This can be one of the highly rewarding animal careers as an animal assisted therapy can bring real benefits to people who are ill or disabled.
You’ll generally find dogs are used within Animal Assisted Interventions because they are so intelligent, in tune with human emotions, and easy to train. Though that’s not to say you won’t find all manner of animals working in animal therapy! All types from birds to fish, horses, cats and even lizards can have substantial soothing benefits for humans.
Animal Assisted Intervention International describe this form of therapy as:
A goal-directed intervention (that) is designed to promote improvement in physical, social, emotional and/or cognitive functioning of the person(s) involved and in which a specially trained animal-handler team is an integral part. These animal intervention sessions are ideally set with specific goals for each individual in mind. Though, they can also be casual and spontaneous depending on the needs of the individual. Either way, the intervention process will be documented and evaluated.
If you want to learn how to provide AAI or Animal Assisted Interventions, our online qualification will get you job ready.
