The Power of Pets in Trauma Healing
Editor’s Note: Today we revisit a story that we originally shared in June 2023.
When Jessica met Josie, she quickly knew they would make a good team.
Josie is a goldendoodle that Jessica adopted in the summer of 2022. “She had just had a bath and was hiding under a chair in their living room because she was mad about the bath, and was trying to sneak away,” Jessica says, recalling their first encounter. She couldn’t help but laugh, and quickly felt drawn to the puppy, who was just four months old at the time.
Jessica’s companion, Josie
Jessica, 36, who asked that we not use her last name, is a survivor of abuse by a priest while in elementary school. She’d long thought about finding an emotional support animal to help her cope with PTSD symptoms. Because trained therapy animals can be very expensive, Jessica chose to research ways to train Josie herself.
So far, Jessica has successfully trained Josie to provide something called deep tissue pressure. When Jessica is in distress, Josie, who is now 45 pounds, will crawl into Jessica’s lap. This gives Jessica a sense of safety and comfort, sort of a dog version of a weighted blanket, she explains. As Josie gets older, Jessica intends to teach her new skills, such as training her to respond to Jessica’s panic attacks, if they’re in a public space, by leading her to an exit. The pup is already showing signs of being tuned in to Jessica’s state of mind.
“The other day I was driving home and my anxiety was really, really high,” Jessica said. “I was fidgeting with the strap on my water bottle and she just put her paw on my hand and looked at me, like, ‘Don’t do that.’” Jessica often has trouble sleeping, but with Josie curled up beside her, she sleeps better. Josie also accompanies Jessica to her job at a community mental health center, where she not only provides support to Jessica, but also to the clients with whom Jessica works. “Almost all of them smile when they see her,” she explains. And Josie enjoys it too, waiting eagerly by the entrance for clients to arrive for the day. “She just gets so excited,” Jessica says.
BELOVED PETS, RELIABLE RELATIONSHIPS
Jessica is just one of many survivors in the Awake community who reports that pets have been key in helping them heal from the trauma of abuse.
To understand why animals can be beneficial, we spoke to Philip Tedeschi, clinical professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver and founder of the Institute for Human-Animal Connection. “Our research highlights that [relationships with pets] are some of the most reliable relationships that people have,” says Tedeschi, co-editor of the book Transforming Trauma: Resilience and Healing Through Our Connections with Animals. These connections can be especially important if someone has been harmed by a person that they once trusted deeply—such as a religious leader—which can shake the survivor’s confidence in other human beings, Tedeschi explains. In contrast, pets can be a reliable source of the social support humans need to thrive.
“The presence of a safe animal is an important building block to rebuilding both physical and psychological health,” he says.
The bond with Josie has been life changing for Jessica. “Having her here teaches me how to receive her loving care,” she says, “and then to give loving care back in a way that was really hard for me. It translates to better stuff with my clients and my friends.”
PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL BENEFITS
Being in the presence of a friendly animal can change our neurobiology by activating our oxytocin systems, Tedeschi explains, the same hormone associated with bonding between human mothers and infants. A long-time social worker and psychotherapist, Tedeschi has worked with the City of Denver to support outreach services for chronically mentally ill people experiencing homelessness. He has visited homeless encampments around the city with a trained therapy dog named Samara, who is friendly and curious and specializes in connecting with people who have a history of difficult social interactions. “She’ll wag at them and smile at them, want to meet them,” Tedeschi recounts. “I’ll often blame it on her and say something like, ‘Oh, Samara would like to say hi to you. Would that be okay?’ And they usually will say yes. Samara will literally go over and lay right next to them.”
Philip Tedeschi with Samara
“If we can invite somebody to interact with Samara for a few minutes, we can observe the changes in their willingness to connect, to become more social, and build increased trust and rapport,” Tedeschi says. “If I’m quiet and I’m not leading with the human side of this interaction, within a few minutes that person who won’t talk to other people will say, ‘What kind of dog is she?’ ‘What’s her name?’ or ‘I used to have dogs.’”
Spending time with pets, especially those that we know well, helps regulate our bodies and emotions. “We’ll find that our breathing starts to get a little more synchronized and our heart rates do too,” Tedeschi explains. “The resting heart rate of a full-grown dog is actually just below that of a person. This can ultimately teach somebody how to regulate their own body.” And this calming power likely explains why some trauma survivors sleep better when they sleep with their pets.
Animals can help their owners to be more physically active too, which can be beneficial for trauma survivors. Mike Hoffman of Chicago didn’t enjoy training his family’s dog, Claudia, back when she was a puppy. “I wasn’t fond of standing out in the rain, trying to encourage the dog to go pee,” he says. But about four years later, Mike revealed to his wife he had been sexually abused in childhood by his parish priest. He also shared his story with the review board in his archdiocese and began individual counseling.
“It is during this time in my life when I would come home from work, immediately change my clothes, and take Claudia for a walk,” he says. “We would enjoy the beautiful forest preserve right near our home and walk the neighborhood. Every day, I considered it such a simple pleasure walking and spending time with Claudia, and Claudia was happy to spend time with me. It helped me clear my mind and was an integral part of my healing process.” Claudia has been deceased since 2012, but Hoffman notes that “the walking and the healing continues on with our new dog, Winston!”
PETS VS. THERAPY DOGS
Winston walks regularly with his owner, Mike.
Although some survivors benefit from a trained therapy dog, most can experience tremendous mental health and physical benefits from ordinary pets. “I would argue that petkeeping is probably a more important concept than therapy dogs and service dogs,” Tedeschi says, mainly because there are so many more pets available than trained therapy dogs. And dogs aren’t the only supportive animals. “I would say not to overlook cats,” Tedeschi adds. “They make fantastic companions, and often can live in smaller quarters comfortably.” Jessica has heard survivors talk about finding support from pet rabbits too.
Rescue animals, adopted from shelters, can be great, Tedeschi says, but he recommends connecting with an animal behaviorist (most large shelters will have one on staff) who can evaluate an animal to understand its personality and help match you with the right pet for your goals.
As a clinical professor and psychotherapist who works with students on a college campus, Tedeschi also has written dozens of prescriptions that allow students with mental health disorders to keep emotional support animals with them in campus housing. He’s found that students with mental health challenges such as anxiety or depression who have the support of a pet “stay in school, sleep better, make friends better, and are less anxious,” he says. And the process of having your pet designated an emotional support animal is relatively simple, requiring just a note from your mental health practitioner.
The ease of this process surprised Jessica. “My therapist wrote a note for me, and it just said that I needed Josie to provide support for me,” she explains. Jessica submitted the note to her landlord and is now permitted to live with Josie full-time, no pet deposit required.
Jessica named Josie in honor of St. Josephine Bakhita, “and I often think Josie’s silliness and joyfulness comes from her,” Jessica reflects. She sees her furry companion as a gift from God. “I got Josie at a time when I was really struggling to feel connected to God and had difficulty experiencing His presence,” she explains. “I just couldn’t find ways to approach Him. There are a lot of times that she is a concrete reminder of His presence and care, maybe especially in the moments that it feels the most difficult to let Him close.”
If you’ve experienced healing through a relationship with your pet, please tell us about it below. Adorable pet photos welcome!
—Erin O’Donnell
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