La thérapie assistée par l'animal, description d'un cas clinique

Abstract

In cases of severely to profoundly mentally retarded people where verbal communication is limited or even absent, conventional educational and psychotherapeutic interventions bring little results. They underline the need for innovative approaches. Although not properly speaking a new technique, animal assisted therapy is an auxiliary method of intervention, where the animal plays the role of intermediate between therapist and patient. In the case of M. S. who presents severe mental retardation and an invasive developmental disorder of a severe type, infantile autism, therapy assisted by a dog enabled a significant amelioration of behaviour disorders.