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Christine Treece, Psy.D, is a 2019 graduate of the PsyD Program in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, Seattle.

Dissertation Committee

William Heusler, Psy.D., Committee Chair

Dana Waters, Psy.D., Committee Member

Mary Wieneke, Ph.D., Committee Member

Keywords

Therapy Dog, AAT Interventions, Impact on Dogs in AAT, Psychologists, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

The current fund of literature documents the many benefits of using dogs as adjunct healing agents for both physical and psychological ailments. Despite the ever-growing body of research about dogs as adjunct interventions, there is a meager amount of information available about clinician’s experience of bringing their dogs to work with them. This dissertation is an in-depth exploration of six psychologists licensed in the state of Washington who brought their dogs with them to work. Each participant’s interview was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. From their interviews, nine primary themes were identified: Reason for the Acquisition of Dog, Nature of Dog, The Human-Dog Relationship, Interventions, Value of Dog in Therapy, Impact on Dogs, When a Dog is Not Available, Downside of Having a Dog in the Room, and Grief and Loss When Dog is No Longer Available. Responses included differences from existing literature including the multiple rolls the dogs play during the work day, how dogs are affected by attending therapy, specific ways dogs are utilized as therapeutic interventions, and some challenges of bringing a dog to the office daily. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohio Link ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd. Keywords: Therapy

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Christine Treece, Psy.D., 2019

ORCID Scholar ID #0000-0003-0872-3361

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