Canine-assisted Psychotherapy Motivation Alliance

Effects of the Inclusion of a Dog in Psychotherapy on Children's Alliance and Treatment Motivation

The aim of the study is to investigate the needed extent and the way a dog is integrated into psychotherapeutic interventions for them to be motivating and alliance building for children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders aged 9 to 17 years old. Specifically, we want to elaborate if the dog needs to be integrated into the therapy in a form that it is part of the therapeutic context or if the presence of the dog without being part of the therapeutic context per se is beneficial.

Inclusion Criteria for children and adolescents: :

• Age between 9 and 17 years
• Children are seeing the therapist for the first time
• Basic knowledge of child and parents in either German or English to be able to fill in questionnaires
• Informed consent given by legal guardian
• Positive or neutral attitude towards dogs

Exclusion Criteria for children and adolescents: :

• acute psychosis; early childhood autism
• diagnosed developmental disorder or intellectual delay; if not diagnosed, exclusion when questionnaires cannot be completed due to development level
• fear of dogs
• allergic reactions to dogs
• reported aggressive behavior towards animals in the past

Inclusion criteria for therapists:

• working with an own therapy dog
• completed therapy training or if not completed far advanced therapy training under supervision
• working with children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years

Exclusion criteria for therapists:

• not working with an own therapy dog
• no completed or far advanced therapy training
• not working with children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years