What is Animal-Assisted Therapy? How It Works & Who It’s For
Animal-assisted therapy is more than just spending a nice afternoon around some animals. It’s a powerful tool that can be used within professional therapy settings, to enhance the emotional, physical and social wellbeing of the participant – whoever they may be.
At Beyond the Paddock, we offer a structured, evidence-based approach to animal-assisted therapy, across a range of Allied Health domains – including Counselling, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy – designed to meet the needs of children, adolescents, and adults seeking support outside of a traditional clinical setting. But what exactly is AAT, and how does it work?
Let’s chat about the different types of animal-assisted therapy we offer here at Beyond The Paddock, and who can benefit from this alternative approach to therapy.
What is Animal-Assisted Therapy?
Animal-Assisted Therapy (or – AAT for short) incorporates animals such as horses, dogs, rabbits and other farm animals within therapeutic intervention. As with traditional therapy methodology, AAT sessions are guided by a qualified professional such as a Counselor, Speech Pathologist or Occupational Therapist to support emotional wellbeing, confidence and personal growth.
While other animal-assisted activities may be similar (like pet visitation programs), AAT has a unique edge when used to help participants living with anxiety, depression, PTSD, neurodivergence or other conditions, as it follows a structured and individualised set of goals and has measurable, tangible therapeutic outcomes – and must be run by an Allied Health Professional who delivers their therapy whilst incorporating animals.
This innovative therapy leverages the bond between humans and animals as an alternative form of therapy and can have an incredibly powerful impact when guided by trained professionals in a supportive and welcoming environment – something we pride ourselves on facilitating at Beyond The Paddock.
How Does It Work?
As with traditional forms of therapy, our passionate, highly experienced Allied Health Professionals design each session to meet the individual needs of each and every participant.
A few examples of this include…
AAT may be used in a physical sense to improve coordination and strength, develop body awareness and control or refine motor skills (just to name a few), helping participants to gain confidence and independence in their physical bodies.
It may be used to reinforce the power of communication under the guidance of a speech pathologist – a tool for participants to practice using clear, expressive language in the presence of a client, non-judgmental (furry or otherwise) partner.
Or it may be used to regulate emotions and reinforce boundaries, enhancing feelings of trust, self-worth and emotional healing.
The thing is, these examples are only a few ways that we use Animal Assisted Therapy each and every day. On the whole, AAT exists to benefit therapeutic goals, regardless of what they are, and create a unique experience where participants are so engrossed in their learning environment, that they don’t even feel as though it’s a therapy setting.
Whether the focus is on physical, social or psychological wellbeing, the animals are all about serving as a silent but powerful partner, helping each and every individual to grow and develop in ways they may not otherwise be able to in a traditional therapy setting.
Each of the animals selected to work at Beyond The Paddock is highly trained and well looked after on our 11+ acre property on the New South Wales Central Coast, to ensure the safety of our participants and effectiveness of the intervention. Our animals are calm and predictable, responsive to cues by both our therapists and participants, and are trained to recognise and respond to human emotions with calming behaviors to build trust and connection with our participants.
What Types of Animal-Assisted Therapy Are There?
There are many different forms of AAT, and here at Beyond The Paddock we offer a range of beautiful animals to choose from based on our participants’ needs, preferences and specific goals. These are the most common forms of AAT – all of which we are proud to offer:
Equine Therapy (Horse Therapy): These big, beautiful creatures are used to support physical, emotional and cognitive challenges.
Why Horse or Equine Therapy?
– Their rhythmic movement mimics a human’s walking pattern, which can help with coordination, bodily awareness and motor skill development.
– Horses are highly sensitive to human emotions and can reflect a client’s energy and feelings, making them very powerful as a therapy partner.
– Creating a bond with our therapy horses has been seen to improve self-esteem, patience and emotional regulation.
– Horses’ naturally seek leadership from those they trust, making them an amazing partner for participants looking to improve self confidence through truly interactive tasks.
Examples of Equine Therapy used in our sessions:
- Switch, our horse came to a Speech Therapy session to support a participant who was feeling anxious about an upcoming dental appointment. Rather than directly addressing the participant’s fear, we shifted the focus to Switch—creating a safe, indirect pathway to explore the topic.
We began by chatting about Switch’s dental hygiene—together, we had a look at his teeth and even researched the best ways to care for them. Framing the discussion around Switch allowed the participant to engage comfortably without feeling pressured or put on the spot—the participant was able to naturally relate the conversation back to their own situation. By subconsciously working through their own feelings via Switch, they were able to process and express emotions more freely, while still practicing key communication skills like expressive language, sequencing, and vocabulary.
- Fine motor skills in Occupational Therapy – to strengthen fine motor control, the participant used different grooming tools like brushes and curry combs, adjusting their grip and pressure. Activities like plaiting the mane, using spray bottles, and washing the horse support hand strength, bilateral coordination, and dexterity in a fun, meaningful way.
Canine Therapy (Dog Therapy): One of the most common forms of AAT – these kind and caring fluff-balls are used to offer emotional support, help to reduce anxiety and improve communication.
Why Dog Therapy?
– Petting a dog lowers blood pressure and heart rate, reducing anxiety.
– A dog’s presence in therapy helps to provide social support, motivation and structure to the session.
– Dogs are able to provide direct body language feedback, providing useful cues to participants in a therapeutic context when managing frustration tolerance and emotional regulation – whereby calmness and love leads to trust and affection, as well as the opposite.
An example of Dog Therapy used in our sessions:
- Daisy, our friendly therapy dog was incorporated into a Speech Therapy session to support a participant who is working on increasing their voice volume.
Rather than asking the participant to practise loud talking in a structured or clinical way, we turned it into a fun and natural interaction with Daisy. The participant was encouraged to call Daisy’s name using different volumes to see which one would get her attention — we experimented with soft, medium, and loud voices, and observed Daisy’s reactions together.
It was a motivating and enjoyable way to work on voice projection, and Daisy made the perfect training partner — especially when there were treats involved!
Other Animal Therapies: A range of other animals are commonly used in AAT such as rabbits, cats, and sometimes even dolphins.
And, yes, as much as we’d love to work with dolphins, it’s a bit beyond our scope!
Here at Beyond The Paddock we have a little therapy rabbit. Rabbits are often used for anxiety, stress relief and are commonly favoured with neurodivergent participants. Their small, soft and calm nature makes them ideal for people who may be afraid of larger animals.
We also have a range of other farm animals including Kath and Kim – our goats and Nugget, Goldie, Sonic and Maggie – our chickens. The whole team encourages interaction and movement – their presence within therapy sessions making for an engaging and multi-sensory experience.
An example of Animal Therapy used in our sessions:
- The afternoon feeding and round up of our four sprightly chickens becomes an exercise in problem solving, sensory exploration, regulation and impulse control. Cleaning and refilling the feed and water stations is a purposeful task which also fosters responsibility, while providing the opportunity to work on attention, retaining information and following directions. Carrying full feed and water containers is a great way to provide proprioceptive input for regulation through heavy work. This activity provides lots of opportunities for problem solving, experiencing trial and error/cause and effect, supported strategic thinking, right/left discrimination and communication skills. Not to mention developing frustration tolerance, perseverance and impulse control – chasing those chickens can be very tempting!
Our eventual success provided a real sense of achievement and an opportunity to reflect on our own night time routines and what we do to prepare ourselves for bed at the end of the day.
So, Who Can Benefit From Animal-Assisted Therapy?
Similarly to traditional therapy, there are no barriers to entry for AAT, and here at Beyond The Paddock we are welcoming and supportive to all who wish to partake. Our participants come from a range of situations and needs, some of which include:
– Individuals with neurodiverse needs
– People living with anxiety, trauma or mental health challenges
– Children and adults with developmental conditions
– People seeking therapy outside of a traditional clinical setting
Starting a new therapy modality for anybody can be daunting and overwhelming, so if you’re wondering whether AAT is right for you or a loved one, we here at Beyond The Paddock are always more than happy to discuss your personal situation and needs to help you determine the right decision for you.
The Beyond The Paddock Difference
Our animal-assisted therapy sessions take place on a beautiful, peaceful property set in the natural surrounds of Jilliby, NSW – just off the M1, and 7 minutes from Tuggerah Westfield Wyong. We pride ourselves on our team of passionate, kind and caring Allied Health professionals, who want the best for each and every one of their participants, whether they’re seeking support through NDIS funding or private sessions.
At Beyond The Paddock we truly believe that animals have the power to transform lives.
Our job? To provide a unique, safe and supportive environment that promotes emotional resilience, communication, self-awareness and ultimately meaningful therapeutic progress.
If you believe you or a loved one could benefit from a holistic, engaging and effective therapy experience, we’d love to help. Contact us to learn more about how we can support you and check out our services page to discover more about what we offer.
