Anita Greary is an animal-assisted therapist in Wodonga. Photo: Supplied.
Anita Greary was halfway through her counselling and psychotherapy degree when she realised that there was no opportunity for her to register as a Medicare provider.
The 46-year-old switched to Charles Sturt University in Wagga soon after, which allowed her to finish her studies remotely while balancing family and work.
“I thought, ‘Well, I can’t be Medicare approved and I want to be able to support people, regardless of where they’re at financially, not just people who can afford the full out of pocket costs’,” Ms Greary said.
She now owns her own animal-assisted therapy practice in Wodonga, supported by eight other mental health practitioners and her three dogs – Bacardi, Kaluha and Winston.
Anita’s three faithful animal therapists, Bacardi, Kaluah and Winston. Photo: Supplied.
Animal-assisted therapy is when a practitioner includes an animal such as horses, dogs or cats in therapy sessions.
“It can be practised in many different ways,” Ms Greary said.
“But the way I practice it, it’s really about harnessing that safety and attachment that the animal can provide for a client who isn’t yet ready to do that with another human.”
Ms Greary first had the idea to start working with animals while having a yarn with a friend about 15 years ago.
“She was talking about a significant trauma she had experienced,” she said.
“Bacardi would have been about three years old and was just sitting on her lap and rested her head on my friend’s knee.
“My friend was processing what had happened to her and just patting Bacardi. They had this connection with each other.
“Later, she looked at me and she said, ‘You know, I’ve never told anyone that much before. You should look into animal assisted therapy’.”
The Yackandandah therapist was surprised at how in tune Bacardi was with other people’s emotions, since her furry companion had never been trained.
“She’s certainly not guide dog quality obedience, which is what I initially thought a therapy dog would need to be,” she said.
“But throughout my training, I became incredibly aware that it’s actually the animal’s natural instincts to pick up on what’s happening for that client.
“That’s where the power really sits. I couldn’t train Bacardi to have done that with my friend.”
Bacardi, Kaluah and Winston all have their own quirks.
Bacardi is “fantastic with anxiety”, while her daughter Kaluah is “incredible with grief”. But for her three-year-old cavoodle Winston, his ideal work is going to the day oncology unit at Albury Base every fortnight.
For Anita, the power lies in the animal’s instinctive behaviour. Photo: Supplied.
While including animals in your work might seem nice, Ms Greary warned there is a risk associated with it.
“It’s not a regulated field,” she said.
“Anyone can take their dog into work and they’ll think, ‘It’s so nice to have dogs in here’.
“There are dog trainers certifying animals that aren’t necessarily understanding the context of supporting the therapists or the social workers and how to harness that intuition.
“It’s actually in that intuitive behaviour that’s where the power is, like when your dog comes to you, the feeling of ‘you care about me so much you’re coming behind me’?
“You can’t replicate that and you don’t want to train that out of a dog.”
