint into a correct position and reduce muscle spasms that are often associated with spinal nerve irritation. This therapy therefore helps in relaxation of underlying soft tissues that transmit the affected joint to be easily manipulated. Electrical stimulation on the other hand makes it possible for a painless electrical current to be transmitted through a patient’s skin and it’s directed to nerves that are specific. Mild heat is produced by the current that helps in reducing stiffness and due to its advantage of minimal side effects helps in treating both chronic and acute pain. Ultrasound is also another form of non invasive therapy that helps in reducing pain of the neck and back, tendon and ligament problems and other joint related problems. This therapy is aimed at promoting circulation and healing, relaxing of muscle spasms and in the process reduces pain and decrease inflammation. Active therapy is mostly accompanied through having an affected area in direct contact with the treatment. Theraupitic therapy is the most common type of active therapy and mainly builds strength, improve coordination and flexibility and facilitate cardiovascular circulation (Stadter, 2009). Animal assisted therapy (AAT) is a type therapy that makes purposeful use of animals to provide care, attention, affection and diversion that is aimed at physical, cognitive and spiritual assistance. The idea of using animals and particularly pets came into perspective in the 1970s and it was appreciated for the benefits extended to both parties. Animal assisted therapy therefore provides an opportunity for motivational, educational and recreational activities that help enhance life quality of a specific individual (Chandler, 2010). Therapeutic relationship A therapeutic relationship is a mutual relationship that exists between a therapist and a client. It therefore basically refers to the relationship between a health professional and a client for the purpose of assisting the specific client to solve his or her problems which may be physical or mental. Therapeutic relationship is a subject of great importance since it lays the foundation of recovery of the affected person .Therapeutic relationship simply refers to the dynamic process through which information exchange takes place between the client and the therapist. Therapeutic relationship involves techniques which are used by the therapist with an aim of focusing on the needs of his or her clients. A therapeutic relationship has basic elements that build on its viability: open ended questions that seek to obtain background information, a focus on the feelings of both parties; neutral responses must always be put into consideration and a reflection of the past. Characteristics of a good therapeutic relationship A good therapeutic relationship has certain characteristics that make it viable and relevant :trust-the clients should be able to trust the therapist as a way of opening up while the therapist should be able to trust the therapist as a way of offering assistance in an open environment. Rapport-is the ability if a client to be able to speak to the client openly with no feelings of fear and insecurity. On the other hand a therapist should be able to represent good rapport over the client by having the ability to listen carefully and act and avoiding pre judged assumptions and decisions. Collaboration is also an important characteristic of a therapeutic relationship and therefore calls for mutual cooperation on the part o the client and the therapist. A good therapeutic relationship also requires the therapist on his or her part to have a genuine and empathy in terms related to personal issues so that the client can eliminate feelings of indisiveness. Respect is also an important characteristic of a good therapeutic relationship as it lays the background for a good counseling relationship to be established. A good therapeutic relationship also makes it possible for the client and the therapist to be at ease thus making it possible for an opportunity for inquiry and awareness. The therapist should have been accommodative in the sense so as to know and effectively deal with the strengths and weaknesses of a particular client. A theurapeutic relationship also necessities communication that makes it possible for parties to communicate effectively and thus maintain honest through expression of feelings (Carmel, 2012). Characteristics of a bad therapeutic relationship A bad therapeutic relationship is easily notable especially where there is trust breach on the therapist part. A therapist is supposed to have sufficient training on the specific area of counseling where his or her focus is. A bad therapeutic relationship will always exist in cases where the therapist fails to practice within the scope of his or her practice and therefore leads the client towards the wrong treatment. A bad therapeutic relationship will also exist in case the therapist fails to provide sufficient information for the therapy and therefore makes it difficult for the client to establish when the therapy will be complete. A bad therapeutic relationship also exists in cases where the client and the therapist have a sexual relationship as it compromises their situation. A bad relationship also exists where the therapist reveals the identity of his clients to unreliable sources and at the same time exposes the plight of his or her client. Phases of a therapeutic relationship A therapeutic relationship is a series of steps: pre interaction phase also referred to as pre orientation –basically refers to the professional therapist obtaining data about the client from secondary sources before the actual face to face interaction. Interaction /orientation phase –involves the actual face to face meeting between the client and the therapist. At this stage the therapist builds trust and tries to assess the client for the purpose of establishing a mutual agreement. During the interaction phase it also becomes for both the client and the therapist to lay down goals, rues and boundaries upon which their interaction will be founded upon. At this time it also becomes possible for the goals to be defined and therefore makes it possible for a good rapport to be built and the expectations identified at more defined level. Working phase is an important step since it involves the actual interaction critical in solving the underlying problems. Working involves a more defined identification of the problems and thus it becomes possible for exploration of solutions. In case of mental therapy the therapist assists the client to develop a more positive attitude and develop a concept of independence. At this stage, it also becomes possible for the client –therapist relationship to promote insight and develop good and reliable solutions. Termination or resolution phase involves the end of the therapist –client relationship through a mutual agreement. At this stage the therapist has the responsibility of ensuring the relationship ends professionally for the purpose of creating stability in future. Importance of therapeutic relationship Basically a therapeutic relationship makes it possible for the client’s physical needs to be met effectively and efficiently. Decision making authority is also clearly defined and therefore gives room for respect to be attained. The relationship also makes it possible for the freedom of choice of the client to be insisted on and therefore create room for assignments to be constant. Therapeutic relationships are also important in their aspect of creating viable social interactions between the client and the therapist (Mariah, 2009). Background of Animal Assisted Therapy History AAT basically is a rather new intervention and basically refers to an intervention which is goal directed, where a specific animal meets a specific goal in the process of treatment. The therapy is directed by mostly a health professional who has skills and training regarding the clinical application of animal –human interactions. The use of animals in therapy dates back to the 1940s when san army corporal brought his Yorkshire to cheer his wounded soldiers in hospital. The popularity of Animal Assisted Therapy has been on the rise in different parts of the world at different degrees which is evidenced y the growing number of education institutions offering the course. It therefore involves animals that are specifically trained with professionals working as co therapists. As an important part of therapy Animal Assisted Therapy focuses on the improvement of the human physical, emotional, mental and social functioning. Animal Assisted Therapy has a unique characteristic of being present in both individual and group therapies and therefore stands out as a formal, documented and well evaluated treatment process. Animal Assisted Therapy should be well differentiated for Animal Assisted Activities as the later does not have specific goals with a likelihood of the animal being held by a volunteer who may not be necessarily professionally trained (Fine, 2010). Different types of Animal Assisted Therapy A therapy animal is a generic name given to an animal that has been specifically evaluated and register with the national; anima organizations operating in the area of therapy. In Ireland Peata is an organization that is voluntary and was founded in 1996 and charged with three main objectives: provide a pet therapy service to care institutions, promote awareness of pets to people and provide a further understanding of the relationship between pets and human beings. In most cases therapy animals are have distinct roles of not being for mere assistance to humans and are also not federal granted access to public transport as service animals. Some of the animals involved in therapy include with no specific limit dogs, cats, horses, dolphins, fish, some types of birds and rabbits. Types f animas involved in Animal Assisted Therapy are categorized into: Canine Assisted Therapy-is the most utilized form of therapy utilized in most parts of the world. It involves the use of dogs in individual and group therapies for the purpose of providing a beneficial impact on the health or well being of the human being (Soban, 2008). Feline assisted therapy is a type of Animal Assisted Therapy that involves the use of cats to create health benefits to human beings. This type of therapy is mostly common in long term care facilities such as homes for the elderly, children homes and assisted living homes. Cats in Assisted Animal Therapy are usually perceived as pets and not necessary as therapy animals especially because they tend to be mostly independent. The presence of a cat in a care home for example provides a serene environment which in addition makes it possible for feline animal therapy to take place (Barba, 2005). Equine assisted therapy is also referred to as hippotherapy.It involves the utilization of animals such as horses and donkeys for both individual and group therapies. Equine assisted therapy is a type of therapy that normally takes place at the horse’s establishment and therefore the person undergoing therapy has to be at that particular place and normally takes place on the ground and not on the horse back. In equine assisted therapy incorporates exercises with the client and the horse to target their underlying behaviors and emotions.Hippotherapy is basically almost the same as the later but in this case the client rides on the horse back. Hippotherapy therefore is a treatment approach that uses the movement of the horse on the basis of using the movement of the horse and the help of a professional therapist. Hippotherapy is therefore a combination of the horse movement and the non clinical contribution that produces an extraordinary help to all systems of the body.Hippotherapy helps in assistance to several parts of the body :vestibular-it becomes possible because the client is facing backward with the client moving forward, proceptive –contributed by the pressure through the waist ,his and knee as they are positioned in a quadruped position, tactile is enabled by the touching of the soft part of the horse ,cognitive therapy –becomes possible due to the high degree of motor concentration required to execute the transition ,motor or physical therapy is made possible by the stability of hips and pelvis required to maintain position while reaching forward using one hand (Charddonnen, 2010). Dolphin assisted therapy involves the use of dolphins. Takes place by the client swimming with the dolphins in captivity. The art of using dolphins for therapy has been existence since the 1970s and therefore is currently gaining ground in many parts of the world. Disabilities Physical disabilities refer most to a wide disabilities range, which sometimes may be pulmonary, cardiovascular or neuromuscular disorders. In most cases, persons with physical disabilities usually need aid of things like limbs which are artificial, canes, crutches and wheel chairs for mobility. Disability which is physical may be congenital induced, injury induced or due to a terminal illness. Intellectual disability on the other hand is mental disorder that is evidenced by three common characteristics: Inteligent Quotient that is between 70-75 percent or below this level, evidence of visible limitations in adaptive behaviors such as the ability to carry day to day activities such s self care, socialization or simple house chores, if the onset of mental imitations occur before a person attains the age of eighteen years. The most common types of syndromes associated with intellectual disability include autism, Down syndrome and Fragile X disorder. The main cause of intellectual disorder is genetics especially in case of Down syndrome with birth defects such as prolonged labor resulting to autism.Intellecual disabilities may also result from developmental problems especially as a result of delays (Institute, 2010). Difficulties facing AAT in Ireland One of the main challenges facing Animal Assisted Therapy in Ireland is the ethical issues that have been ad on the perspective of the strength of the animals used in terms of their perseverance levels. Animals are prone to burnout f overworked and this makes t necessary to have a controversial ethical issue. There should be a set of standards in Ireland that protect animals used for therapy and have mechanisms to professionalize the field. The fears of Zionistic infections in cases where animals may pass diseases to humans also pose a great challenge in the Irish community. This makes it necessary for Animal Assisted Therapy organizations in Ireland such as Peata to put in place mechanisms that offer training and certification of animals to be used (Hill, 2011). Research Methodology The researcher’s task is to look at awareness and provision of Animal Assisted Therapy within a disability sector. Results Introduction This chapter presents the statistical results from the survey that were completed and the 2 interviews that were conducted. Both the qualitative and quantitative research tools helped answer the following research questions. What are the different types of Animal-Assisted Therapy used in the disability sector of Social Care? What are the benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy? Is Animal-Assisted Therapy Feasible in Ireland? What knowledge do Disability services have of this therapy? Survey Out of 50 questionnaires which were sent out to the Disability sector around Ireland, there were 36 respondents. This is a 72% response rate. In question 1 it shows Schools had the highest response rate with 1/3 of the respondents being principals and just over 11% were teachers. Chart 1: 1. What is your Job title? In section 1 of the Questionnaire, 1/3 of the organizations who responded catered for intellectual and physical disability, followed closely by Autistic Spectrum Disorder. No Residential Care units responded to the questionnaire, yet 39% of organizations were either day care centers or schools. 1/2 of the Organizations that responded to the questionnaire were funded by the government either through HSE or the Department of Education and Skills. Table 1: 2. What individuals do you cater for? Intellectual disability Physical disability Intellectual & Physical disability Autism spectrum disorder Other 8% 14% 33% 31% 14% Table 2: 3. What type of service do you offer? Residential care Day care/ School Residential and Day care Home/Community support Other 0 39% 31% 8% 22% Chart 2: 4. How is your Organisation Funded? Question 5 asked if the respondents have ever used AAT before. Out of the 36 only 11 answered yes. Thus for the next 6 questions just over 30% of the respondents could answer the following section relating to their experience of AAT. Table 3: 5. Has your Organisation ever used AAT? Yes No 31% 69% At over 45% each, Dog Therapy and Equine Therapy proved to be the most used AAT from the 11 respondents. Only 1 organization said it used Hippotherapy and Micro pet Therapy wasn’t used at all. Chart 3: 6. What type of AAT did you use? Over half of the Organizations that use AAT have been using it for 3 years or more. Two respondents have just started using this Therapy this year. Chart 4: 7. How long has your Organisation been using AAT As declared in question 8 of the questionnaire, there are many benefits to AAT, both physical and mental to individuals with disabilities. Over 63% of the respondents who use AAT found the benefits to be “very good” with the other 37% claiming it was “good”. No respondents said it was “poor”, “very poor” or even “average”. 100% of the respondents said they would recommend the use of AAT to other organization within the Disability sector. 8. Why do you use this Therapy? “For its many benefits such as increased self-esteem, motivation and belonging” “To reduce challenging Behavior” “It helps posture, balance, muscles and strength” “It shows sensory benefits” “It was requested by the clients” The last 3 questions of the questionnaire involve the total 36 respondents again. 61% of the organizations said they had “some understanding of the Therapy and how it works”. Yet just over 19% of the respondents hadn’t heard of it. 2 respondents said they were very knowledgeable of the therapy while 5 organizations had heard of it but didn’t know what it was. Table 4: 11. How would you describe your understanding of AAT? Never heard of it Heard of it but don’t know what it is Some understanding of the Therapy and how it works Very knowledgeable of the therapy 19% 15% 61% 5% Lack of Funds proved to be the highest aspect which is preventing organizations from using this Therapy, followed closely by lack of access to AAT. 2 respondents said lack of interest was preventing them from using AAT while 6 organizations said lack of knowledge was an issue. 8% of respondents explained that the reason they don’t utilize this therapy is because “they don’t have space for it”, “time” or “no one will be able to take care of the animal”. Chart 5: 12. What would prevent your Organization from using AAT? Over 30% of respondents said they would not consider providing AAT to their Organization. Yet the same percentage says it already provides this Therapy to individuals within their centers. 5 respondents said they would consider AAT while 1/4 of the sample said “maybe on a trial basis”. Table 5: 13. Would your Organization ever consider providing AAT? It already does Yes Maybe on a trial Basis No 11 5 9 11 Interviews Interviews were carried out face-to-face with 2 Animal Assisted Therapists. One was involved in Equine Therapy and the other therapist had a variety of small farm animals. The interview process was divided into 3 sections. Section 1 was background and training. The second section was on clients. Finally the third section was on benefits and limitations of this therapy. The following are key findings that were derived from the two interviews. The findings will be analyzed deeply in the discussion chapter and full transcripts of the interviews are included in the appendix. Background and training: Both interviews alleged they had no formal training on AAT done. According to the Equine assisted Therapist she said “I didn’t study for it or do any training really…..well I read a lot on the therapy side of it”. The other Animal Assisted Therapist explained how she learned from observing the work done in Holland and also mentioned that she read a lot on the subject. Both Therapists stated they had some animal background before they went into the area of therapy. Who uses the therapy? The therapist agreed that they work with mostly individuals with intellectual disability. The care farm Therapists claims “I mostly work with children Down syndrome and they love to work on the farm……. Children with Autism respond well after a while to the animal”. The equine assisted therapist also mentions she works with children with Autism mostly. The two interviewees also stated that they have not worked with adults so far. This is also linked to both therapists mentioning “school” in the interview. Benefits and limitations: The Care farm therapist had much to say on the benefits mentioning improvements on “balance”, “behavior” and “fine motor skills”. Both interviewees believed that individuals are happy and relaxed from the therapy. The care farm therapist stated the importance of attachment in addition the equine assisted therapist mentions “connecting with the animal”. The interviewees differed on the subject of availability of AAT. The equine assisted therapist claims there are enough Animal-assisted Therapy services in Ireland (she named some). The care farm therapist claims there are not enough of these services around, stating “the only other care farm I know of is in Holland ……this is the only one in Ireland at the moment.” However, both therapists believe a major cause for the limitation of the use of AAT is finance. Both interviews linked that the cost of running the service is high and the cost for individuals to pay for the service is high. Discussion and Recommendations The results indicate the benefits underlying the use of Animal Assisted Therapy are more solid than the limitations. Awareness of Animal Assisted Therapy Animal Assisted Therapy has not yet been sufficiently implemented in Ireland and this makes it necessary for its increased awareness. An increase in Animal Assisted Therapy starts with a wider outlook with people being informed of its wide scope in terms of types of animals that are used as many people assume it only involves dogs, cats and horses. Awareness will therefore involve sharing of knowledge of animals used to include donkeys, monkeys, dolphins and many types of birds. Awareness also calls for people to be taught on the difference between service animas and therapy animals which mainly lie in their underlying roles. Service animals are for the purpose of offering general assistance to their care givers while therapy animals work hand in hand with health professionals to provide health assistance to therapeutical clients. Awareness of Animal Assisted Therapy in Ireland also calls for certification and training on the part of originations to make it a more accommodated procedure and therefore have it treated as a professional field rather than a controversial ethical issue. Awareness of Animal Assisted Therapy in Ireland is also evidenced by the increasing number of animal educational courses with the assisted animal therapy being introduced in the college curriculum in 2012 (Today, 2011). Benefits and limitations of AAT Proponents of animal assisted therapy pose a major advantage of its psychological benefits for people with either intellectual or physical disability. For people with physical disability canine assisted therapy increases muscle activity and therefore helps in strengthening of limbs to avoid relying too much on the assistance of family members who might not be always available. Therapeutic riding of a horse is aimed towards teaching a person with physical disability how to ride a horse while at the same time assists in increasing strength, control and coordination which are the basics of intellectuality. Hippotherapy through riding of a horse is also aimed at improvement f physical activity; assist in speech disorders and learning difficulties which are often associated with persons with intellectual disabilities. Muscles that lack development as a result of disability are therefore toned and strengthened as a result of the horse strides. Animal assisted Therapy is also usually associated with improved motor function of children with intellectual disorders as their brains become more active and intellectual focused (King, 2007). One of the major limitations of Animal Assisted Therapy is allergies that occur in some people who are resistant to animal fur for example. No matter the degree of training animals tend to be irrational unlike human and in some cases their action of unpredictability usually hurts the therapeutic relationship and thus interferes with the healing process of a client undergoing therapy. Another limitation is that therapy is subject to the client physical and emotional response to a particular animal which may be entrenched in his or her cultural beliefs. Where a client has a negative attitude towards a particular animal species it becomes possible for a good therapeutic relationship to be founded and thus efficiency of the therapy is minimized. Sometimes therapy animals may be infected with certain animal diseases and this poses as a risk to the persons interacting with them through therapy as they are at a risk of animal-human infections (Grandgeorge, 2011). Collaboration of AAT and the disability sector Disability Federation of Ireland has been looking upon improvement of quality and standards of human services in Ireland. The Disability Federation of Ireland recognizes Animal Assisted Therapy as a good practice towards offering assistance to the disabled. Complete collaboration of the DFI will be enhanced through making it an effective system of quality in meeting persona and physical needs of the disabled in Ireland. Future implications of Animal Assisted Therapy and the disability sector The increased use of Animal Assisted Therapy for the disabled will result to several implications: it will become possible for clients to have more flexible arrangements since more therapists will take to working in line with animals. The increase of animal assisted therapy will make it possible for persons with disabilities to be more involved in terms of making decisions on the animals they would prefer to have in their therapy decisions thus making them more independent decision makers (Michael & Weintraub, 2008). Conclusion The use of animals for therapeutic research can be beneficial ,challenging and are often accompanied with several ethical considerations.inspite of these variations animal assisted therapy remains as a strong mechanism towards offering assistance to people with physical and intellectual disability. Animal Assisted Therapy should aim at improvement of the health of the human and at the same time consider the well being of the therapy animal to make it possible for a good therapeutic relationship to be established in both the short run and the long run. The research conducted indicated a seventy two percent response rate which indicates that most people are familiar with animal assisted therapy in Ireland. Animal Assisted Therapy is therefore an important step onwards realizing assistance that is flexible enough to offer assistance critical in meeting special important needs of persons with physical and intellectual disability in the Irish community. Achievement of positive outcomes in Assisted Animal Therapy has added to its incorporation in many disabilities centers as the; patients and clients become more accommodative to the use of animals other than the traditional human exclusive therapy. The effectiveness of animal assisted therapy can be improved and enhanced by having the most basic therapy guidelines established: the first step should be to determine the health professional who will be accountable for assisting in establishing a therapeutic relationship between the client and the animal. It is also necessary to ensure that the client clearly understands the program in terms of what it entails and in the process recognizes people who are not cut out to working with animals. To dead with the limitations associated with animal assisted therapy, it’s important for the program to recognize in its early stages the cognitive response of the persons involved in the therapy and therefore design a framework for what increases or reduces its effectiveness. It’s also important for the human therapist to work towards establishing an effective therapeutic relationship before moving to the actual therapy. This will be done by identifying attributes in a particular animal that are more likely to impact positively on a person with intellectual or physical disability. The length of time a particular animal is supposed to work should also able a major consideration as it eliminates the likelihood of burnout as a result f exhaustion. Depending on the animal the therapy should have specific timelines which are inclusive of rest, exercise and relaxation play. References Barba, B. E., 2005. The Positive Influence of Animals: Animal-Assisted Therapy in Acute Care. Clinical Nurse, 19-108. Carmel, A. P., 2012. The Therapeutic Relationship in Systemic Therapy. London: Karnac Books. Chandler, C. K., 2010. Animal Assisted Therapy in Counseling. London: Routledge. Charddonnen, E., 2010. The Use of Animals as Co-Therapists on a farm: The Child-Horse Bond in Person-Centred Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy. New York: John Wiey & Sons. Fine, A. H., 2010. Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy: Theoretical Foundations and Guidelines for Practice. New York: Academic Press. Grandgeorge, 2011. Does Pet Arrival Trigger Prosocial Behaviors in Individuals with Autism? Journal of health, 1-300. Hill, A., 2011. Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy Practice. New York: Academic Press. Institute, L. S., 2010. Animal-assisted therapy — magic or medicine? Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 275-280. King, L. M., 2007. Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Guide for Professional Counselors, School Counselors, Social Workers, and Educators. London: AuthorHouse. Mariah, R. L., 2009. Complementary & Alternative Therapies in Nursing. New York: Springer Publishing Company. Michael, I., & Weintraub, R. M., 2008. Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Disability Management. New York: Springer Publishing Company. Paul, R. L., 2007. The therapeutic relationship in the cognitive behavioral in Therapy. London: Routledge. Soban, K. B., 2008. Relevancy and Utilization of Canines in Animal-assisted Therapy. Minneapolis: Capella University. Stadter, M., 2009. Object Relations Brief Therapy: The Therapeutic Relationship. Washington, DC: Jason Aronson. Today, D. A., 2011. Animal-Assisted Therapy. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Read More