The Healing Power of Animals

In Britain, 1 in 4 adults experiences some sort of mental health problem each year, most commonly anxiety or depression. But in the U.K., as in the U.S., increasingly, animals are being used in treatment programs to improve the mental health and well-being of patients.
Pet therapy programs had their start in the 1960s thanks to an American child psychologist who discovered by accident that the presence of his dog in therapy sessions with a child patient helped to open the boy up.
And an Australian Cattle Dog named Sasha, who accompanies her owner, a clinical psychologist working for the U.K.’s National Health Service, on patient visits has made a difference in the lives of a patient with language difficulties, and another with severe depression.
The healing benefit of animals is probably linked to a person’s individual mental health and human needs rather than the particular breed of dog involved, or the type of animal.
Both horses and cats are also used with good success in treating people with a wide range of mental health concerns.