Finally, the return tickets on mediation animal! Today, Natasha offers a summary of her MA thesis in clinical psychology and a pathological. I am pleased to inform you that Natasha has a high quality work that has "conquered" the jury of the university! Kudos to her for this research, determination and engagementà our side!
Happy reading! Sandie
As part of my Master thesis statement a clinical psychology and pathology, I was able to actively participate and lead alongside a clinical psychologist, animal mediation workshops with children with various problems. The population of children "beneficiaries" of these interventions that caught my attention share the wealth of clinical features observed in the field, has a population of children with mental disabilities. After an observation phase of the interaction of these children with the dog led the workshops, I was able to identify these children both elements of an emotional insecurity. The animal because of its continual quest to boost interaction and affiliative behaviors, then allowed them to reveal unsuspected adaptive behavior. This observation clinic led me to ask myself the question of the impact of this relationship to the animal on the relational and emotional development of mentally retarded children.
My theoretical development has helped to highlight the possible link in a multifactorial perspective, between mental retardation and attachment disorders. In a hypothetico deductive analysis I have observed that insecure attachment could be one of etiological factors of mental retardation. In addition, the animal mediation, proven in terms of restoration of emotional security, through the relationship to the animal and in terms of skills development bases. Following these theoretical contributions and I asked the following working hypothesis: the animal-mediated workshops enable children with mental disabilities insecure attachment to "restore" an emotional security through the relationship to the animal, allowing a positive development of their skills bases.
A sample of eight subjects of average age of nine years has benefited from these workshops over a period of ten months, at a rate of once every two weeks. School class in School Integration (mild mental retardation), children were tested to determine their quality of attachment that has proven to be insecure majority. A questionnaire assessment of attachment to the dog of the workshop was completed at the end of sessions by our sample, in order to assess the impact in terms of "restoration" of emotional security. In addition, an observation checklist of skills bases, developed for the needs of the study was completed using two measurement times (start / end), for professionals involved in the workshops.
Given our results, mentally retarded children in the sample are insecure and develop their skills in workshops bases mediated animal. It is now clear that these workshops have a therapeutic impact on developing relational and emotional development of the sample. However the hypothesis of a link between the degree of attachment to the animal and the positive development of skills is reversed.
My discussion then allowed an additional clinical reflection, to interpret the rejection of this hypothesis. Indeed, I have assessed only the relationship to the dog and failed multiple attachments that these children can create with stakeholders and peers within the workshop. The therapeutic impact is also due to the environment and containing accompaniment by the clinical psychologist. The role of the latter, in the workshops, is paramount in the evaluation of this practice and in management of the interaction between animal and child. It allows to word the actions of the child and allow him to express his emotions and difficulties.
The results of this research are encouraging and are part of a clinical perspective. They allow, within the limits raised, to adapt the field work during the renewal of workshops next year. Furthermore, this study allows to query the overall assessment of the support offered to the clinical psychologist in the course of his practice. Finally, this work highlights the relevance of proposing an orientation workshops to animal mediation for children with such a profile.
Natasha
