Ahhh! Animals! On today's podcast, we're talking to Jocelyn Nand, executive director of the Family Counselling Centres in Alberta. Her work includes animal-assisted therapy with the help of her co-therapist (and dog!), Watson. We'll talk about the work that she does to help a variety of clients deal with emotional dysregulation issues, impulse control, behavioral struggles, anxiety, low self-esteem, as well as work with those who have sensory struggles.

We'll also discuss our impact on the mental health of animals and how positive reinforcement when training pets can go a long way.

The key moments in this episode are:

• 00:01:29 - Jocelyn Nand's Background and Interest in Animal-Assisted Therapy
• 00:05:42 - Impact of Watson (the dog) in Therapy Room
• 00:08:33 - Clients Who Benefit from Animal-Assisted Therapy
• 00:13:07 - Other Animals in Animal-Assisted Therapy
• 00:14:34 - The Benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy
• 00:16:37 - Pet Preferences and Personality
• 00:18:10 - The Impact of Mental Health on Animals
• 00:22:07 - Training Animals for Therapy
• 00:27:47 - Integrating Animal-Assisted Therapy into Counseling
• 00:29:04 - The Therapist's Attachment to Her Therapy Dog
• 00:31:29 - Utilizing Watson's Strengths in Therapy
• 00:32:55 - Challenges and Limitations of Animal-Assisted Therapy
• 00:36:11 - Misconceptions and Ethical Considerations in Animal Therapy
• 00:42:44 - The Role of Animals in Grief and Loss
• 00:45:19 - Resources for Animal Therapy
• 00:46:18 - Becoming an Animal Therapist

DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT: https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-Podcast-Episode-010-Animal-assisted-therapy-Transcript.pdf

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Mixing/ Mastering: Tony Bao

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