On a regular basis, my cats and dogs assist me as therapy animals in the office with my patients. Cats and dogs support mental health, calm anxiety, bring joy, help regulate the nervous system, and alleviate trauma responses. Long ago I discovered the my own and my patients pets calm body, mind, and spirit.

About 15 years ago, I had a client ask if she could bring her dog with her into my office for her therapy session. I agreed and noticed something fascinating: This woman, who suffered from anxiety and depression, seemed able to calm her emotions more quickly with her dog nearby. I encouraged her to bring her dog with her regularly and I observed that her therapeutic progress moved much faster and smoothly. When we talked about traumatic or emotionally triggering things, she was better able to integrate insights, to shift her negative thought patterns, and to build her optimism and confidence.

Soon after this, I began my training as a Somatic Experiencing practitioner, learning how to track the fight-flight-freeze markers in the body and help people to recover from trauma, emotional triggers, and old wounds. By this time, I had already communicated to my patients that they were welcome to bring their animals with them into their sessions with me.

What I observed was backed up:

People can tap into the sense of safety –  “rescue response” – more readily when relating to an animal.

Studies have shown that interacting with animals for as little as 10 minutes can reduce cortisol (a stress hormone) levels. I see this on a regular basis in sessions with my patients when they become anxious, emotional, or dysregulated and then interact with or even ask to see one of my cats or dog.

Further, animals lower our stress levels and change our brains in deeply healing and profound ways. We know how important it is to balance hormones, especially under stress and through menopause and as relates to sleep and mood. When the hormone oxytocin increases, so does optimism, feelings of connection, happiness and a sense of well-being. Researchers have found that oxytocin levels rise when humans interact with and gaze at dogs and cats.

Additionally, one interesting study showed that looking at dogs, for people who like them, improved performance on computerized tasks. Of course, when people perform better, they feel better about themselves and when they feel better about themselves, they also prove more successful and happy.

Could it be that looking at those cute animal videos on social media really is a tonic to the stress of the world and of our lives?!

Yes! The University of Leeds found that watching those videos lowered stress and anxiety by up to 50% by lowering blood pressure and heart rate. For many years I’ve posted sleep and stress reduction tips on my own social media, guiding people in how to use their own animals or the animals in my videos to calm their nervous systems and sleep better.

I no longer have people bring their dogs into our meetings because now I have my own cats and dog in my office with me. What’s fascinating is that both during in person and even on telehealth sessions, my animals assist in a remarkable way. More times than I can count, clients have been feeling overwhelmed, emotional, anxious, or stressed and they will ask to see one of my animals by name. They smile, regulate, and feel safe almost immediately and visibly. In short, having my cats and dog in my office calms the body, mind, and spirits of my clients.

Also, remember my observation of the increased improvements in motivations, confidence, and sense of competency that I witnessed first with that patient 15 years ago, and with so many patients since that time? I wonder if the therapy we’ve done working on those pain points has been more effective and rapid because over years I have incorporated animals into the healing protocol.

Please share your own stories about the therapeutic impact of animals in the comments below!

And download your free guide to my favorite sleep tips here!

Photo credit by annmirin for Adobe