5 Reasons Your Loved Ones Will Thrive with Animal-Assisted Therapy
At Beyond the Paddock, we’ve seen first-hand just how animals can change lives.
Our property on the New South Wales Central Coast is home to a team of friendly and playful animals, each with their own unique way of supporting our participants. Our horses Ruby, Justice, Elvis and Switch are intuitive and grounding, while our dogs Daisy and Lola are playful and full of unconditional love. Even our smaller animals like our goats Kath and Kim or our rabbits are calm and affectionate – creating a bond with every participant they meet.
For many people, the clinical setting of traditional therapy can feel intimidating and overwhelming. But here, surrounded by nature and our friendly animals, we’ve had so many participants experience just how transformative the animal-human connection can be, whilst benefiting from the therapeutic expertise of our team of Allied Health Professionals .
From learning to communicate while incorporating horses into their learning activity to reconnecting with emotions while sitting in the gentle presence of our therapy dogs, participant success moments like this are why we do what we do, and it’s what makes animal-assisted therapy so powerful. Here are 5 reasons why our participants love it:
- It Creates A Safe and Supportive Environment:
Talking about emotions isn’t easy for everybody, and it can be even harder for many in a traditional therapy setting. But when we change up the environment – to something that feels more open and natural, many participants find it much easier to open up and fully engage in the session.
At Beyond The Paddock, we take away the 4 walls and replace it with expansive, open space on the New South Wales Central Coast – surrounded by animals, nature and peace. The result? A no pressure, no judgement, safe place for our participants to approach their therapeutic practice at their own pace.
- It Helps with Emotional Regulation:
We welcome a number of participants with varying needs to Beyond the Paddock, with many coming to us struggling with anxiety, stress or emotional regulation challenges. That’s where the animals come in.
Interacting with animals has been shown to lower stress hormones like cortisol and release those feel-good oxytocin hormones. From playing with our friendly farm dogs to brushing the mane of our beautiful horses, our participants find that interacting with our animals throughout their therapy sessions can be incredibly grounding, calming and provides a tangible way to process emotions.
More specifically though, in a therapeutic context, we love that our animals can help participants in their learning or therapy-based activities, making it both easier and more comfortable to do things that may otherwise be challenging or overwhelming. By completing tasks with an animal by their side, for example, reading a book, it creates a completely non-judgemental and supportive environment, whilst beyond this example, participants are able to experience and feed off the animals’ unique sensitivity and calming nature.
- It’s Engaging & Hands On:
Traditional therapy doesn’t work for everybody, and some of our participants – especially kids, neurodivergent individuals or those who struggle with expressing themselves verbally, benefit from a more hands-on therapeutic approach.
Instead of sitting in a room in a clinical setting, Animal-Assisted Therapy opens the potential to get hands on and really engage with the practice in an alternative way – feeling less like therapy and more like an experience that supports growth and development much more naturally, where participants can learn through the animals’ clear communication tendencies, and easily observe and reflect on actions and feelings.
- It Encourages Social & Communication Skills:
Animals offer a safe and pressure-free way to practice communication and social skills, without the fear of judgement. This can be especially beneficial for participants who struggle with verbal expression, anxiety, or difficulty understanding non-verbal cues.
When humans are around animals they rely on body language, energy and tone to connect – rather than just words. This gives our participants the opportunity to practice awareness of their emotions and learn how to communicate with their bodies – lessons that can be taken into social interactions in their everyday lives.
- It Connects People with Nature:
One of the things that sets us apart here at Beyond the Paddock is that we offer our therapy sessions on a beautiful 11-acre property surrounded by open air, beautiful nature and friendly animals.
Research shows that spending time in nature reduces stress, improves mood and enhances overall wellbeing, so whether our participants are engaging with the animals or simply seeking a natural, alternative form of therapy that goes beyond 4 walls, many find that our space allows for deeper connection, trust and healing.
If you or a loved one is interested to learn more about animal-assisted therapy, we’d love to welcome you to Beyond the Paddock. Come and meet our therapy animals, explore our space and discover just how powerful this unique therapeutic approach can be.
Contact us to find out more about how we can help or check out our services page to read more about our therapy offerings.
Our animals and our team can’t wait to meet you!
