Nuo bendravimo su naminiais gyvūnėliais iki terapijos : teorinis aspektas

Abstract

The authors of the paper, relying on the literature and other information sources, have identified the effect of pet ownership on human physical and mental well-being. Pets arouse positive emotions in people thus a presumption can be made that the benefits firstly occur on the psychological level and may pass on to the physical level. Having a companion animal in the household a pet owner gets an extra opportunity to be physically and socially active and feel needed: some pets have to be walked out regularly and this leads to greater social contacts with other people. A pet owner has to play, comb, bathe or care for the pet in other ways, feed, take him to the vet, take doing shopping what also enhances social contacts. A pet owner, having chosen pet companionship consciously or unconsciously, uses pet-assisted therapy. Acknowledgement of the value of the pet-assisted therapeutic effect on the well-being of individuals provides wide possibilities for medical and other professionals, especially psychologists, because pet-assisted therapy is most often used for the delivery of mental health care.