Dolphin Therapy: What It Is, How It Works, Benefits And Limitations
There are various modalities framed within animal-assisted therapy, among which is dolphin therapy, which is usually used to promote motivation and involvement in the therapy of those to whom it is directed; It is also used with children and adolescents to encourage an increase in their stimulation levels.
Dolphin therapy is one of the therapeutic modality that has been frequently used with people who present some difficulties on a social, cognitive, emotional and/or psychomotor level, implying that during the therapy they swim and interact with dolphins, this therapy being normally accompanied by psychological and/or medical treatment.
Next We will see what dolphin therapy consists of and who would be the people who could benefit from this type of animal-assisted therapy, as well as we will also talk about its effectiveness, being a therapy that has generated quite a bit of controversy.
Animal-assisted therapy is a type of therapy that has been used in various modalities using different animals such as dogs, horses or dolphins (dolphin therapy) as support. in order to promote multisensory stimulation in some people who could benefit, as well as to increase their motivation and involvement in therapythere are different ways of using this therapy with different durations and places to carry it out.
Dolphin therapy or dolphin therapy is a modality framed within animal therapies that some doctors or psychologists recommend to treat various difficulties or conditions on different levels, in whose sessions lPeople must swim and interact with the dolphins so that it serves as a resource to stimulate different skills in which certain difficulties have been detected.
This type of animal-assisted therapy is commonly used in a complementary way to psychological therapy and/or medical treatment, so that patients benefit from better results and these can be maintained for a longer period of time. However, it is worth mentioning that dolphin therapy, as well as other animal-assisted therapies, have generated quite a bit of controversy for various reasons, which is why some activists and therapists have advised against its use, so we will talk about it in more detail later.
Dolphin therapy is usually used to work on and improve certain difficulties that some people have on a social, cognitive, emotional and/or psychomotor level, among others. It has been commonly used with children with some psychomotor difficulties with an autism spectrum disorder.although this type of therapies have also been used with people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, some depressive symptoms and there are even programs that have been applied with children with Down syndrome and ADHD, with positive results having been obtained.
It should be noted that dolphin therapy It is usually carried out in designated areas of some water parks or also in centers specialized in this type of therapeutic modalities.it is common to have a multidisciplinary team of professionals in which there are doctors and/or psychologists specialized in this therapeutic modality, so that they are in charge of guiding the sessions and serving as support for patients when interacting with the patients. dolphins.
There are studies that have been carried out on the usefulness of animal-assisted therapies, such as dolphin therapy, which affirm that in combination with other therapeutic modalities such as medical and psychological treatment, it provides motivation to patients (especially the youngest ones). because animals can act as a energizing element, in a way that facilitates their involvement in the treatment.
On the other hand, it has been seen that Animal-assisted therapies can encourage spontaneity in some children who are more withdrawn when it comes to participating and interacting with the therapist. and it has also been observed that they could promote an improvement in the levels of concentration, attention and stimulation in children because the presence of animals helps to promote their multisensory stimulation, so some of these modalities can be an interesting support for psychological therapy with children who present some difficulty at a social, psychomotor level, etc.
It is worth highlighting an innovative and interesting way of applying dolphin therapy, which is dolphin therapy used within virtual reality (VR). It is a therapeutic complement that is carried out through a computer program that allows users to interact with the dolphins graphically developed in three dimensions, so that it is expected that they can achieve benefits similar to those they would obtain by being in contact with the dolphins. dolphins but at a lower cost by being able to do without similar infrastructures as those needed to carry out live dolphin therapy.
Mental health professionals who defend the use of dolphin therapy recommend it because they have found progress in the cognitive activity of people who participate in this therapeutic modality, in addition to the improvement found due to the decrease in activation levels. , hence This calming effect could be advisable for some people who have different anxiety problems.. However, more research is still needed to demonstrate its effectiveness.
There is a study on the effectiveness of dolphin therapy applied to children with some psychological dysfunction in which improvements could be observed in mood, as well as in language and psychomotor level. There is also another study about dolphin therapy with children with autism that has shown some positive results such as improvements in mood, greater ease in relaxing, greater tolerance for physical contact, an increase in being able to maintain eye contact and a reduction in stereotypical behaviors.
There is a hypothesis that has been developed about the benefits of dolphin therapy in which it is stated that the ultrasonic waves emitted by dolphins encourage people who interact with them to generate endorphins, which generates great benefits for their mental health. In addition, It has been postulated that contact with dolphins helps people generate neurochemical and neurological changes, which are beneficial both physically and psychologically. due to improvements at the psychomotor level, at the social level, in language and in mood.
Another study affirms that dolphin therapy could be beneficial for pregnant women because it helps reduce the discomforts of pregnancy and, on the other hand, there are researchers who affirm that the sound waves emitted by dolphins could favor the stimulation of the nervous system of babies inside the mother’s womb.
Dolphin therapy is not exempt from criticism directed at its use as a therapeutic modality, some of the arguments against which we will comment on below.
One of the reasons why there are many groups that do not view dolphin therapy favorably, such as activists who fight for animal rights and even some mental health professionals, is because animal-assisted therapy could encourage the confinement of some animals when they could be free in their natural habitat. Furthermore, they argue against dolphin therapy that since dolphins are not a domestic animal species, they have a natural tendency to reject being confined in places such as zoos or water parks.
Another reason why dolphin therapy has generated controversy is because there is a lot of disagreement within the scientific community as there are not enough scientific studies to support the use of this therapy. Nor have they been able to demonstrate long-term patient improvementsbeing necessary more studies in this regard.
Another drawback of dolphin therapy is its high cost compared to other therapeutic modalitiessuch as psychological therapy, in addition to the prior training required by users or patients before starting to swim and interact in the water with dolphins, so perhaps it would be interesting for more research trials to be carried out with dolphin therapy in virtual reality.
In favor of dolphin therapy, it should be noted that the multiple benefits for the mental health of people who have contact with animals cannot be denied, being a trend that human beings have had since prehistory. It can also be a benefit for pets who are well treated by their caregivers. On the other hand, although more studies are needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this therapeutic modality, those that have been done so far have shown quite positive and promising results.
