Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT)

Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is the use of trained animals by trained multidisciplinary healthcare professionals to facilitate specific and measurable therapeutic goals for individuals with special needs. Working with animals in therapy processes is a structured treatment approach based on scientific evidence for people with physical, emotional, cognitive, or psychological disorders. In other words, AAT refers to goal-oriented interventions that incorporate animals into healthcare, education, and other human services using evidence-based scientific methods to achieve therapeutic benefits.