Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy and Animal-Assisted Therapy: Stress Management for Adults

Abstract

Background: Different studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) for different conditions, including stress management. The effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is well-supported by evidence suggesting that it may be as good as, but not better than, other types of interventions for stress management. Objectives: The limitations of those studies were the impetus for the study described in the current article. The aim was to learn how effectively CBT versus AAT + CBT techniques relieved stress in two groups of adults. Materials and methods: The same stress-management work shop was applied to two groups, one using CBT alone and the other including active participation of therapy dogs together with the CBT. There were 30 adults in the study; they were divided into a CBT group and a CBT + AAT group. The animal chosen for the AAT study was a dog. Results: Reductions of stress and psychosomatic symptoms were found for both groups. Conclusion: The presence of a dog is beneficial for reducing stress levels. An additional benefit for the group with dog-assisted therapy was that a larger number of participants adhered to the treatment.