[Schema Therapy with Sheep: Animal-assisted Intervention in Schema Therapeutic Psychiatric Addiction Treatment]. / Schematherapie mit Schafen: Tiergestützte Intervention in der schematherapeutischen, psychiatrischen Suchtbehandlung.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Schematherapy is often used in addiction treatment. The question is whether animal-assisted interventions can improve the effects. METHOD: During an inpatient psychiatric stay with a schematherapeutic focus, an animal-assisted intervention with sheep was implemented. A case report is presented. RESULTS: After the intervention, the individual mode model of the presented patient shows significant changes towards a strengthening the healthy adult and happy child mode and a reduction of dysfunctional modes. CONCLUSION: The animal-assisted intervention, embedded in a schematherapeutic context, was experienced in this patient as well implementable and impressively effective with regard to a modification of the mode model.

[Effects of an animal-assisted intervention on psychiatric in-patient addiction treatment - a pilot study]. / Effekte einer tiergestützten Intervention in der stationären psychiatrischen Suchtbehandlung ­ eine Pilotstudie.

OBJECTIVE: Animal-assisted therapies, especially with therapy dogs, are getting increasingly popular in inpatient psychiatric treatment. In the present pilot study, we examined how chronic and comorbid patients in psychiatric addiction treatment assess this form of therapeutic support. METHODS: Pre-post-evaluation of the intervention variable "therapy dog" in a prospective, naturalistic setting. Without intervention 50 patients, with intervention 52 patients were requested to answer a questionnaire on topics covering social interaction / ward atmosphere, emotional competences and pathological addiction behavior. RESULTS: The two studied groups differed highly significantly in most of the items on the topics social interaction / ward atmosphere, emotionality and addiction pathology, in favor of animal-assisted therapy. Also, the frequency of smoking and dealing with craving were significantly reduced in this group. Effect sizes were medium to high. CONCLUSIONS: Patients consider the presence of a therapy dog on a psychiatric addiction ward very positively. Ward atmosphere is experienced as more pleasant and patients see a possibility of behavioral change with respect to social and emotional competences.