Dogs are one of the most common pets in many households and for good reason. They love unconditionally, make us laugh and help us to feel happy when we’re down. What you may not know is that they can also help with counselling.
The use of pet therapy dogs during a counselling session can be an amazing experience to both adults and children alike, it has been proven to reduce stress levels while boosting moods!
Here are 10 reasons why pet therapy dogs are a great addition to a counselling session:
1) Dogs provide unconditional love and comfort in a way that counsellors cannot. Allowing the client to feel more relaxed and comfortable in the counselling environment.
2) Pet therapy dogs offer a distraction from current issues by providing moments of happiness and joy that help clients to see the easier side of life, resulting in an increased sense of hope for better days ahead.
3) Therapy dogs can help their clients to reduce stress levels during sessions, allowing them to maintain a healthy mood whilst talking about potentially upsetting emotions.
4) Pet Therapy can benefit both adults and children who are going through difficult times thanks to their loving nature and their naturally relaxing aura.
5) Having a dog present during counselling can help clients with emotional or behavioural problems to explore thoughts and feelings that are difficult to talk about.
6) A pet therapy dog can help clients to understand boundaries. As dogs are good at self-soothing, they are able to take themselves away from a situation where they are uncomfortable.
7) Dogs have the ability to mirror emotions and feelings, allowing clients to feel understood. When they are around people who are feeling happy, they are happy.
8) Therapy dogs can help to increase a person's feelings of self-worth. Having a dog that wants to play and interact can offer a sense of belonging and help to lift a client's mood.
9) A pet therapy dog can help a client to better understand trust, touch, and self-respect. A person can explore this in a non-judgemental way with the dog - this is particularly useful for an individual who has experienced abuse.
10) A therapy dog can help you to develop relationships, starting with the new relationship with the therapy dog. The companionship and friendship of the pet therapy dog during difficult times can help develop trust.
Here at the counselling hub we have 2 pet therapy dogs; Ellie and Joy. Ellie has been a member of the team since we were founded - Joy has recently joined the team and will be undergoing her training very soon.
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Coming in for couples counselling, we were both nervous about how the session would work having not done anything like this before.
He listened to each of us and made it feel very light-hearted and easy. We were able to share our feelings and thoughts and Ian gently guided us to explain our views to help us see each other’s views and gave us things to think about for next week.
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Personally, I was a very sceptical individual and initially attended as a good Will gesture to my family who had encouraged me to do so……. that being said I found myself to be able to talk to (let’s be honest, a stranger) about my life and its difficulties in an open and comfortable fashion……. don’t get me wrong I’m no soft touch! But I found it genuinely comforting to be able to do so! …. it makes me ask and look for answers from myself ….. rather than someone with a title telling me what’s wrong……,
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“We want to support our team when ‘life happens’. We asked NWCH to be our ‘go to’ support service for counselling and emotional support to help members of our team, if they need it, get them through some difficult personal issues such as bereavement and anxiety. The team at the hub are incredibly supportive and have provided a lifeline to our team”
Lincoln Employer referring employees to NWCH Counselling Service.
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We are a company that believes in investing in our staff, and it is great to see when that investment is so profound and has such a positive impact, especially when it comes to people’s wellbeing.
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