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Animal-Assisted Play Therapy — Bringing Metaphor to Life
By Cynthia J. Weaver, DMin, MDiv, ACSW, LSW, and C. Fred Weaver, MSW, ACSW, LSW
Social Work Today
Vol. 6 No. 1 P. 31

An animal as "cotherapist?" Read how including animals in play therapy can help open some locked doors.

I watch from my window as Mrs. James encourages her daughter Abby to exit the car. Together, they slowly walk toward my office. Abby is clutching a stuffed animal while holding tightly to her mother’s coat as they pass my pond, where Mrs. James points out the fish and turtles.

Soon, Mrs. James is sitting in my office, holding Abby, with “Duckie” the stuffed animal on Abby’s lap. Mrs. James had previously explained that Abby cried inconsolably upon her arrival at school. Consolation for Abby only came when she was excused to go to the nurse’s office, and then Mrs. James picked up her daughter. This process continued for the first month of school, despite discussions, incentives, and structure. Although Abby is in kindergarten, both teachers and parents are concerned over Abby’s inability to separate from her mother.

As a play therapist, my office is full of Play-Doh, books, puppets, easels, blackboards, art supplies, and an overflowing toy box. The outside pond, sandbox, and ramped deck to enter my office are additional areas for play in warm weather. Abby, however, is not interested in any activities available to her—instead, she sits on her mother’s lap clutching her Duckie. Abby will not talk and appears frightened and sad. Her mother unsuccessfully attempts to engage Abby in play or discussion. Mrs. James tells me the presenting problem and interventions she has tried to reduce it. As a single parent, Mrs. James conveys her own frustration of repeatedly leaving work to pick up Abby from school—a pattern causing difficulty at her place of employment.

The Human-Animal Connection
Soon into the session, my “cotherapist” enters the room: Sterling, a cat I use in my animal-assisted practice. The animal-human connection is recognized as a practice intervention with individuals, families, and groups (Becker, 2002; Bernard, 1995; Endenburg, Baarda, 1996; Fine, 1999; Hansen, Messinger, Baun, & Megal, 1999; Kruger, Trachtenberg, & Serpell, 2004; Melson, 1990; Netting, Wilson, & New, 1987; Sable, 1995; Weaver, 2003). Likewise, numerous animal-assisted therapy organizations were created to support the work of animal-assisted therapists (i.e., Delta Society, Therapet Animal Assisted Therapy Foundation, Therapy Dogs International, Inc., Eagala-Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, Inc.).

I have used a cat in my private practice for the past eight years, watching children and adults play with and relate to the animal as a therapeutic intervention. “In a transitional relationship, a child or an adult takes the attributes of a purely subjective object and projects them onto some real entity in the external world. In the transitional relationship, the play is the movement of attributes of fantasy objects from an internal space to real objects in external space.”

Transitional Relationship
When children experience a transitional stage in their lives, such as Abby in moving from mother to school, they will often choose a transitional object such as a blanket, teddy bear, or in Abby’s case, Duckie. Duckie, however, is not permitted to be in the classroom. Abby has experienced emotional pain when other children teased her when she brought Duckie to school the first week. Abby’s need for a transitional object is more complicated than most children beginning kindergarten. Her parents were recently divorced, causing a move to a smaller residence and Mrs. James to secure employment outside the home. Mrs. James could no longer care for Abby’s sister with special medical needs, so the child was placed outside the home in a long-term institutional care facility. Abby’s teenage sister decided that her father may be more lenient with her than her mother and moved in with her father and his girlfriend. A family of three children and two adults living in an upper-middle-class home has transformed to Abby and her mother living in an apartment.

The assessment of Abby’s emotional needs is fairly straightforward. Abby has complicated grief as a result of her multiple losses, resulting in a stronger attachment to her mother—her surviving nurturing figure. In light of her past losses, separating from her mother for school has heightened Abby’s anxiety and grief. A therapeutic intervention of providing Abby with a transitional object that is acceptable to her, her teacher, and her peers will provide security to Abby while her mother is absent. Creativity must be employed in finding the appropriate transitional object. The therapeutic intervention is the ability of the transitional object Abby can feel and touch to help her share with the transitional object her fears, anxiety, and losses. A parallel process can begin as the story of the transitional object is shared with the child, which will, in turn, provide a setting for the child to share her story.

Triebenbacher (1994) found that children interact with animals the same way they do with transitional objects: rubbing, stroking, cuddling, and kissing. Similar to other transitional objects, the child keeps the animal close for comfort. The interchange of play between the child and a therapeutically trained animal can provide the therapist with significant knowledge. The animal becomes a safe, nonthreatening medium in which a child can engage and discuss topics that may be too intimidating to discuss directly with the therapist. According to Fine (1999), “The animal is better than a stuffed toy, [which] just lies there unless moved by the child. Unlike stuffed toys that provide soft touch, animals are capable of giving active affections and seeking out the child. But most importantly, they can never contradict the attributes projected on them with words.”

The Furry “Cotherapist”
Once the cat is in the office, I ask Mrs. James, Abby, and Duckie whether they mind if Sterling visits with us, as he often helps me sort out children’s problems. I ask whether they are allergic or afraid of cats. They agree that Sterling can stay and Abby’s disposition lightens. Abby develops a curiosity as to what Sterling may do in our work together. I then explain that Sterling is his formal name, but I nicknamed him “Mumps,” since his breed (British Shorthair) appears as if they have the mumps with their large, puffy cheeks and neck. Mrs. James shares that Abby’s formal name is Abigail, but she prefers to be called Abby. I comment that this is just like Sterling, rather Mumps, which seems to get Abby’s attention.

Mumps slowly moves around the office and then carefully climbs the couch where Mrs. James, Abby, and Duckie sit together. Mumps begins nudging at Duckie, attempting to push him from Abby’s lap. Abby passes Duckie to her mother as she moves from her mother’s lap to sit beside her on the couch. As Abby moves onto the couch, Mumps cautiously climbs onto Abby’s lap. As I wait out the silence, Abby begins petting Mumps, rubbing him under his thick chin. Quietly, I say, “I’m sorry, Abby, that you are having such a difficult time leaving your mother to go to school. I hope that Mumps and I can help you solve this problem.”

Tears began to flow from Abby’s eyes into Mumps’s fur. Mumps does not seem to mind the tears, deeply appreciative of a warm lap and a comforting rub of his neck. Before the session ends, I ask Abby and her mother if I can take a picture of her and Mumps for his scrapbook. I will have a copy of the picture for Abby next week, if she’d like. Abby nods, giving permission. Abby moves to the floor with Mumps, holding him tightly in her arms and smiling for the picture—her first smile of the hour.

The following week, Abby enters the office with her mother and I hear Abby’s first words as she asks, “Where is Mumps?” As if on command, Mumps jumps from his cat bed and slowly walks toward Abby, who picks him up and hugs him. She then begins whispering something into his ear, which I ask her to repeat louder since Mumps has some hearing loss (a slight fib on my part for the sake of positive practice outcomes). She shares with Mumps some events of her day and why she cried at school. Abby tells Mumps that at school she misses her mother and that one boy is mean to her. We then discuss feelings Mumps had when he left his parents to come and live at our house and how some of the other cats in the house initially were not nice to him. I talk about his sadness and how he handled the mean cat in the house. I pull from my shelf a book on bullies, and together we read the story. Afterwards, I give Abby the picture I took the week before and suggest maybe she could take the picture to school for “show ’n tell.” I recommend that she may want to keep the picture in her school bag as a reminder that since Mumps was able to separate from his mother and deal with bullies, she could do the same.

The following week, Abby enters the office by herself, with her mother waiting outside by the pond. Abby pulls an 8 X 10 picture of herself with Mumps from a large bag. Mrs. James had enlarged and framed the picture. Abby shares with me that she keeps this large picture on her dresser at home and takes the small picture to school in her school bag as a reminder that she, too, can heal from her sadness while addressing the mean bullies at school. She now finds a cat toy and calls for Mumps, eager to show him his enlarged picture and tell him how she addressed the bullies at school.

Animal-assisted practice is a creative and innovative addition to play therapy that provides the therapist and client with a live, interactive medium for effective assessment and intervention. An animal’s skill of “empathy, sensitivity, and ability to begin where the client is are skills I’ve seen in the best of social workers during my career” (Weaver, 2003; p. ix). Using a live metaphor should entice social workers already using play therapy to consider adding a therapeutically trained animal to their practice.

— Cynthia J. Weaver, DMin, MDiv, ACSW, LSW, is an assistant professor of social work at Marywood University. She has more than 25 years of practice experience in child welfare (public and private), early intervention, mental retardation, and religious systems.

— C. Fred Weaver, MSW, ACSW, LSW, is an assistant professor of social work at Marywood University. He is also a private child welfare practitioner.

Bernard, S., (1995). Animal Assisted Therapy: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals and Volunteers. Whitehouse, TX: Therapet, L.L.C.

Delta Society. Available at: http://www.deltasociety.org

Eagala; Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, Inc. Available at: http://www.eagala.org

Endenburg, N. & Baarda, B., (1996). The Role of Pets in Enhancing Human Well-being: Effects on Child Development. The Waltham Book of Human-Animal Interactions: Benefits and Responsibilities of Pet Ownership, 7-17.

Fine, A.H. (Ed.), (1999). Handbook of Animal-Assisted Therapy: Theoretical Foundations and Guidelines for Practice. New York: Academic Press.

Hansen, K.M., Messinger, C.J., Baun, M., & Megal, M., (1999). Companion animals alleviating distress in children. Anthrozoos, 12(3): 142-148.

Kruger, K.A., Trachtenberg, S.W., & Serpell, J.A., (2004). Can Animals Help Humans Heal? Animal-Assisted Interventions in Adolescent Mental Health. Philadelphia, PA: Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society, university of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Melson, G.F., (1990). Pet ownership and attachment in young children: Relations to behavior problems and social competence. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Delta Society in Houston, TX.

Netting, F., Wilson, C. & New, J., (1987). The human-animal bond: implications for practice. Social Work, 32: 60-64.

Sable, P. (1995). Pets, attachment and well-being across the life cycle. Social Work, 40(3): 334-331.

Therapet Animal Assisted Therapy Foundation. Therapet@juno.com

Therapy Dogs International, Inc. tdi@gti.net; www.tdi-dog.org

Triebenbacher, S.L., (1994). “Pets as Transitional Objects: Their Role in Children’s Emotional Development.” Department of Child Development and Family Relations, School of Human Environmental Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Weaver, Cynthia J. (2003). Sinclair’s Listening Ears: The Journey of a Feline Social Worker. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.