#animal-assisted-therapy

#animal-assisted-therapy

Inside the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gerry Gregg, wearing an A's baseball cap and a U.S. Marine Corps shirt, leans down to give rubs and scratches to Murphy, a fluffy golden retriever who is part of a pet-therapy team from San Jose nonprofit Furry Friends. How are you doing? Gregg, 60, croons to Murphy, who looks adoringly into his eyes. Yeah, I know, Gregg tells the dog.

In a city where stress levels run high and phone screens rarely go dim, New York college students are getting an unlikely new therapist this week: cats. From October 8-10, Purina Cat Chow is parking a roving "Therapod" around Manhattan campuses to mark World Mental Health Day-and give students a reason to put down their phones and pick up a purring feline instead.

Horses are deeply emotional beings and have been shown to be able to help adults and children heal from a variety of psychological and physical conditions. 1 For this and other reasons, I was very pleased to learn of a new collection of essays compiled by Colorado State University Professor of Clinical Studies Dr. Lori Kogan in a book titled Equine-Assisted Services: Studies Illustrating the Potential Benefits for Children, Adolescents and Adults.