What is animal-assisted therapy?
Many people notice that being around animals can help them feel more relaxed. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT), sometimes called ‘pet therapy’, uses specially trained animals to support people’s mental and emotional health. It builds on the natural bond between people and animals to help us feel safer, calmer, and more connected during therapy.
AAT is different from having your own pet, emotional support animal, or assistance dog, such as a guide dog. Typically, a therapist or counsellor guides the therapy session, which incorporates a specially trained animal to help you work towards specific goals and improve your wellbeing.
What animals are used in animal therapy?
In the UK, therapy animals may include:
- smaller mammals, like cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and dogs;
- birds, like parrots and chickens;
- larger animals, particularly horses;
- reptiles, for instance, tortoises, snakes, and geckos.
How does animal therapy work?
During animal-assisted therapy, your therapist works alongside a trained therapy animal to support your therapeutic goals. Involving an animal in the treatment plan can help both your body and your mind in the following ways:
- The body: Interacting with animals can reduce stress hormones and increase naturally occurring mood-boosting hormones like serotonin, prolactin, and oxytocin.
- The mind: Animals offer a calm, non-judgmental presence, which often helps people to relax, reduce anxiety, feel safer, and engage more openly in therapy.
- Focus: Animals live in the present moment rather than thinking about the past or worrying about the future. This may help draw your focus outward towards the animal and what’s happening in the here and now, instead of getting caught up in future fears.
Here are some examples of how animal therapy might improve mental health:
- Equine therapy: Brushing a horse can help you build confidence and trust.
- Canine therapy: Stroking a calm dog can support stress reduction.
- Guinea pig therapy: Caring for a guinea pig can help you learn how to care for your own needs.
What challenges can animal therapy help with?
Animal-assisted therapy has been used alongside treatment for a range of emotional and psychological challenges, including:
- PTSD and trauma: It aims to help people feel safer and reconnect with emotions.
- Anxiety and stress: It may result in a lower heart rate and increased calm.
- Depression: It encourages people to find a sense of purpose and regain motivation.
- Neurodivergence: It focuses on helping people improve communication, confidence, emotional regulation, and social connection in a safe, calm, and sensory-friendly space.
- Relationship problems: It provides space to explore patterns of trust, communication, and relationships through interactions with animals.
- Schizophrenia: It often supports motivation, sense of purpose, and more positive social interactions.
What happens in an animal-assisted therapy session?
It’s natural to wonder what happens during an animal therapy session. However, the specific details depend on the challenges you are currently facing and the animal that you’re working with.
Still, these sessions generally follow a structured approach.
Starting a session
Sessions typically begin with a check-in between you and your therapist about how you feel and the goals you’d like to work towards. After this, the therapy animal usually joins the session.
Carrying out tasks or activities
Your therapist may guide you through activities with the animal that support the goals you’ve identified together. For instance, if you want to build confidence and patience, your activity might involve brushing a horse. Or you might walk with a dog to encourage you to exercise and get in touch with nature. Alternatively, you may simply cuddle a guinea pig while talking about difficult feelings.
Reviewing and learning
Throughout the activity, your therapist will help you notice and explore any feelings that come up for you when interacting with the animal. They may also watch how you act and behave in the session, and encourage you to practise new skills, like being gentle, managing frustration, or tuning in to their needs.
Who might benefit from animal-assisted therapy?
Many people find that focusing on an animal creates a sense of safety that makes it easier to relax, open up, and explore difficult thoughts or feelings. Therefore, animal-assisted therapy may be a helpful approach if you:
- find it easier to connect with animals than with people;
- would prefer a gentler, more natural environment than traditional talk therapy;
- feel more comfortable expressing yourself when the focus isn’t entirely on you;
- have difficulty slowing down and staying present in the moment;
- enjoy hands-on, experiential learning rather than purely talking about experiences;
- are curious about trying a different, more interactive approach to therapy.
Things to consider about AAT
While AAT can be effective for many people, it may not be the right approach for everyone. Before seeking animal therapy, you might find it useful to consider the following points:
- Allergies: If you are allergic to specific animals, AAT may not be the most suitable therapy for you.
- Phobias: Some people dislike certain animals, while others may have a phobia, such as a fear of snakes. It’s important to consider the type of animal used in therapy to ensure you feel safe and comfortable during the process.
- Hygiene: It’s essential to wash your hands before and after sessions to help prevent the spread of germs between you and the animal.
- Any safety risks: Therapy animals must be carefully screened and pass behavioural tests to ensure they are suitable for therapeutic work.
- The animal’s welfare: Ask how the programme protects the welfare of its therapy animals. Good programs limit their animal’s working hours so they don’t get overworked, stressed, or tired.
- The human therapist: Even though it is animal-assisted therapy, it’s equally important to check the human therapist’s credentials, as well as the type, welfare, and safety of the animal they use.
Find an animal-assisted therapist
If you’re curious about animal-assisted therapy, it’s worth looking for a qualified therapist with experience working alongside therapy animals. They can explain how sessions may be tailored to your needs, the type of animal they work with, how they structure sessions, and how the animal’s welfare is protected.
We list verified counsellors and therapists across the UK, making it easy to search by therapy type, location, accessibility requirements, and more. Whenever you feel ready, you can find a verified therapist offering animal-assisted therapy using our search tool.
Content attribution
This article was written by Hayley Snelling, a qualified counsellor and wellbeing and body confidence coach, as well as a professional writer at PsychWrite.
The content was commissioned by Counselling Directory.
