Dolphin-assisted Therapy:
Dolphin therapy:
Why?
HOPE FOR THOSE SEEKING HELP
For parents and family, there is nothing worse than to not be able to help a loved one. When modern conventional medicine does not lead to improvements, families will often come to feel helpless and lose hope. It is hard for parents to feel unable to provide a better perspective for their own child.
Animal-assisted therapy can bring hope in this seemingly futile situation. Especially with children, animal-assisted therapy with dolphins has demonstrated its worth. It can improve mobility and cognitive abilities for a number of disorders and disabilities and it can promote self-confidence and self-reliance. Adults with special needs can also hope to improve their individual situation, as shown by a variety of studies.
ANIMAL ASSISTED THERAPIES IN COMPARISON
A smile, a word, a movement – animals seem to be effortlessly able to evoke emotions. Sometimes, the mere presence of an animal will be enough to draw patients out of their isolation and to get a reaction from them.
Animal-assisted therapies form part of the spectrum of alternative therapy methods. These therapies are used in physical and mental disorders and disabilities. Dogs, cats, horses, llamas and dolphins are the most common therapy partners.
The treatment is conducted by an experienced therapist, integrating the animal into the therapeutic process. Therapy using horses, or hippo-therapy, is among the most well-known animal-assisted therapy methods and is often used in the treatment of persons with hemiplegia. By working with specially trained horses, body awareness will be improved.
In general, all animal-assisted therapies employ the animal as a mediator or facilitator to gain access to the patient.
DOLPHINS ARE UNIQUE
Dolphin therapy takes on a special role within animal-assisted therapy.
Contact with these marine mammals takes place in the water, the natural habitat of the dolphins. Water generally has a positive effect on many special needs. The body relaxes, cramped muscles loosen up. A significant number of rehabilitation programs therefore rely on physical therapy in the water.
Contact with the dolphins takes place in this nearly weightless medium. The friendly and lovable animals will approach the patient playfully. Their caring and delicate ways make children and adults feel equally comfortable in their presence. Through the encounter with these highly intelligent marine animals, patients gain better cognitive and concentration abilities. A large number of research results have shown that therapy with these unique animals can open up a chance for a more self-reliant way of living for patients. Furthermore, it often establishes a pathway for further conventional therapies that would have been medically impossible otherwise.
