Charlena and Talula work together to provide therapy to clients when it is appropriate for the client and helps to meet the client’s counseling goals. Working with a therapy dog may not be appropriate for every client or at every session. Using the therapy dog in sessions will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Some benefits that have been found in utilizing a therapy animal include:

• Animals help improve motivation and engagement in therapy.
• Animals provide a sense of security and emotional support.
• Dogs offer unconditional acceptance and positive regard.
• Animals can promote relaxation. Research has demonstrated that petting an animal can help lower blood pressure, heart rate, and increase oxytocin (a feel-good chemical in the brain).
• Animals can help clients learn frustration tolerance and other anger management techniques.
• Animals can help in the areas of focus and attention.
• Animals can be instruments of learning, which can increase self-confidence and self-esteem.
• Animals offer humor and fun due to their playful nature.
• Animals in therapy ask for clients to develop empathy, nurturance, and responsibility, and model other skills like forgiveness and patience.