admin

Animal Assisted Therapy

animal assisted therapy

More than simply spending time with an animal, Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a therapist-guided experience designed to improve a patient’s mental, physical, social and emotional functioning. At Nature’s Edge, our therapy animals include dogs, cats, chinchillas, donkeys, llamas, pot-bellied pigs, cows, parrots and ferrets, each chosen for their characteristics in relation to the patient’s specific goals.
For example, a patient with difficulty in the areas of concentration, communication and fine motor control will be encouraged to pay attention to a story.  The patient is then introduced to a parrot and will take turns with the parrot, repeating specific words and turning pages, as directed by the therapist.
Each animal-assisted therapy session is documented and the patient’s progress is evaluated on an ongoing basis.
What are the benefits of animal-assisted therapy?
Physical
Improved fine motor skills
Improved wheelchair skills
Improved balance
Lower blood pressure
Social
Increased verbal interaction
Increased attention skills
Development of leisure skills
Emotional
Increased self-esteem
Reduced anxiety
Reduced loneliness
Cognitive
Increased vocabulary
Improved long- and short-term memory
Improved knowledge of concepts, such as size, color, etc.
Wisconsin specialists in animal-assisted therapy
We encourage you to contact us at Nature’s Edge to learn more about our Wisconsin animal-assisted therapy services!

Therapy at Nature’s Edge

Programs

Specializing in autism, traumatic brain injury and cerebral palsy, the fully-licensed therapists at Nature’s Edge provide intensive therapy services for patients of all ages, facing a wide variety of disorders. In addition to speech, occupational and physical therapies, our specially-trained staff employs three extraordinary treatment tools – hippotherapy (equine/horse-assisted therapy), animal-assisted therapy and horticulture therapy – using the natural environment of our 65-acre ranch. Our family-centered approach provides both the patient and his/her caregivers with comprehensive tools they can use for a lifetime, and even offers an intensive inpatient program through Diane’s House where they can live and work together on these skills.

Outpatient Clinic

Programs

Nature’s Edge Therapy Center provides skilled speech, occupational and physical therapies to patients of all ages through our year-round outpatient clinic. Therapist, patient and family all team together to set goals and achieve out-comes. All therapies focus on discovering and developing patent abilities and utilize the multi- dimensional sensory and affective stimuli of the natural setting and the human-animal bod to realize potentials.