Dog Assisted Psychological Therapy (DAPT): the experienced therapeutic opportunities and challenges of adult clients

This is the Research Portfolio of Charlotte Louise Bolt, which was submitted in partial fulfilment of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Duncan Moss is an Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth and was the primary supervisor for this research. Annie Mitchell is the Clinical Director for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme from the University of Plymouth and was the secondary supervisor for this research.Despite the growing momentum of research regarding Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), research within the field of Dog Assisted Psychological Therapies (DAPT) specifically is limited. The existing research of DATP focuses on therapist perspectives and quantitative methodologies. Therefore, the current research aimed to explore the experiences of adult clients, who identified as experiencing mental health difficulties, receiving DAPT. Specific aims were to gain an insight into the broader issues, opportunities, challenges and clinical implications of this novel therapeutic approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) enabled an exploration of the important issues to the participants’ experiences. The four themes highlighting important aspects of clients’ experiences of DAPT included: 1) What the dog represents; 2) Providing a safe therapeutic atmosphere; 3) Dog distracting from therapy and recovery; 4) Facilitating personal insights. Relationships between the themes, theoretical relevance and clinical applications are discussed. The research concludes that DAPT has promising potential as an adjunct to psychological therapies within a variety of psychological models, where clinically and ethically appropriate. Further research is needed to inform guidelines for practice, specifically in terms of what psychological models DAPT might be best suited to and exploring DAPT practice within different clinical and cultural populations.N/AN/