In addition to being our most faithful companions and providing us with great doses of joy and happiness, pets or companion animals can help us overcome a wide variety of physical or psychological disorders.
The therapeutic benefits of these beloved animals have been known for centuries and both psychology and medicine have made use of them to treat multiple pathologies.
Interaction or coexistence with a companion animal, especially with dogs and other animals that are easy to domesticate due to their natural tendency to prosocial behavior and to provide unconditional affection and love, has been shown to have a very notable curative and therapeutic effect on people who may present cases. of addictions, whether chemical or behavioral.
Below we will briefly present The main benefits that pets bring to the treatment of addictions in humans.
How can pet therapy help you overcome an addiction?
The main therapeutic effects of interacting with a pet are as follows.
1. Increased self-esteem
Dealing with a pet, especially a dog, gives anyone with addictions a reason to move forward with the detox and rehab process. seeing that you are not totally disconnected from the rest of the world due to the animal’s displays of affection, and this is a motivating element to improve every day. In other words, pets help a person believe in their ability to improve and be loved.
This improvement in self-esteem is of great importance in people with addictions, since at any time when self-esteem levels drop, a relapse towards consumption can occur in the middle of an addiction treatment process.
2. Reduction of associated psychological alterations
In addition to increasing self-esteem, a pet is an excellent ally to help us reduce our levels of anxiety. anxiety, depression, stress, nervousness or any other symptom associated with a psychological disorder.
The constant affection and joy that a companion animal can give us, especially dogs, as has been indicated, is an emotional support just as important as that which a friend or close family member could give us.
3. Improved autonomy
One of the main objectives of psychological therapy for people with addictions is to ensure that the person regains full autonomy in their daily lives and manages to function both on a personal and social level with total normality.
This means that the person is capable of acquiring responsibilities and carrying them out successfully to carry out simple or complex activities effectively and even to know how to take care of another living being, such as a pet.
The progressive learning of the care that a domestic animal needs results from training to face the challenges that the person will encounter in the real world once it is cured.
4. Key in the acquisition of responsibilities
As indicated, it is essential that the person get used to acquiring responsibilities that will allow them to successfully integrate back into life in society, once the detoxification treatment is completed.
The acquisition of new responsibilities also positively contributes to increasing the person’s self-esteem and motivation as well as improve your general well-being and mood.
5. Improvement of communication and social skills
Being in contact with a pet and living with it daily also has a therapeutic effect in improving the person’s communication and social skills.
With a pet we can learn a lot about relationships and even if it is not a relationship between human beings, people with addictions They can later put into practice many of the things they learned with their pet.
The main values that can be learned from living with a pet are those of unconditional affection, care and the establishment of significant emotional bonds.
6. Key in acquiring organizational skills
This new organization acquired, related to the care of our animal, is key for the person to acquire organizational skills that they can put into practice in the future and that They will be very useful in your integration back into society.
Things as everyday as daily walks, lunch and dinner times, pet cleaning tasks and visits to the veterinarian are of great importance and are very important learning and psychological training.
7. Establishing a positive bond
The emotional and affective bond established with the pet is one of the main therapeutic assets that exist in treatment with companion animals.
Animal lovers know that the bond established with them can be just as strong as that with a human being, which allows the addicted person to train all kinds of relationship skills and strategies with their animal, which they will later apply in life. daily life with other people.
Mental health professionals have been able to verify how living with an animal intervenes in increased release of happiness-related neurotransmitters in the brain among which dopamine, oxytocin or serotonin stand out.
This change in brain functioning contributes to an improvement in the person’s general well-being, greater mood and higher levels of self-esteem, motivation and happiness.
Do you want to start a treatment process for addictions?
In CITA Clinics We specialize in offering treatment to people who have developed addictive disorders with or without substance use.
In our fully equipped residential module you will find both medical personnel and psychotherapy professionals, as well as intervention programs such as equine therapy.
