Animal-assisted therapy with chronic psychiatric inpatients: equine-assisted psychotherapy and aggressive behavior.
نویسندگان
چکیده
OBJECTIVE Animal-assisted therapy (AAT), most frequently used with dogs, is being used increasingly as an adjunctive alternative treatment for psychiatric patients. AAT with larger animals, such as horses, may have unique benefits. In this randomized controlled study, equine and canine forms of AAT were compared with standard treatments for hospitalized psychiatric patients to determine AAT effects on violent behavior and related measures. METHODS The study included 90 patients with recent in-hospital violent behavior or highly regressed behavior. Hospitalization at the 500-bed state psychiatric hospital was two months or longer (mean 5.4 years). Participants were randomly selected to receive ten weekly group therapy sessions of standardized equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP), canine-assisted psychotherapy (CAP), enhanced social skills psychotherapy, or regular hospital care. Participants' mean age was 44, 37% were female, 76% had diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, and 56% had been committed involuntarily for civil or forensic reasons. Violence-related incident reports filed by staff in the three months after study intake were compared with reports two months preintake. RESULTS Interventions were well tolerated. Analyses revealed an intervention group effect (F=3.00, df=3 and 86, p=.035); post hoc tests showed specific benefits of EAP (p<.05). Similar AAT effects were found for the incidence of 1:1 clinical observation (F=2.70, df=3 and 86, p=.051); post hoc tests suggested benefits of CAP (p=.058) as well as EAP (p=.082). Covariance analyses indicated that staff can predict which patients are likely to benefit from EAP (p=.01). CONCLUSIONS AAT, and perhaps EAP uniquely, may be an effective therapeutic modality for long-term psychiatric patients at risk of violence.
منابع مشابه
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) as a Valid Means of Treatment for Some Survivors of Sexual Abuse
متن کامل
Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy for adolescents experiencing depression and/or anxiety: A therapist's perspective.
Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs) are thought to overcome some of the limitations of traditional therapies as they do not rely exclusively on language as a medium for change. One such Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) approach involves horses as a therapeutic medium. Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) comprises a collaborative effort between a licensed therapist and a horse professional working...
متن کاملSingle versus repeated sessions of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for people with heroin dependence.
A prior study found that one ketamine-assisted psychotherapy session was significantly more effective than active placebo in promoting abstinence (Krupitsky et al. 2002). In this study of the efficacy of single versus repeated sessions of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in promoting abstinence in people with heroin dependence, 59 detoxified inpatients with heroin dependence received a ketamine-...
متن کاملA pet therapy intervention with geriatric psychiatry inpatients.
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of pet therapy on geriatric psychiatry inpatients. A demonstrable impact could lead to more widespread or targeted use of animal companionship programs for hospitalized older persons. METHOD The study design was a randomized, parallel-group control treatment trial with pretreatment and posttreatment measures. Fifty-eight subjects...
متن کاملAnimal Assisted Intervention for Rehabilitation Therapy and Psychotherapy
Animal-assisted Intervention (AAI) is a goal-oriented intervention that intentionally includes or incorporates animals in health, education, and human service for the purpose of therapeutic gains in humans. AAI incorporates human-animal teams in formal human service such as Animal-assisted Therapy (AAT) or Animal-assisted Education (AAE). Animal-assisted Activity (AAA) is the informal AAI often...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
- Psychiatric services
دوره 66 1 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2015