Rolul terapiei asistate de animale în dezvoltarea socio-emoţională a copiilor diagnosticaţi cu ADHD [The Role of Animal-Assisted therapy in Socio-Emotional Development of Children Diagnosed with ADHD]

Abstract. Life with a child with ADHD can be challenging, it can mean a change of direction and meaning. Beyond the problems, however, his needs are no different from those of any other child, whether we are talking about affection, attention, acceptance or integration into the community. All this cannot be replaced by any medicine. Traditional methods of therapy and education are not always effective, therefore alternatives must be found. One of these is complementary therapy, which is as new as old, because although it has been in practice for more than 50 years in the United States and Europe, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is not yet considered an integral part of psychotherapeutic practice. We can motivate this either by the fact that TAA involves more variables compared to any other traditional therapy (dog, handler etc.) or by the fact that we do not face a lack of sufficient studies in the field.


Keywords: ADHD, human-animal interaction, animal-assisted therapy, empowerment, social integration