Dogs In Aid Of Emotionally Challenged In Costa Rica

Dogs help guide the steps of the visually impaired and rehabilitation for those with physical disabilities. But now, these animals are also support therapy for people with emotional disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder or diseases such as autism or Alzheirmer's.

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a type of therapy that involves animals as a form of treatment. The goal of AAT is to improve a patient’s social, emotional, or cognitive functioning. Animals can also be useful for educational and motivational effectiveness for participants.

Psychiatrists, psychologists, educators and people working with people with emotional conditions in Costa Rica, have begun training to incorporate therapy dogs.

The Fundación Bocalán de España has been giving workshops at psychiatric centres.

"This does not replace medical treatment, but it is a way in which patients to make progress in their rehabilitation", said Marjorie Navarro, coordinator of the Fundación Bacalán in Costa Rica.


Animals are tools for therapy because they can make people feel safe and loved when they have been deprived of social interaction or hurt by other people.

They do not communicate with words, and so patients afraid of approaching people can comfortably approach an animal.
Additionally, a therapist who brings along a pet is viewed as being less dangerous by the patient, and so the previously uncommunicative patient is willing to share more with the professional.

The conditions of mental institutions have improved over the years, but patients can still have anxiety when they are hospitalized. Dr. Barker and Dr. Dawson (1998) performed a study on the use of AAT in reducing anxiety levels of institutionalized patients. They determined that anxiety levels were significantly reduced in patients with mood disorders and psychotic disorders after a session of AAT. In fact, for the patients with psychotic disorders, those who participated in AAT had twice the reduction in anxiety scores as those who participated in some other form of recreational activity. This suggests the low demands of human-animal interaction was effective for individuals with psychotic disorders as compared to traditional therapy .