AAT or AAA, Not "Pet Therapy"

In yesterday's post on the Furry Finals Fix program by IU students, I used the term "pet therapy" (Notice it was always in quotes.). I received a reminder from a friend that "pet therapy" is not the proper term to employ -- and if RT students organize such programs they should use the expression Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT).

In my teaching, I have employed the term Animal-Assisted Therapy. I had only used "pet therapy" (in quotes) in my post because that was the expression was used in the article that I cited and the term is the one with which most people are familar.

According to the Delta Society, perhaps the best term for a Furry Finals Fix program might be Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA) -- because the program was technically not therapy. Go to the Delta Society website for further details.

For those with interest in learning more about Animal-Assisted Therapy, one source is Therapeutic Recreation Processes and Techniques (5th edition) by David R. Austin. See pages 122 - 125 in the section titled Animal-Assisted Therapy.