Dolphin Assisted Therapy

As you may have read on the dolphin therapy page, "dolphin assisted therapy" (dat) is really the technical or clinical name for therapy with humans where the dolphin is "assisting" in the treatment.

There have been numerous studies on dolphin-human interactions which seems to start in the 1970's with Betsy Smith.

From there a Dr. Nathanson in the US was the main researcher in this area for many years. He published many accounts which you can also view in the Dolphin Reading section.

His focus was on behavior modification with special needs children.

His work took children with autism, asd's, pdd's, cerebral palsy, or other developmental disabilities and brought them in contact with the dolphins.

These programs focused on skill acquisition. In his research, children that never spoke a word, were reported to start mimicking dolphin sounds, and even start talking thereafter.

He even did a long-term research study in dat which reported that a dolphin therapy program had such intense effects that it surpassed traditional therapies alone. He compared children who just had speech and other therapies over a year with those that also had those in combination with a dat program. Those that had the dolphin assisted therapy program were reported to have more skill acquisition.

I don't think dat is a cure for everyone, but it seems to help some people where traditional therapies either haven't worked, or it can be a supplement to other therapies. For instance DolphinSwim in the Ukraine also provides family therapy and skill building during a 2 week program that teaches families how to make changes last and build upon them after dat has ended.

Many of the populations that are helped with dat actually tend to be people with chronic conditions or those that are pervasive, which means cures may be unlikely, but any help to reduce painful symptoms or increase happiness, joy, or physical movements is a reason to be positive. Although even in these comments about dat, there are still those that report amazing life altering changes.

For me the dolphin experience is inspirational because at its root form it helps to make the impossible possible. Even if it is just to provide hope or a "peak experience", and for others it provides the catalyst for change either mental or physical that was once not possible.

It is in no way an exchange for medical advice or treatment, but it is a type of alternative therapy that for many people is a healing that traditional therapy has not been able to provide.

For example there are some people that have found great healing in massage, acupuncture, meditation, etc. I think the possibility is to have options for healing, and for the person to decide which route is best for them.

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