Attachment to Pets: An Integrative View of Human-Animal Relationships with Implications for Therapeutic Practice - Softcover

"Attachment to Pets not only reviews the research literature but also presents and explains a solid scientific rationale for the basis of human health benefits of companion animals and why Animal-Assisted Intervention can be successful. For these reasons, this is an important book for anyone who is interested in positive human - animal interactions, especially with companion animals, and for practitioners, such as psychologists, social workers, and educators, who conduct any type of animal-assisted intervention. An important contribution to the field, and I would recommend that researchers and practitioners of Animal-Assisted Intervention read Attachment to Pets." Kathleen C. Gerbasi, social psychologist, anthrozoologist, dog lover, and professor of psychology at Niagara County Community College in Sanborn, NY in PsycCritiques, Vol. 59, 2014 "This is a fascinating book, and covers the literature in both an accessible and lively way and I would recommend it both for those who share their lives with animals and those who might use them in therapy. This is a relatively short book (less than 200 pages) but don't take that to mean it is light on detail. It is packed with research evidence and I was impressed with the comprehensive way the authors had put this together." Tony Wainwright in Clinical Psychology Forum, 2013 For full review see http://dcp.bps.org.uk/dcp/dcp-publications/clinical-psychology-forum/book-reviews/julius-beetz-kotrschal-turner-%26-uvnas-moberg-attachment-to-pets$.cfm. "Attachment to Pets presents an interdisciplinary view of the concept of attachment that is crucial to the understanding of human-animal interactions in the therapeutic milieu. [It] is the missing book that needed to be written about the importance of the oxytocinergic system in the attachment that humans may have with animals. The authors are excellent ... The book is a helpful read for clinicians and an imperative read for researchers, especially students interested in the field of anthrozoology. ... I discovered this book to be a much needed treasure [and] wonderful piece of scientific writing..." Robin R. Norris, PhD, in Canadian Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy, Vol. 47, 2013

In recent years, the ancient symbiosis between humans and their pets has entered a new phase, marked by the burgeoning clinical specialty of humananimal therapy. This approach uses the relationship between humans and their (mainly) mammalian pets to support the growth of emotion regulation, social skills, and mental health in children, youths, and adults. But how are humans and animals able to develop close bonds at all? What makes it possible for animals to have a therapeutic effect on humans? And how can we best use this understanding in animal-assisted therapy? In this unique book, a team of expert biologists and psychologists integrate and combine sophisticated biological and psychological knowledge to answer these questions. Together they have created a comprehensive, scientific foundation for human-animal therapy, a foundation that will facilitate the development, implementation, and evaluation of effective new interventions.