Pets in therapy?

Lrad123 · Jun 08, 2019 at 07:12 PM

How many of your therapists have pets in the therapy room? Is it a good or bad experience? I know mine has a dog and I’m sort of wishing he’d bring it in. I think it would make the atmosphere more relaxing. An old friend of mine who I haven’t been in touch with for years is a therapist and posted a picture on Facebook of her dog at her workplace and I thought it seemed nice. I doubt mine would do that though.

Omers · Jun 08, 2019 at 07:28 PM

I had a T that had a dog in the office. It wasn’t a therapy dog or anything but he was kinda nice to have around. That same T also let me bring my own dog to session before she got her dog. Never helped but I don’t think it hurt anything either... but neither were distractions.

LonesomeTonight · Jun 08, 2019 at 07:32 PM

My T recently got a betta fish for the office, but don't think that's the kind of pet you're talking about! I do tend to find animals calming, so it might be nice to have a cat or very calm dog to pet or something if I was anxious, but I could also see it being distracting.

koru_kiwi · Jun 08, 2019 at 08:13 PM

my ex-T had a dog that he brought one time to the office so that i could meet his dog (i had been pestering him for years). then when he moved his office to out of his home, he always let his dog join us. we would sit on the floor usually with the dog between us. his dog was older, so he was generally quite calm and content. i often found having his dog there comforting. i would bring a special treat for his dog each week which his dog definitely enjoyed. when my ex-Ts dog passed away some months after i had ended therapy, he sent me a message to let me know.

velcro003 · Jun 08, 2019 at 08:58 PM

my art-T had a dog she brought in for sessions. I loved it. her dog would just lay next to you (if you invited her up on the couch), and happily let me pet her when things were difficult.

stopdog · Jun 08, 2019 at 09:25 PM

No. I do not want the therapists' pets at my appointments. I love my own pets but have no interest in theirs. The woman had her dog at one appointment and it was so awful that she refunded my money. I refused to go to any appointment thereafter if the dog was going to be there.

Lrad123 · Jun 09, 2019 at 12:48 AM

For me I guess it might just be a way to get the attention off of me. So although it sounds nice, maybe not the best idea.

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LonesomeTonight Always in This Twilight Member Since Feb 2015 Location: US Posts: 20,727 (SuperPoster!) 9 74.9k hugs given	Jun 08, 2019 at 07:32 PM #3 My T recently got a betta fish for the office, but don't think that's the kind of pet you're talking about! I do tend to find animals calming, so it might be nice to have a cat or very calm dog to pet or something if I was anxious, but I could also see it being distracting.
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velcro003 Elder Member Since Oct 2008 Posts: 7,361 15 25 hugs given	Jun 08, 2019 at 08:58 PM #5 my art-T had a dog she brought in for sessions. I loved it. her dog would just lay next to you (if you invited her up on the couch), and happily let me pet her when things were difficult.
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Lrad123 Poohbah Member Since Nov 2017 Location: United States Posts: 1,332 6 372 hugs given	Jun 09, 2019 at 12:48 AM #7 For me I guess it might just be a way to get the attention off of me. So although it sounds nice, maybe not the best idea.
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