Date of Award
2021
Document Type
Doctoral Research Paper
Degree Name
Psy.D.
Organizational Unit
Graduate School of Professional Psychology
First Advisor
John McNeill
Second Advisor
Peter Buirski
Third Advisor
Samantha McBride
Keywords
Animal-assisted therapy, Canine-assisted therapy, Exposure therapy
Abstract
Fear and anxiety are natural reactions to actual threat conditions but can become “pathological” when over-generalized avoidance interferes with long-term wellbeing and valued living. Pervasive experiential avoidance hinders natural extinction processes as it reduces repeated contact with feared stimuli, a condition necessary for extinction to occur. Exposure therapy (ET) is a clinical analogue of extinction, and one of the best evidence-based treatments for fear and anxiety. However, ET’s usefulness suffers in real-world clinical conditions. The current conceptual paper proposes that ET’s limitations may be overcome through a tailored approach that integrates animal-assisted therapy (AAT), specifically the use of dogs, to incorporate the judicious use of safety conditions during ET. This paper posits that these procedural adjustments might enhance ET’s perceived acceptability by clients and therapists, offer flexibility in use for individual clinical presentations, and amplify long-term treatment gains, thereby targeting some of ET’s current limitations that keep the promise of this approach from those who may benefit from it.
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Extent
46 pgs
Recommended Citation
Bono, Stephanie B., "Canine-assisted Exposure Therapy" (2021). Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects. 427.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/capstone_masters/427