People whisperers- how animals help us heal

I borrowed the title of this post from a movie which in turn was based on a novel by Nicholas Evans-The Horse Whisperer.

His voice can calm wild horses and his touch heal broken spirits.

from the novel, The Horse Whisperer

I haven’t read the novel, but I saw the movie starring Robert Redford and Kristin Scott Thomas, two of my favorite actors.

When the teenage daughter of Thomas’ character suffers a severe accident involving her beloved horse, she calls on Redford’s character, a man who knows horses, to work with the girl and her horse to help them both heal. It’s worth watching if you haven’t and I plan to read the novel soon.

Man’s best friend

Calling a dog  “man’s best friend” may be a cliché, but it seems true for many people who consider their pets family members. And for some people, animals are not only pets, but helpers and therapists.

 

More than pets

Guide Dogs have been used to help visually impaired persons for hundreds of years, but now they and other animals assist people with other types of disabilities, as well as provide companionship and comfort.

Emotional support animals

An emotional support animal (ESA) is a companion animal which provides therapeutic benefit, such as alleviating or mitigating some symptom of the disability, to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability. Emotional support animals are typically dogs and cats, but may include other animals.

My cat Smokey has been gone many years, but we still remember him fondly.

Service Animals

A service animal is any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.

Dr. Vania Manipod  explains how these terms apply to psychiatric illnesses in her blog post here-

Therapy Pet-Friendly Guide

I made friends with this service horse at Las Torres resort in  Patagonia Chile. He and the other horses were free to roam the grounds after a hard day of giving rides to guests. 

Service animals and the Law

The Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, “requires State and local government agencies, businesses, and non-profit organizations (covered entities) that provide goods or services to the public to make “reasonable modifications” in their policies, practices, or procedures when necessary to accommodate people with disabilities. The service animal rules fall under this general principle.”

Other countries may have different laws so if you plan to travel abroad with your animal assistant, you should check the laws for your destination prior to arrival to avoid any problems with your animal’s entry or departure.

Remember that animal assistants are not just pets, they are working; so we should not distract them or interfere with their duties when we encounter them, as this report warns.

Guide dog handlers are urging the public to resist the temptation to pat the working animals regardless of how cute they are.

The Veteran’s Health Administration uses horses to help veterans deal with PTSD.

And for other veterans, “living with wolves” saves their lives.

Sharing the HEART of health with our animal companions

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Dr Aletha