Two and a half years ago I became the "human" to two male kittens, age 4 ½ weeks. A policewoman had found them lying on the ground between the paws of a protective dog. She took them to the local veterinarian's office. I had been searching around for two kittens and the minute I heard about them I rushed over to take them home.
Originally I intended to keep them in another room of my house while working as a therapist, since I felt it would be distracting to let them into my therapy sessions. I was so wrong!
On that first day with my new pets, I put them into my bedroom, closed the door and went to work in my office down the hallway. Somehow those two tiny balls of fur opened the door, wandered down the hall and endeared themselves to the patients sitting in my waiting room. From that moment on Boots and Tiger became my co-therapists, a vital part of all my psychotherapy and hypnotherapy work.
When people walk into my office for the first time they are often tense and nervous. The minute they see the cats, however, they relax. Their faces light up. Sometimes they begin talking to them, and they find it easier to talk to me about difficult topics-especially when Boots or Tiger sit on their laps. Frequently patients identify with their story of abandonment. They may emulate the verve and assertiveness of "regal" Boots. Or they will sympathize with shy "scaredy cat" Tiger and feel inspired in their own growth as they watch him grow bolder. On other occasions lonely patients believe they will find a relationship as they see the cats interact. One minute my cats are wrestling with each other on the ground. The next moment they are lying down together with their paws around each other's neck, cuddling.
I am not alone in including animals in psychotherapy. Pet Facilitated Therapy started about 50 years ago when psychologist Boris Levin observed his dog Jingles encourage a frightened, withdrawn ten year old boy begin to talk. And since then numerous people have brought a whole range of animals into therapeutic settings. Dogs and cats are the most common pet therapist, but chickens, horses, dolphins, pigs, rabbits, and even snakes help their human companions feel loved, comforted and more able to communicate. Animals provide therapy in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, old age homes, prisons and centers for the mentally retarded. Many support people during times of trauma, such as the Oklahoma City or the World Trade Center bombings and they provide much nurturance and encouragement to consumers of mental health services.
Although the mental health world originally discounted the value of Pet Facilitated Therapy, numerous research reports confirm its great value. You can look up information on the web page of the Delta Society (www.deltasociety.org), an organization that both trains therapy animals and supports research on animal/human relationships. Research shows, for example, that when people hold a pet in their lap or even look at a pet in the same room, their blood pressure decreases! And this includes snakes and turtles or fish swimming in an aquarium, not just cuddly cats and dogs. An animal's loving, unconditional response helps people experience a sense of security and connection. People recovering from a serious illness or children adjusting to illness or death in the family do better when they have an animal. Married couples with a pet report better communication and greater marital satisfaction than those without pets.
Animals calm us down and center us. They provide us with a sense of safety through their gift of unconditional love. They help slow down our hectic pace and reconnect us with the natural world that our modern technological society tends to alienate us from. As we go through life hoping to experience a more healthy and happy existence, we may not only wish to eat good food, exercise regularly and take our medicine and vitamins, but also to consider another possibility-to bring an animal into our hearts.