Dogs as crisis assistants?

Transcription

1 Dogs as crisis assistants? Filomena Bua Supervisors: Psychologist, Doctor Clinical Science (Counselling & Psychotherapy) student Dr. Melissa Monfries, La Trobe University Professor Pranee Liamputtong, La Trobe University

2 Workshop program Introduction to Animal Assisted Crisis Response (AACR) Background: Theoretical and research Exploration on the use of dogs for crisis work Introduction to doctoral study Findings from the doctoral study Discussion: What do you think about the use of dogs as assistants for crisis intervention work?

3 AACR Introduction Resulted from September 11 th New York disaster 500 AAT teams responded Subsequently used in USA by local, State and National services Deployments: Floods, fires, train derailments, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Newtown school shooting Consist of a human handler and dog team Specialised in providing emotional support to people affected by disasters, including front line respondents AAT certified and 12 visits CISM or psychological first aide certified AACR certified 2010 National Standards document (Eaton Stull, Ehlers, Ganser, Lothrop, Rideout, Levenson, (2010)

4 AACR Introduction AACR is a new emerging field. 13 years old No research studies, Descriptive publications (Greenbaum, 2006; Shubert, 2012) Organisations (HOPE AACR, NAACR, CCCR, NOAH) Only uses dogs Draws from AAT, CISM, crisis intervention principles and practice: Therefore closely aligning it to the crisis intervention and crisis counselling fields (Greenbaum, 2006)

5 AACR: Service delivery model AACR Organisation AACR Team Leader Crisis Professional AACR dog handler Individual affected by crisis AACR Dog

6 Dogs in mental health field background 18thCentury: Tuke introduced notion of animals for residents suffering with a mental illness in an English retreat (Schaefer, 2002) 19thCentury: Freud wrote that the human dog bond produced feelings of intimacy, solidarity and friendship. Claimed his dog, Jofi had a calming effect on his patients (Salk, 2010; O Callaghan, 2008) Levinson, a child clinical psychiatrist noted the effect his dog had on his more resistant clients. Dog assisted the client therapist relationship (Schaefer, 2002). Was one of the first mental health professionals to present the concept of AAT to the mental health field at the American Psychological Association Convention in 1961 (O'Callaghan, 2008; Schaefer, 2002)

7 Human dog bond: Perspectives Bio evolutionary and Naturalistic Biophilia hypothesis Animals have an innate attentiveness to the world around them, they detect and decipher environmental cues which assist human survival (Wilson, 1984) Quality of life Blood pressure, anxiety (Odendaal, 2000), heart conditions (Friedmann, Katcher, Lynch, & Thomas 1980) Social Social lubricants is a term applied to dogs because of their ability to facilitate social interaction between humans (Schneider & Harley, 2006) Extension of self and others (Belk 1996)

8 Human dog bond: Perspectives Attachment and relationship Attachment Theory: The human dog relationship for humans emotionally resembles the parent child bond (Bowlby, 1977). Surrogate kin (Wilson, 1984) Dogs have been modified to look and behave like tame affectionate children requiring care (Prato Previde, Custance, Spiezio, & Sabatini, 2003) Theory of mind Humans have the capacity and internal structures which enable them to have cognitive representations of another person s state of mind (Siegel, 2004), dogs may also have theory of mind (Custance & Mayer, 2012)

9 AACR Study Examine parameters under which AACR is initiated, delivered and of benefit to crisis response services, in particular crisis counsellors Under what conditions is AACR pertinent to the crisis intervention community? How do AACR teams work with crisis counsellors? Provide a research base for AACR work What interpretations do AACR dog handlers and crisis counsellors who have worked with AACR dogs have of the work these dogs do What do the AACR dogs do? What symbolic meanings are attributed to the dogs? How is this different from what other crisis counselling and support services do? Identify future development options and recommendations for AACR What is the future development for AACR? AACR development within the Australian context

10 AACR study AACR Organisation AACR Team Leader Crisis Professional AACR dog handler AACR Dog Individual affected by crisis

11 AACR study Filomena Bua

12 AACR Study Findings: Critical incident small or large scale (reactive) THE NATURE OF CRISIS Psychotherapy crisis response (planned) Community crisis response (planned)

13 AACR Study The nature of crisis Main findings from AACR study AACR services are closely aligned to crisis intervention principles. Can operate in collaboration with other crisis support services for people affected by a crisis Hobfoll, Watson, Bryant, Brymer, Friedman, (2007) identified five empirically supported intervention principles for early to mid term stages of crisis intervention Calming Sense of safety Sense of self and collective efficacy Connectedness Hope Promote these principles for people and communities affected by crisis events

14 AACR Study Findings: Normality Attachment Comfort and calming SYMBOLIC MEANINGS GIVEN TO DOGS Safety Mystique

15 AACR Study Symbolic meanings given to dogs Main findings from AACR study AACR dogs are perceived as extensions of crisis counsellors Operate as a conduit between those that need psychological help and professions who can provide it World views can be shattered by disasters. Assumptions about the prevailing sense of safety in the world can be challenged (Hobfoll et al., 2007) Research shows that generally the utilisation of mental services following disasters is generally low (Rodriguez & Kohn, 2008)

16 AACR Study Findings: Training and role WORKING LIKE A DOG Dog empathy Dog temperament and abilities

17 AACR Study Working like a dog Main findings from AACR study Distinctiveness of AACR dogs, AACR dog handlers, and the human dog bond combine to provide a unique service AACR dogs are available to people affected by crisis in ways other crisis personnel cannot be Dogs as part of the crisis response, also provide natural crisis intervention (calming, BP, etc.) to the more resistant populations (emergency respondents)

18 Dogs as assistants for crisis intervention? What do you think? Filomena Bua Psychologist mobile

19 References Belk, R. (1996). Metaphoric relationships with pets. Society and Animals, 4(2), Bowlby, J. (1977). The making and breaking of affectional bonds. 1. Aetiology and psychopathology in the light of attachment theory. British Journal of Psychiatry, 130, Custance, D., & Mayer, J. (2012). Empathic like responding by domestic dogs (canis familiaris) to distress in humans: an exploratory study. Animal Cognition, 15(5), doi: /s Eaton Stull, Y., Ehlers, C., Ganser, D., Lothrop, G., Rideout, A. & Levenson, A. (2010, March 7). Retrieved August 13, 2011, from Friedmann, E., Katcher, A. H., Lynch, J. J., & Thomas, S. A. (1980). Animal companions and one year survival of patients after discharge from a coronary care unit. Public Health Reports, 95(4), Greenbaum, S. (2006). Introduction to working with animal assisted crisis response animal handler teams. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 8(1), Hobfoll, S., Watson, P., Bell, C., Bryant, R., Brymer, M., Friedman, M., et al. (2007). Five essential elements of immediate and mid term mass trauma intervention: Empirical evidence. Psychiatry, 70(4), Odendaal, J. S. (2000). Animal assisted therapy magic or medicine? Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 49, O'Callaghan, D. (2008). Exploratory study of animal assisted therapy interventions used by mental health professionals. Retrieved August 16, 2011, from

20 References Prato Previde, E., Custance, D. M., Spiezio, C., & Sabatini, F. (2003). Is the dog human relationship an attachment bond? An observational study using Ainsworth's strange situation. Behaviour, 140, Rodriguez, J, & Kohn, R. (2008). Use of mental health services among disaster survivors. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 21, Salk, P. (2010, November 8th). Who did Freud use for therapy? Retrieved August 13th, 2011, from did freud use for therapy/ Schaefer, K. (2002). Human animal interactions as a therapeutic intervention. Counselling and Human Development, 34(5), 1 17 Schneider, M. S., & Harley, L. P. (2006). How dogs influence the evaluation of psychotherapists. Anthrozoos, 19(2), Shubert, J. (2012). Therapy dogs and stress management assistance during disasters. Retrieved June 29, 2013, from Siegel, D. (2004). Attachment and self understanding: Parenting with the brain in mind. Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health, 18(4), Wilson, E. O. (1984). Biophilia. The human bond with other species. USA: Harvard University Press