The state of coursework on horses in human services at universities and colleges in the United States: a scoping review.

An increasing number of universities and colleges in the United States are offering coursework on adaptive/therapeutic riding and the incorporation of horses in human service areas such as psychotherapy, education, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology. The first study to identify coursework in these areas was published in 2018. In order to track development over time, we conducted a replication study to determine the prevalence of coursework on horses in human services at higher education institutions. Information gathered for the 2021-2022 academic year included the institution name, geographic location, number of courses and their focus, academic department offering the course, and level of study. We identified 122 courses provided by 48 higher education institutions in 29 states in the following areas: adaptive/therapeutic riding (N = 82, 67.2%), mental health (N = 19, 15.6%), education/learning (N = 2, 1.6%), and equine movement in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology (hippotherapy) (N = 1, 0.8%). Survey or overview courses (N = 18, 14.8%) were also identified. These courses were offered both at the undergraduate (N = 114, 93.4%) and the graduate level (N = 8, 6.6%) by a total of 48 departments that either focused on animals, such as equine science, animal science, and agriculture (N = 27, 54%) or focused on humans, such as health science or liberal arts (N = 23, 46%). The results inform a discussion on changes over time as well as current challenges and opportunities for academic programs offering coursework about horses in human services.

Mental health professionals' perspectives on the relevance of religion and spirituality to mental health care.

BACKGROUND: A large body of evidence indicates that spiritual and religious backgrounds, beliefs, and practices (SRBBPs) are related to better psychological health. Spirituality and religion (R/S) are also important aspects of multicultural diversity. There is evidence that clients would like to talk about their spirituality, and that including it in assessment and treatment planning can be beneficial. However, the extent to which practicing mental health professionals view SRBBPs as relevant to mental health and clinical practice is unclear. METHODS: A survey examining several aspects of addressing SRBBPs in clinical practice was distributed to 894 professionals across mental health disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, social work, marriage family therapy, licensed professional counselors, certified chemical dependency counselors, and psychiatric mental health nurses. RESULTS: 89% of mental health professionals agreed that clinicians should receive training in R/S competencies. There were no differences between mental health disciplines in ratings of importance of such training. Younger individuals and those who identify as more spiritual were more likely to consider R/S training as important. Although 47.1% of professionals had not received much R/S training, many perceived themselves to be highly competent in R/S clinical integration practices (57.8% considered themselves able to display them very much or completely). In addition, respondents with more R/S training evaluated themselves as more proficient in R/S clinical integration. Nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of respondents reported encountering few to no barriers to engaging in R/S competent mental health care. CONCLUSIONS: There is a growing consensus among mental health care professionals that mental health professionals should be trained in R/S competencies. Strong agreement exists that basic R/S competencies include respect, empathy, examination of bias, and routine assessment of R/S in mental health care. Four in five of those surveyed agree that more active competencies, such as identifying and addressing religious and spiritual struggles and problems and helping clients explore and access R/S strengths and resources should be included, whereas one in five report less comfort with these competencies.

Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs.

The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are provided with legal protections and/or government-funding support in some jurisdictions, it is necessary to clearly define the existing terms to avoid confusion. The aim of this paper is to provide operationalized definitions for nine terms, which would be useful in many world regions: "assistance animal", "companion animal", "educational/school support animal", "emotional support animal", "facility animal", "service animal", "skilled companion animal", "therapy animal", and "visiting/visitation animal". At the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) conferences in 2018 and 2020, over 100 delegates participated in workshops to define these terms, many of whom co-authored this paper. Through an iterative process, we have defined the nine terms and explained how they differ from each other. We recommend phasing out two terms (i.e., "skilled companion animal" and "service animal") due to overlap with other terms that could potentially exacerbate confusion. The implications for several regions of the world are discussed.

The Noetic Signature Inventory: Development, Exploration, and Initial Validation.

Noetic comes from the Greek word noesis, meaning inner wisdom or direct knowing. Noetic experiences often transcend the perception of our five senses and are ubiquitous worldwide, although no instrument exists to evaluate noetic characteristics both within and between individuals. We developed the Noetic Signature Inventory (NSI) through an iterative qualitative and statistical process as a tool to subjectively assess noetic characteristics. Study 1 developed and evaluated a 175-item NSI using 521 self-selected research participants, resulting in a 46-item NSI with an 11-factor model solution. Study 2 examined the 11-factor solution, construct validity, and test-retest reliability, resulting in a 44-item NSI with a 12-factor model solution. Study 3 confirmed the final 44-item NSI in a diverse population. The 12-factors were: (1) Inner Knowing, (2) Embodied Sensations, (3) Visualizing to Access or Affect, (4) Inner Knowing Through Touch, (5) Healing, (6) Knowing the Future, (7) Physical Sensations from Other People, (8) Knowing Yourself, (9) Knowing Other's Minds, (10) Apparent Communication with Non-physical Beings, (11) Knowing Through Dreams, and (12) Inner Voice. The NSI demonstrated internal consistency, convergent and divergent content validity, and test-retest reliability. The NSI can be used for the future studies to evaluate intra- and inter-individual variation of noetic experiences.

Patient perspectives on the causes of breast cancer: a qualitative study on the relationship between stress, trauma, and breast cancer development.

Purpose: We qualitatively evaluated breast cancer survivors' perception of the relation between breast cancer development and both childhood trauma and stressful life events in adulthood.Methods: Women (N = 50) who have or had a positive breast cancer diagnosis completed a close-ended survey, a timeline of significant life events, and an in-depth interview. All interviews were transcribed and inductively coded using thematic analysis with an emphasis on patient perspectives of illness.Results: Participants reported a perceived connection between breast cancer development and stressful life events, and four themes were identified: 1) experiencing major interpersonal stress in both childhood and adulthood, 2) ideas about the relationship between emotional stress and physical disease, 3) ideas about how different types of stress contribute to developing breast cancer, 4) post-treatment post-traumatic growth and meaning-making.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that of the participants who felt something could be causally attributed to their developing breast cancer, most of them made causal attributions between social, personal, and physical stress and trauma across the lifetime to the aetiology of their breast cancer. We suggest that breast cancer patients and survivors may benefit from additional psycho-social, stress-reducing, and/or somatic-based trauma-informed therapies to address stress and trauma.

Qualitative analysis of first-person accounts of noetic experiences.

The term "noetic" comes from the Greek word noesis/noetikos that means inner wisdom, direct knowing, intuition, or implicit understanding. Strong cultural taboos exist about sharing these experiences. Thus, many may not feel comfortable transparently discussing or researching these topics, despite growing evidence that these experiences may be real. The study's objective was to qualitatively evaluate first-hand accounts of noetic experiences. 521 English-speaking adults from around the world completed an online survey that collected demographic data and four open-ended questions about noetic experiences. Thematic analysis was used to characterize the data. The ten most used codes were expressing to or sharing with others, impacting decision-making, intuition/"just knowing," meditation/hypnosis, inner visions, setting intentions/getting into the "state," healing others, writing for self, and inner voice. There were five main themes identified: 1. Ways of Engagement; 2. Ways of Knowing; 3. Types of Information; 4. Ways of Affecting; and 5. Ways of Expressing. Subthemes. Future research will include investigating the nuances of these themes and also establishing standardized methods for evaluating them. This would also then inform curricula and therapies to support people in these experiences.

iRest Meditation for Older Adults with Depression Symptoms: 6-Month and 1-Year Follow-up.

Preliminary positive evidence supports the use of iRest (Integrative Restoration) in older adults with depression symptoms. No long-term follow-up measures have been reported on whether the preliminary effects continue beyond initial iRest trainings. The growing population of older adults with depression symptoms is a serious public health issue, and effective interventions to support this vulnerable population are warranted. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the depression and depression-related symptoms 6 and 12 months after an iRest intervention. All study measures were collected online. Twenty-five of the original participants completed the 6- and 12-month surveys. Of those, nine stated that they still practiced the guided meditations at the time of the 12-month follow-up (five iRest and four vacation participants). Both groups had improvements in depression scores from baseline (week 0) to the 12-month follow-up. There were no differences between groups on depression symptoms or other measures except for negative mood and perceived stress, which were improved in the vacation group compared to the iRest group. Meditation practice was not a significant predictor of depression score improvement.