The Psychological and Physiological Effects of Using a Therapy Dog in Mindfulness Training

Abstract

Research from various fields has demonstrated the benefits of human-animal interaction for physical and mental health. Recently, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has become increasingly popular in a variety of healthcare settings-including inpatient mental health care facilities. However, there is limited research investigating the efficacy of AAT in outpatient sites. In addition, the impact of animals as an adjunct to psychotherapy treatment remains mostly uninvestigated. Therefore, it is necessary to empirically explore what therapy animals may contribute to specific treatment interventions with specific populations.The present study was a randomized control trial examining the psychological and physiological effects of adding AAT to a modified mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) for clients experiencing psychological distress, including anxious and depressive symptoms. It was hypothesized that AAT would be particularly complementary to mindfulness-based interventions because the therapy dog would iv provide a focus for attention to the current experience and exemplify acceptance and "being," enabling the understanding and practice of the main aspects of mindfulness.Subjects (N = 21) were randomly assigned to the MBSR or MBSR + AAT group and then completed an intervention consisting of six 50-minute individual therapy sessions.Each session included didactic and experiential components modified for delivery with or without a certified therapy dog.State and trait mindfulness, state and trait anxiety, psychological distress, blood pressure, and heart rate were assessed at each session. Results indicate that all participants experienced fewer anxiety and depressive symptoms, decreased psychological distress, and increased mindfulness skills from pre-to posttreatment.Additionally, state anxiety, blood pressure, and heart rate decreased within sessions. No significant difference was found between the control and experimental groups, indicating that interaction with a therapy dog had no impact on symptom reduction, skill acquisition, or client satisfaction in the current study. Future studies need to increase methodological rigor by including multiple therapist/dog teams and increasing sample size. Moreover, researchers must examine more thoroughly the role the dog might have in altering the social environment, such as reducing stigma surrounding mental health services and enhancing the therapeutic alliance. This study examined the psychological and physiological effects of adding animal-assisted therapy to a modified mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) for clients experiencing psychological distress, including anxious and depressive symptoms. State and trait mindfulness, state and trait anxiety, psychological distress, blood pressure, and heart rate were collected during each session of the intervention from college students recruited at Utah State University. Results support that participants experienced less anxiety and depressive symptoms and increased mindfulness skills from pre-to postt...

Effects of animal-assisted psychotherapy incorporating mindfulness and self-compassion in neurorehabilitation: a randomized controlled feasibility trial

“…Active control interventions are usually expected to produce beneficial effects regardless of their specifc contents 55 . This explanation is in line with an earlier study comparing a modified MBSR-intervention with and without animal-assistance for clients experiencing psychological distress where all participants experienced fewer anxiety and depressive symptoms, decreased psychological distress, and increased mindfulness skills from pre- to post-treatment with no significant difference between groups 54 .…”

“…Alliance ruptures in psychotherapy may occur with either the therapist or the animal, but usually not with both 49 . Studies show that integrating an animal into psychotherapy can lead to higher treatment adherence 53 , higher ratings of therapist efficacy and willingness to participate in future mindfulness trainings for clients experiencing psychological distress 54 . Although first evidence regarding the benefit of animal-assistance in psychotherapy exists, research of differences in application and modes of action regarding animal-assistance is limited.…”

Dog Tales: Mindful Dog Interactions Evoke Similar Experiences to Dog Assisted Mindfulness Meditations

“…Contrary to our hypothesis, there was no significant group × time interaction effect on any of the variables, however, there was a significant effect of time on loneliness, as measured by the UCLA-LS, whereby loneliness significant reduced over time. This lack of a group × time interaction effect is in contrast to positive dog interaction and DAM group effects reported previously [16,17]. Despite the lack of quantitative findings supporting group differences in the current study, qualitative insights revealed several encouraging owner-related themes such as 'relaxed/calm', 'mindful/focussed/attentive/engaged, 'fun/enjoyable/happy' and 'connected with dog'.…”

“…The findings from this study suggest both mindfulness practices and dog interactions act as effective techniques for the self-management of wellbeing, which may also act as a protective barrier against loneliness. Henry and Crowley [17] found that including dogs within mindfulness practice did not result in any additional benefits when compared to a mindfulness practice alone in terms of reduction in symptoms of psychological distress, or the acquisition of mindfulness skills, however, participants did report higher ratings of the training and endorsed future participation more highly in the dog assisted mindfulness group. Considering how challenging mindfulness practices can be to learn and maintain (for example, [18,19]), the presence of a dog may help with participant adherence to a mindfulness program and/or increase motivation and engagement.…”

Animal-Assisted Interventions for the Improvement of Mental Health Outcomes in Higher Education Students: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials

“…Gress [140] criteria for inter-library loan not met Haggerty et al [141] wrong study design Hammer et al [142] wrong study design Hemingway et al [143] wrong study design Henry [144] wrong intervention…”