Intervention Strategies Flashcards

An occupational therapist is designing an AAT intervention to improve fine motor skills and bilateral coordination for a child recovering from a hand injury. Which of the following activities provides the most direct and goal-oriented strategy?

Answer: Guiding the child to methodically brush the dog's coat with one hand while stabilizing the dog with the other.

This intervention is the most therapeutically direct because it requires the child to use both hands in a coordinated manner—one for stabilizing (a gross motor/postural task) and the other for the fine motor task of brushing. This directly addresses the goal of improving bilateral coordination and fine motor skills.

A therapist is working with a veteran who has PTSD and experiences hypervigilance. The goal is to help the client identify physiological signs of stress versus relaxation. Which intervention strategy would be most appropriate to meet this specific goal?

Answer: Guiding the client to observe the therapy dog's body language (e.g., ear set, tail carriage, breathing rate) and correlate it with the dog's level of alertness or calm.

This strategy uses the animal as a form of biofeedback. By learning to identify subtle signs of stress and relaxation in the dog, the client can practice observing physiological states in a non-threatening context, which can then be used as a model to identify and understand their own internal states of hypervigilance and calm.

In an AAT session with a non-verbal client, the therapist notices the client is hesitant to engage. The therapist says, "Max looks like he's feeling a little shy today, too. I wonder if he would like a gentle pet on his back." This technique is an example of:

Answer: Bridging

Bridging is a therapeutic technique where the animal is used as an intermediary to initiate or facilitate communication. By talking 'through' or 'about' the animal, the therapist creates a safe, indirect way to engage the client, project feelings, and open a channel for interaction that might be too direct or intimidating otherwise.

A school counselor is using AAT to help a student with social anxiety initiate positive interactions with peers. Which of the following represents the best goal-directed intervention strategy?

Answer: Prompt the student to ask a classmate, "Would you like to see Max's favorite trick?" and guide them through giving the command together.

This strategy is the most effective because it is active, structured, and provides the student with a specific, low-risk social script. It uses the dog as a shared point of interest, facilitating a positive, goal-directed interaction that the student initiates, thereby directly addressing the therapeutic goal.

When a therapist structures an AAT activity, provides materials (like brushes or treats), and asks processing questions like, "How did it feel when the dog trusted you to do that?" they are engaging in which key intervention strategy?

Answer: Active facilitation

Active facilitation is the core process by which a practitioner transforms a simple human-animal interaction into therapy. It involves intentionally structuring the activity and using therapeutic questioning to help the client make connections between the interaction and their specific clinical goals.

Which of the following best distinguishes an Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) intervention from an Animal-Assisted Activity (AAA) in a long-term care facility?

Answer: A therapist guides a resident with apathy in creating a scrapbook about the therapy dog, using it to prompt reminiscence and conversation as part of a documented care plan.

This choice describes AAT because it is goal-directed (addressing apathy and prompting conversation), delivered by a professional, tailored to an individual's needs, and documented as part of a treatment plan. The other options describe AAA, which is less formal, not individualized, and focused on general well-being rather than specific therapeutic outcomes.