Many children in the U.S. need mental health services but cannot acquire them due to lack of accessibility or resource availability. According to the Centers for Disease Control (2023), only 20% of children with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders receive services from a specialized mental healthcare provider. In fact, California’s public schools receive more than 400 million dollars each year to provide mental health service to children, however 580,000 kids are still left without the help they need. Due to an ongoing mental health crisis among students, schools have both social and emotional support enhancing the ability to host more mental health programs. Therefore, this is the ideal time to introduce non-traditional methods like animal-assisted therapy (AAT).
Mental health is a huge, systemic undertaking that requires funding and policy change. However, to start considering AAT, it is important to accept mental health, advocate for mental health services, and discuss having more resources to better support our children’s future.
AAT benefits
Animals can provide a sense of security, creating the question around how animal-assisted therapy may benefit children in schools (Lindsay & Thiyagarajah, 2020). AAT has the ability to help children with emotional identification, which will help them navigate the world, allowing them to advocate for their needs. Play-based AAT helps children recognize and understand primary emotions not only in themselves, but in companions, which creates new skill sets regarding how relationships work (Dice et al., 2017). Animals facilitate cooperation in social activities creating a new way to learn through modeling (Dice et al., 2017). Children learn through observing others’ model play which is known as social learning theory (Bandura, 1977). Thus, children learn from animals who model emotions, and that can impact their overall well-being.
Animals provide children with unconditional positive regard, assisting with stress management to reduce anxiety further.
Research has found that AAT plays a role in alleviating anxiety. Animals offer a lot of benefits for children, including facilitating positive social interactions, improving empathy, increasing self-confidence, and creating safety (Tahan et al., 2022). Anxiety often develops when children feel they lack social or communication skills. Therefore, AAT helps children create relationships and improve supportive resources that alleviate anxiety in return (Tahan et al., 2022). Additionally, animals provide children with unconditional positive regard, assisting with stress management to reduce anxiety further (Brooks et al., 2018). Providing this service in schools aids students’ abilities to alleviate stress and anxiety while promoting healthy coping mechanisms.
AAT also positively impacts social interaction for elementary aged children. Animals can help children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) improve both their social and communication skills (Dimolavera et al., 2020). Children with ASD often find it easier to communicate with hand gestures rather than verbal language (National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, 2020). Therefore, neurodivergent children may benefit from services that require less verbal communication. Animal interactions don’t have the same social expectations as people, which allow children with ASD to gain confidence when engaging with peers. Research shows that children who have received AAT have higher levels of engagement, enjoyment, and motivation (London et al., 2020). This can translate into school settings, in their community, and with peers or family.
Studies have demonstrated how AAT decreases loneliness for children. AAT is used in virtual settings such as hospitals and demonstrates diminishing feelings of loneliness for children (Roman, 2023). Loneliness is linked to depression. Therefore, loneliness reduction mitigates the potential risk of depression (Erzen et al., 2018). Animals’ presence provides a sense of comfort for those struggling with their mental health due to lessening loneliness. Tying in Erzen et al.’s (2018) study, the concepts carry over to AAT in school settings. The companionship of the animals in AAT school based programs improve attendance, behavior, and lower rates of depression (Thorton, 2020). Mental health programs such as AAT can help assist students in their success both in and out of the classroom.
Safe implementation
AAT is not widely used in U.S. schools due to health and safety risks including diseases, bites, scratches, allergies, animal phobias, and overworking the animal (Serpell et al., 2020). Despite this, other countries have implemented safety measures that the United States could utilize. Reviews find that implementation of safety and security precautions can greatly minimize risks for both clients and animals (Bert et al., 2016). Research has considered precautions by having a zoo therapist veterinarian who guarantees the safety of human-animal interactions (Dice et al., 2017). In the U.S., a designated program handler could ensure that children handle the dogs correctly and the animals aren’t over-stimulated. Children’s safety is a major concern when providing AAT. Studies have ensured safety precautions by teaching children animal body language and introducing children to the dogs before the program (Meints et al., 2022). If children have animal-related phobias, this creates a space for the mental healthcare team to discuss better-suited interventions.
MFTs’ influence in AAT
Studies have highlighted the effectiveness of MFTs in implementing AAT programs. MFTs have the unique ability to notice children playing out family roles when interacting with the dog, allowing the therapist to bring the unconscious to the forefront (Policay & Falconier, 2018). MFTs’ extensive knowledge on theories give them a unique perspective when working with AAT and children in school settings. MFTs have a systematic approach that creates a unique outlook in school based settings. An MFT has the ability to conceptualize cases from a relational lens making them a valuable asset for implementing AAT among children in schools. Children’s mental health is impacted by varying factors, including peer relationships, home life, parent-child relationships, school life, and personality; therefore having a professional who is trained to look at a broad scope is essential when providing non-traditional services like AAT.
Conclusion
Many elementary students struggle with mental health due to academic stress, family conflicts, social pressures, and more. Across the United States, mental health services in schools are limited, and children are not getting the support they need. AAT should be widely implemented in schools to help children with mental and behavioral problems, as well as improve their academic success and guide them toward their goals. AAT can positively impact children by increasing social interaction, emotional identification, plus alleviating anxiety and loneliness. Safety measures and parent consent could be utilized to address barriers and concerns that are preventing programs like these from happening. AAT is an impactful alternative for children who don’t prefer traditional therapy, making services more inclusive. AAT, alongside a trained MFT who has an overall systemic outlook, can be innovative.
Advocacy
AAT has proven to be beneficial however, the system creates barriers to having programs like these. MFT’s have the agency to make changes in the system. One way to get the process started is to volunteer and fundraise for nonprofit AAT organizations, educate schools and families on the benefits of AAT, hold seminars or presentations, and spread awareness to mental health professionals. Additionally, further research should also be conducted to continue the encouragement of funding in schools.
Julie Payne, DMFT, LMFT, is an AAMFT Professional member holding the Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor designations and a Clinical Assistant Professor at Chapman University in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program. She has over 17 years of clinical experience working in community-based mental health and private practice settings. Dr. Payne is currently licensed and practicing in California and Texas specializing in working with families and individuals living with chronic illness/pain, military families, children and adolescents, and trauma.
Ria Diddee, is a second year MFT Student at Chapman. Diddee is an MFT trainee who is interested in working with kids, teens, and young adults who are struggling with anxiety and depression. She strives to work on empowerment, self-esteem, and increasing confidence to boost client efficacy. Throughout Diddee’s journey, she is interested in art therapy, expressive arts, and animal-assisted therapy. As a future therapist, she aspires to think outside the box with traditional therapy and implement new methods that fit each person’s unique needs.
Kareema Tamory, is a first-year MFT student at Chapman University and is a first generation college student. Tamory has worked as a behavioral technician with children on the Autism spectrum, and is passionate about working with children and adolescents. She is also interested in working with survivors of domestic abuse and various marginalized communities.
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