Therapy Dog Interventions Shown to Reduce Stress Hormones in Children
We know that stress impacts children in many negative ways leading to increases in behavioral disruptions, social conflicts, and reduced learning. As a helping professional committed to the psychological care of young people, I am always looking for ways to deepen my art therapy practice and offer more regulating tools and resources to the children in my practice. I have been repeatedly amazed by the bonds that have been created with my therapy dog Finnegan and my young clients, and enjoy seeing them leave their animal-assisted art therapy sessions visibly more calm, confident, and happy.
Recently I came across a study that affirmed my clinical observations, as it demonstrated in a controlled setting the measurable reduction of stress hormones in children who were engaged in animal-assisted therapy. It found that twice-weekly sessions with a therapy dog and its handler markedly reduced children’s levels of cortisol — the body’s stress hormone — which they measured through saliva samples. The animal-assisted intervention appeared to be more effective than guided relaxation sessions. This study used a randomized, controlled trial, included 149 neurotypical and non-neurotypical 8- and 9-year-olds in the UK, who were sorted into three groups.
In one group, the child participants spent 20 minutes twice a week, over the course of a month, with a trained therapy dog and its handler. The child would pet the dog for a few minutes and engage in play and questions related to the dog. In another group, children worked on relaxation exercises over the same time frame without any dogs present, engageing in things like moving their fingers and toes before lying down on yoga mats to listen to a guided meditation. A third group received no interventions, and served as a control.
Researchers collected saliva samples from all of the children to measure their cortisol levels before and after the month long trial, and also measured the neurotypical children’s cortisol levels before and after each session. Overall, they found that children in the dog- intervention group had lower cortisol levels than their peers in both the relaxation and control groups.
While it is tempting to think that any time with a dog would have an equally positive effect on children’s stress hormones, it is worth noting that there there is a great deal of training and feedback that goes into shaping healthy interactions between a child and a therapy dog. The children in the study were reminded before sessions not to kiss, hug or crowd their therapy dogs in any way, and were always closely monitored by trained adults. The team looked for signs the dogs were unhappy, like nose-licking, moving their body or head away, or repeated yawning, and ended any sessions in which the dogs seemed tired or like they no longer wanted to take part.
Beyond reducing stress hormones, what pediatric psychosocial goals can be addressed through animal-assisted interventions?
In my practice I often combine animal-assisted therapy interventions with art therapy and traditional talk therapy approaches to holistically address the psychosocial goals of my young clients. In particular, I find that the following goals and interventions are an excellent source of focus in developing and implementing individual treatment plans.
Psychosocial goals:
Improve self-esteem
Improve ability to express and regulate feelings
Enhance feelings of competence, agency, and mastery
Improve socialization and healthy communication
Brighten affect, reduce depression
Improve cooperation, improve problem-solving ability
Improve concentration, attention, and increase engagement
Improve ability to trust
Learn about appropriate touch and deepen healthy non-verbal connection
Animal-assisted interventions:
Teach the therapy dog something new (as a new trick or game)
Engage in play with the therapy dog
Learn about and assist in care/grooming of the therapy dog
Receive apparent acceptance from the therapy dog
Give appropriate affection to the therapy dog
Observe and learn about the meaning of animal behaviors through body language
Share the knowledge with others through demonstrating what has been learned
Develop cooperative plan to accomplish something with the therapy dog
Learn gentle ways to handle the therapy dog
Describe the therapy dog through drawing or painting
Make art for the therapy dog (such as a decoration for his collar or a picture for him)
Learn about how the therapy dog may be the same or different as other dogs the child knows
Education about how animals learn (and how it is similar to how we learn)
Observe and discuss therapy dog’s response to human behavior
Remember and repeat information about the therapy dog
Follow sequence of instructions with therapy dog
Ask questions about the therapy dog, his care care and personality
Organize equipment needed to accomplish a task with the therpay dog
Generalize animal behavior to human circumstances
Talk about animals child has known
Forecast “how would the therapy dog feel if . . “ or “how do you think the therapy dog is feeling?”
Resources: Delta Society
