Animal therapy

At Mosaic, our Animal Therapy is in partnership with TMH Animal Therapy Department in Tallahassee Florida. Animal Therapy sessions invite an animal and it's handler into the counseling process. The animal, who is typically a dog, will help clients through the therapy process by easing intense emotions and providing comfort. Animal Therapy or Animal Assisted interventions are helpful with a variety of clients including children, teens, and adults. Incorporating animals into therapy sessions has been proven to decrease anxiety and offer coping when discussing difficult topics.

Animal Therapy is helpful for all ages and can be beneficial to address a variety of concerns. Animal Therapy has been used to help young children, or older kids, teens, adolescents, college age and young adults or older adults. The therapy animals can help clients overcome a myriad of clinical concerns including anxiety, trauma, depression, identity, self esteem, behavioral issues, animal phobias and more. Any client who is willing to invite a trained therapy dog and their handler into counseling sessions, is a good fit. Animal therapy is not a good fit for anyone with a history of animal cruelty or individuals with low regulation skills resulting in big behavioral outbursts. Mosaic makes animal therapy available to the Tallahassee community. 

 For many of us, the presence of an animal prompts the body to release serotonin, prolactin and oxytocin. These hormones generate a relaxation and stress-reducing response, according to UCLA Health. Did  you  know this can actually lower symptoms of depression, anxiety and sadness, helping support good mental health. When an individual engages with an animal, it actually regulates the body’s nervous system. Animals also have a keen innate sense of how to ground us. That's why in an animal therapy session, the therapy dog might go around and "greet" everyone; to help us all feel calmer and more safe. Animal therapy is founded in the research that as we engage with animals our brain creates new pathways for soothing, learning and growth. Animal Therapy offers a space for counseling clients to regulate their nervous system during the therapy process. Imagine if while talking about hard things you could feel the comfort of a calm sweet pup laying their head in your lap. Animal therapy offers comfort to clients in a new way compared to traditional talk therapy. 

Mosaic Creative Counseling partners with the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Animal Therapy Department in Tallahassee Florida. At TMH, Animal Therapy teams consist of one animal (typically a dog) and one handler. To become a credentialed team with TMH, both handler and the animal complete thorough training and temperament testing. This intense process helps to ensure that both animal and handler are well equipped and ready to participate in Animal Therapy sessions. The animal therapy handler's primary job is to take care of the animal and watch for signs of distress. They are the animals advocate; meaning the therapist still leads the sessions and handlers only intervene if the animal needs something. When a Client is ready to try animal therapy they are matched with an animal and handler based on their needs and comfort level. If a large dog might be more comforting, we take that into consideration. Our goal is to make clients at ease during this process. Keep in mind that the animal handler is well versed in confidentiality and adheres to the same level of confidentiality as mental health professionals.