Canine-assisted Psychotherapy Motivation Alliance
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Standard Psychotherapy, Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog actively integrated., Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog passively integrated..
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Motivation, Alliance, Therapeutic. Basic parameters: 9 years — 17 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Switzerland
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
Unsure about the terms? Read our patient guide →
Official title
Effects of the Inclusion of a Dog in Psychotherapy on Children's Alliance and Treatment Motivation
Overview
The aim of the study is to investigate the needed extent and the way a dog is integrated into psychotherapeutic interventions for them to be motivating and alliance building for children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders aged 9 to 17 years old. Specifically, we want to elaborate if the dog needs to be integrated into the therapy in a form that it is part of the therapeutic context or if the presence of the dog without being part of the therapeutic context per se is beneficial.
Interventions
- Behavioral Standard Psychotherapy
Participants receive a standard psychotherapy session with no dog being present. - Behavioral Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog actively integrated.
A dog is present and actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative. - Behavioral Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog passively integrated.
A dog is present but not actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative.
Primary outcome measures
- Therapeutic alliance of patients [Time frame: 9 weeks]
- Motivation of patients [Time frame: 9 weeks]
Secondary outcome measures (2)
- Treatment satisfaction of patients [Time frame: 4 weeks]
- Number of missed sessions [Time frame: 5 weeks]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria for children and adolescents: :
- Age between 9 and 17 years
- Children are seeing the therapist for the first time
- Basic knowledge of child and parents in either German or English to be able to fill in questionnaires
- Informed consent given by legal guardian
- Positive or neutral attitude towards dogs
Exclusion Criteria for children and adolescents: :
- acute psychosis; early childhood autism
- diagnosed developmental disorder or intellectual delay; if not diagnosed, exclusion when questionnaires cannot be completed due to development level
- fear of dogs
- allergic reactions to dogs
- reported aggressive behavior towards animals in the past
Inclusion criteria for therapists:
- working with an own therapy dog
- completed therapy training or if not completed far advanced therapy training under supervision
- working with children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years
Exclusion criteria for therapists:
- not working with an own therapy dog
- no completed or far advanced therapy training
- not working with children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Single blind
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
Switzerland · 1 center
- University of Basel — Basel
Publications
- Arnskotter W, Martin S, Walitza S, Hediger K. Effects of including a dog on treatment motivation and the therapeutic alliance in child and adolescent psychotherapy: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2024 Jan 5;25(1):26. doi: 10.1186/s13063-023-07854-4. PMID 38183121
Identifiers
NCT: NCT05384808 · 2022-00304