For thousands of years, animals have accompanied humans throughout history playing different roles that have facilitated our survival and well-being.

The domestication put certain species at our service by adapting to the needs of the human being, however, the emotional and physical well-being of the animal has not been taken into account.Fortunately, in recent years, the process of human evolution has gone hand in hand with awareness, education and respect for animals.

Although it is true that in Spain much remains to be done in terms of education and traditions that do not involve animal pain and suffering, we are pleased that there are more and more training initiatives that provide real knowledge about animals in order to provide them with a life more suited to their ethology. The new generations come with a desire to do it well and it seems that empathy with living beings is making its way .

But why introduce our scope of work with a paragraph on animal welfare? Because, as psychologists, if we want to focus on working with emotions and human welfare and we want an animal as a facilitator and companion , our tool must be well cared for and balanced since it is also an emotional being like us.

Animal-Assisted Intervention

But let’s start from the beginning: an Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) is a formula in which an animal is intentionally included or incorporated with the aim of promoting improvement in the health, education and social fields in order to obtain therapeutic benefits in humans.

If, as you read, they are therapies or interventions, although I do not intend to enter into the debate of the typical intrusiveness that we psychologists suffer in all our disciplines; AAIs are another focus of malpractice where we find professionals with profiles far from the social-health-educational field carrying out “Animal-Assisted Therapies”.

Being a poorly regulated field and still with many legal gaps to consider it a psychological and/or therapeutic technique it is true that we are increasingly accepted in public academic bodies. Since October 2015, thanks to the International University of Andalusia (UNIA) and the University of Ja̩n, the Official Master in AAI has been launched in order to regulate the profession. In addition, in Madrid, through the Rey Juan Carlos University, the need to instil and raise awareness of the values of respect and care for animals from an early age is being brought closer to all audiences (Chair of Animals and Society РOffice of Animal-Assisted Interventions).

The origins of this strategy

Focusing on our profession, the introduction of dogs in consultation has its beginnings in the renowned Dr. Sigmund Freud whom his dog Jophi supported during his psychotherapy sessions. It was not until 1953 that Dr. Borris Levinson, began to lay the foundations of Animal Assisted Therapy thanks to his dog Jingles, a motivating companion and facilitator of the link between patient and professional.

With these precursors and within a wide range of experiences and scientific studies we find how AAIs bring benefits at an integral level: decrease in stress, decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, as well as, decrease in feelings of loneliness and abandonment, increase in social interaction and stable social-emotional functioning.

The benefits of animal therapies

Although this area usually focuses more on working with children and people with some kind of disorder in one of the areas mentioned above, we are all candidates to benefit from what animals bring to us .

And what kinds of specific benefits do they bring us then? For example, caressing an animal helps to reduce blood pressure and therefore creates a state of relaxation, while playing or walking with it encourages the practice of physical activity, associated with a creation of habits and routines associated with our occupational need. From an emotional point of view, the animal promotes and improves both communication and social skills and, in turn, boosts positive emotions and self-esteem.

It is important to bear in mind that the effectiveness of a treatment with animals does not depend on the animal but on the values, knowledge and skills of the psychologist to introduce this technique in the most effective way. There is a tendency to place a lot of responsibility on the animal and to try to use a multipurpose tool that is adapted to the specific needs of each patient, and this is an important bias that we are observing in students and professionals who carry out AAI.

The fundamental role of the animal is to facilitate and motivate, thus providing different stimuli that enrich and complement the interaction between professional and patient. The animal will participate in the sessions within a welfare protocol that takes into account its emotions and above all, its stress. Taking as an example the world of the horse and equine therapy , the effort is to leave riding aside and encourage the work “foot to land” that allows us to know the animal from its ethology and learn about its communication.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, animals can be great teachers who teach us to look deep inside ourselves; they are a mirror, a radar that informs us through their non-verbal language when we are not being clear or coherent.

The reaction of the animals helps us to observe ourselves better , to value our use of communication and its effectiveness. If something does not work in our interaction with them, the need will be to become aware of what we are asking of them and, above all, how we are asking them.

In this way, efficiency means finding the best version to offer to others and even to ourselves. And that is precisely the main objective of animal-assisted interventions: to improve the quality of life of patients with the help of those who can bring out our most natural and emotional side.