Child and Adolescence Psychotherapeutic Counselling and Animal Assisted Interventions

Back in January 2021, and as part of my wider research into care farming and green care, I decided to look more deeply into psychotherapeutic counselling. Specifically, I looked at an introduction to child and adolescence psychotherapeutic counselling, to give it its full title. 

This short postgraduate course with the University of Cambridge is aimed at those professionals who are already working with children and young people in roles such as teaching, social work or similar. The course explores the therapeutic relationship, safeguarding, ethical considerations, underpinning theoretical perspectives and neurobiological ideas, as well as discussing practical counselling skills that could be employed in a work setting.

Since I first became aware of Animal Assisted Interventions and Therapies I have been fascinated by the distinction between interventions, therapeutic support and therapy and which professionals are 'qualified' to deliver the different types of sessions. Additionally, there may be occasions when a professional's drive to meet a client's therapeutic requirements may inadvertently take precedence over the ethical implications of using animals and meeting the animal's needs too. Of course, it should be understood that certain types of session can only be delivered by persons who have the appropriate training and qualifications so I was keen to understand which Animal Assisted Interventions could be offered by care farms and at what point, or under what circumstances, would specialist professionals need to become involved.

Animal Assisted Therapy is currently an unregulated area within the UK but anyone wishing to offer psychotherapeutic counselling or similar therapeutic methods need to be qualified in those fields. Countries such as Israel and the USA are more advanced in their steps towards regulation and requiring professionals operating in these fields hold relevant and appropriate qualifications.

Dr Boris Levinson is known as the modern 'father of animal assisted therapy' after he accidentally discovered the soothing nature of animals after observing the reactions of his clients to his dog Jingles, who would often sit in the therapy room during sessions. Levinson decided to experiment further and is credited with building a comprehensive knowledge base for the field, despite scepticism from others at the time. He thought that the presence of animals could help to create a atmosphere that felt secure and safe for clients.

Animal Assisted Interventions and Therapies are still an under-researched area and is an area I would like to investigate further during my Churchill Fellowship.