- Joined
- Dec 1, 2015
- Messages
- 428
- Points
- 173
‘‘There’s definitely something different going on at this place. We know that what’s preserved across species, all vertebrates truthfully, is the ability to feel compassion. As for birds and humans, we both have sympathetic nervous responses. We react the same way to trauma on the physiological level and in terms of the reparative nature of compassion and empathy. That’s what is doing the healing. That’s what is bringing the broken halves together."
Amazing animals and amazing people http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/magazine/what-does-a-parrot-know-about-ptsd.html
Warriors and Wolves at Lockwood Animal Rescue Center http://lockwoodarc.org/warriors-and-wolves/
From the point of view of someone who´s got first-hand experience with animal assisted therapy, it does work like no medicine, no therapy session, nothing else in the world. I´ve got a friend who by the time I met her 6-7 years ago had been on antidepressants her entire life (went through some terrible event as a child), to suppress her - among other things - suicidal thoughts. And all it took was to take her to the equestrian facility where I usually go for my riding lessons, and give her a border collie pup (many stray dogs and cats reside there due to the possibility of shelter, warmth and food). She would never ride a horse, she told me, she´s frightened of them, and frankly, I don´t blame her. It takes big cojones and the lack of self-preservation instinct to dance with this 600 kg animal. I got thrown out of saddle, bitten, stepped on and almost run over by a horse, and none of that was pretty, but I love it anyway There are also kids who are on hypotherapy, for example, a 10-year-old girl who suffers from a serious brain tumor case, the metastasis keep disappearing and reappearing, went through several surgeries, happened to connect with a horse with heterochromia iridum (one blue eye, high tear duct or eye lid cancer risk). The subtle, frightened child is a different person in the saddle, beaming with smile, self-confident, and a courageous jumper. That and she´s a better rider than me