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Having an Emotional Support Dog during a counselling session can be a wonderful experience to both adults and children alike, it has been proven to reduce stress levels while boosting moods!
Here are 10 reasons why a Emotional Support Dog is a great addition to a counselling session:
​1) Provides unconditional love and comfort in a way that counsellors can't. Allowing the client to feel more relaxed and comfortable in the counselling environment.
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2) Offers a distraction from current issues by providing moments of happiness and joy that help clients to see the easier side of life, resulting in an increased sense of hope for better days ahead.
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​3) Helps clients to reduce stress levels during sessions, allowing them to maintain a healthy mood whilst talking about potentially upsetting emotions.
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​4) Benefits both adults and children who are going through difficult times thanks to their loving nature and their naturally relaxing presence during counselling.
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​5) Helps clients with emotional and behavioural problems to explore thoughts and feelings that are difficult to talk about.
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​6) Helps clients to understand boundaries. As dogs are good at self-soothing, they are able to take themselves away form a situation where they are uncomfortable.
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​7) Have the ability to mirror emotions and feelings, allowing clients to feel understood.
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​8) Helps to increase a person's feelings of self-worth. Having a dog that wants to be with them in the counselling environment can offer the client a sense of belonging and help to lift a client's mood.
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​9) Helps a client to better understand trust, touch, and self-respect. A client can explore this in a non-judgemental way with the dog.
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​10) Complements and enhances the client and counsellor relationship.
