The Tomcat „Mr. Tripod“ as a helper in the psychotherapy of five year-old Anna suffering from phobia of cats and dog.

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61989592%3A15210%2F24%3A73625922" target="_blank" >RIV/61989592:15210/24:73625922 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://psychkont.osu.cz/archiv.htm" target="_blank" >https://psychkont.osu.cz/archiv.htm</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.15452/PsyX.2023.14.0004" target="_blank" >10.15452/PsyX.2023.14.0004</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The Tomcat „Mr. Tripod“ as a helper in the psychotherapy of five year-old Anna suffering from phobia of cats and dog.

Original language description

PROBLEM: The article presents a case study which maps therapeutic sessions of a 5-year-old girl, Anna, for a phobia of cats and dogs. The main question was how to create a therapeutic plan with regards to the individual needs of a child of pre-school age. This is significant because this research gives us a new perspective on a specific form of therapy, namely the combination of three therapeutic directions (PCA, KBT, animo therapy) applied in the form of play.METHOD: This so-called Descriptive Case Study is aimed at providing the most comprehensive possible description of the phenomenon. The client was a healthy, well-developing girl without any other problems however short-term individual therapy was recommended, comprising 8 sessions, of which six were individual sessions with Anna. The last session was a control one, held three months after the therapy ended. The therapeutic sessions were designed individually, tailored to the needs of the client. In addition to other techniques (Draw a Person Test, The Drawing of an Enchanted Family and the Sentence Completion Test), a kitten with an amputated leg was part of the therapy.RESULTS: The therapy was aimed at alleviating the main symptom – fear of cats and dogs – while improving global functioning significantly reduced by the fear and, consequently, enhancing the girl’s emotional life. The therapy also focused on the therapeutic relationship quality and alliance. The therapeutic work resulted in a considerable reduction in negative emotions as well as an improvement in everyday functioning in relation to animals. During the therapy, it turned out that the animal was not only a stressor to be overcome, but also a strong driver in embracing new, desirable methods of overcoming fears.DISCUSSION: Why this therapy was successful? What factors played a role here? These and a number of other issues are discussed. One of the most important factors was a strong therapeutic relationship and the depth of the therapeutic alliance. Another crucial factor, in addition to the client’s personality, was the presence of Patches the tomcat. A significant role was likely played by the powerful story of the cat who was, against all odds, determined to live a full life despite losing a leg. This case study also involved possible risks and limits. I was extremely fortunate to have an animal with suitable personality traits and an interesting life story at hand at the right moment. Another barrier to the use of the animal in therapy is the suitability of the conditions for the animal in the workplace.CONCLUSIONS: The combination of KBT, PCA and animotherapy proved to be an effective way of therapeutic work. Animotherapy appears to be an effective therapeutic tool, but the inclusion of animals in therapy is associated with a number of difficulties and there is a lack of research in this area. The next appropriate step would seem to be to confirm the effectivness of combining these therapeutic approaches when working with patients suffering from other diagnoses.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_ost - Miscellaneous article in a specialist periodical

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50101 - Psychology (including human - machine relations)

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Psychologie a její kontexty

ISSN

1803-9278

e-ISSN

1805-9023

Volume of the periodical

14

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC

Number of pages

26

Pages from-to

61-86

UT code for WoS article

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EID of the result in the Scopus database

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